WASHINGTON — Thousands of people arrived on the National Mall for Saturday’s Earth Day celebration and the March for Science.
On this Earth Day, scientists at rallies around the world attempted to make their voices heard. They said the government is moving away from using scientific evidence in its policymaking. “That’s the wrong way,” said Michael Fitch, a physicist with Johns Hopkins who was at the D.C. event with his wife and kids.
“Science has to give (the government) the correct information so they can make the policy decisions. Not the other way around,” he said.
People began gathering before 8 a.m., but later that morning the weather turned soggy and the skies opened up, raining down on the crowd.
Despite the rain, a large turnout of scientists marched from the Washington Monument to the Capitol after the morning rally. A flood of people headed to the event from blocks and blocks away.
Ted Turner, an aquatic biologist in the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia, said he hopes the event will urge the government to pay attention to science and research on global warming.
“We’re here because there’s a disturbing lack of people paying attention to science,” said Turner. “(Global warming) is something that should be taken seriously with all the ramifications of it. You kind of like ought to pay attention to it when it threatens the food belt and coastal communities.”
Lindsey Sequeira, a chemist from Charlottesville, Virginia, sported her lab coat as she denounced the Trump administration’s proposed budget cuts to the National Institutes of Health.
“The war on science is drastic cuts to NIH. When you cut the NIH, that’s how people die from preventable diseases,” said Sequeira. “Your belief doesn’t dictate science. Science is true whether you believe in it or not. And this war on science is only going to cut us off at the knees.”
