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WASHINGTON, D.C. —Sailing under the banner “Unite Behind the Science”, Greta Thunberg brought her enthusiasm and leadership to the UN Climate Summit and the September 20th youth-led Global Climate Strike.
Tens of thousands of scientists from around the world endorsed the climate strikers and participated in the action. As scientists, joining the Global Climate Strike was a natural extension of our daily work and career goals.
We collect facts, observe change, try to understand why change occurs and then develop new methods to stop, alter or speed up change. Our goal is to understand nature and to use this knowledge to fight disease and hunger, to help provide clean water, a safe environment, better housing, and, in general, to make the world a better place.
These are the reasons that academic and governmental scientists sounded the initial alarm on global climate change, and the growing poisoning of our water, soil and food. We are part of the struggle to preserve the Earth and to provide a future for our children.
The participation of scientists in the strike represents the ongoing integration of scientists and scientific organizations into the developing social and economic struggles. This integration reflects the growing collective understanding that we are in a battle for the very essence of science.
The attack on science is represented by Trump’s brazen alteration of hurricane Dorian’s projected path and the demand to replace scientific fact with political expediency. This “sharpie” attack on science was the public face of a sustained assault as government scientists in regulatory agencies such as the Environmental Protection Agency and the Departments of Agriculture and Energy are being laid off and their work buried.
Another anti-science campaign is the effort to discredit science and scientists. In the April 16, 2019 issue of The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Lyengar and Massey point out that the founding of the Americans for Prosperity (AfP) in 2006 by the Koch brothers initiated a campaign of fake news, misinformation and disinformation aimed at reducing government regulations by discrediting the scientific basis for these regulations. The AfP’s campaign has been extremely successful. For example, in 2016 only 39% of US adults trusted scientists “a lot” on climate change.
The objective of the attacks on science is to help clear the way for the unfettered capitalist rape of the earth. The Global Climate Strike and programs such as the Green New Deal present an alternative path towards saving our planet and developing a peaceful and cooperative society.
As scientists, we know that advances in science have laid the foundations for a society that provides housing, food, health care and necessities of life for all living beings. It is now our main task to share this vision of the future with the developing social and economic struggles.
We cannot move forward unless we all move together.
