As Trump Takes Office, Women Scientists and Environmental Activists Fight Back Against Climate Change Deniers in D.C.

Julie-Dermansky-022
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The day after Trumpโ€™s inauguration, dozens of female scientists decked out in white lab coats met in front of the National Air and Space Museum for the Womenโ€™s March in Washington,ย D.C. They were carrying colorful signs showing support forย science.ย 

They are part of 500 Women Scientists, a group that debuted the day after the election to fight anti-science and anti-women rhetoric. Since then, over 12,000 women scientists fromย around the world have signed on to the groupโ€™s open letter.ย 

That pledge warns that โ€œour work as scientists and our values as human beings are under attack. We fear that the scientific progressย and momentum in tackling our biggest challenges, including staving off the worst impacts of climate change, will be severely hindered under this next U.S. administration. Our planetย cannot afford to lose anyย time.โ€

Wendy Bohon holds a pro-science sign at the Women's March on Washington.
Wendy Bohon, one of the founders of the group 500 Women Scientists, proudly displays her pro-science sign with others at the Women’s March onย Washington.

At the march, Wendy Bohon, a seismologist who works in D.C. and one of the groupโ€™s founders, carried a sign that said,ย โ€œWhat Do We Want? Evidence-based Claims. When Do We Want It? Afterย Peer Review, โ€ followed by โ€œScience Is Not a Liberal Conspiracy.โ€ Her message is right in line with the groupโ€™s mission:ย to promote evidence-based decision making in science andย inย politics.ย 

Group of mostly women scientists posing together with their pro-science signs before the march.
Supporters affiliated with the groupย 500 Women Scientists pose with their signsย in front of the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.

I asked some of the scientists how they felt about the subject of climate change being removed from the White House website as soon as Trump was sworn in asย president.ย 

Planetary scientist Lindy Elkins-Tanton said that while she worries about such things, she was going to wait and see. โ€œI have a great belief that forces for inclusion and positiveness willย carry the day, so I’m trying not to make hasty, depressingย decisions.โ€

Scientist Christy Till in a lab coat at the Women's March.
Christy Till, one of the founders of the group 500 Women Scientists, which marched together in support of science at the Women’s March onย Washington.

โ€œMy heart sunk,โ€ said Christy Till, an Arizona State University professor of earth and planetary science. Till and the others had worried that Trumpโ€™s administration would backtrack on climate science, and news of its removal from the White House website spread fast. โ€œIt was a fear that you haveย coming toย reality.โ€

But Till doesnโ€™t see everything as being completely bleak. โ€œThere are a lot of people who work in government who are on ourย side, and all of that institutional knowledge is a buffer to change, โ€ she said. โ€œThey are not going to rollย over.โ€

โ€œThey canโ€™t fire everyone in every department all at once,โ€ she insisted. โ€œYou have to have credentials. You have to haveย experience.โ€ย 

Climate scientist Dominique Bacheler holds a sign that says "Women discover."
Climate scientist Dominique Bacheler in front of the Air and Space Museum ahead of the January 21, 2017 Women’s March in D.C.

However, Dominique Bacheler, an Oregon State University scientist who studies the impact of climate change, wasnโ€™t as optimistic. When she found out climate change had been erased fromย the White House website, she screamed. โ€œIt is absolutely unreal,โ€™โ€ she said. โ€œIt is one of the things everyone in the whole world is going to have to dealย with.โ€ย 

Protesters hold signs disavowing Trump's EPA chief pick, Scott Pruitt.
Protesters express disapproval of Trump’s EPA chief pick, Scott Pruitt, at the entrance to the Washington Monument where people without tickets could watch Trumpโ€™s inauguration on a large teleprompterย screen.ย 

Protesters hold signs supporting climate science at Trump's inauguration
Protesters hold signs in support of climate science, among other causes, where people exiting Trumpโ€™s inauguration cameย out.

On Trumpโ€™s inauguration day, signs expressing concern about the environment were carried at protests around the city staged by DisruptJ20, a coalition of activist groups, as well as at the Womenโ€™s March the following day. Their messages ranged from protectingย the EPA to dumping Trumpโ€™s science-denying cabinetย picks.ย 

A protester holds a sign reading 'Facts matter.'
Signs at the Womenโ€™s March on Washington carried messages reinforcingย the importance of facts, data, and science toย society.

The day after the march, Trumpโ€™s senior adviser Kellyanne Conway defended press secretary Sean Spicer, who lied about the crowd size at the inauguration; he was merely offering upย โ€œalternative facts,โ€ she said. On the same day, 500 Women Scientists published an open letter to President Trump that stressed the importance ofย facts.ย 

โ€œWe either thrive together or we fail together. American innovation and advancement over the next four years depends on your support,โ€ the letter states, but since science relies on facts,ย the tentative hope many of the women scientists expressed at the march may be shortย lived.

A male supporter at the Women's March holds a sign showing the 'development of man' and its devolvement.
A man at the Womenโ€™s March on Washington holds a sign indicating backward progress in attitudes toward science and otherย issues.ย 

A woman marcher holds a sign reading 'Mother Earth deserves better.'
One of many signs showing support for the environment and science which were carried by people who participated in the Womenโ€™s March onย Washington.

An aerospace engineer holds his pro-science, anti-Trump protest sign in front of the White House
Kristopher Holgerson, an aerospace engineer based in Danbury, Connecticut, in front of the White House after the Womenโ€™s March onย Washington.

Women scientists hold a 'We heart data' sign ahead of the Women's March.
Women scientists show an appreciation for data as they gather before the Womenโ€™s March in D.C. the day after Trumpโ€™sย inauguration.

Marchers hold signs on the National Mall, including one calling for regulating carbon dioxide
Participants in the Womenโ€™s March on Washington congregate with their signs on the National Mall before the marchย began.

Mural in support of Standing Rock painted and taped to a temporary wood wall
A mural supporting Standing Rock and the fight against the Dakota Access pipeline was created on temporary walls put up in D.C.’s McPherson Squareย Park.ย 

Director Josh Fox holds his camera above his head to shoot the actions of protesters
Gasland director Josh Fox filming an impromptu DisruptJ20 march, which was a movement meant to stymie Trumpโ€™s swearing in and related activities, on Inaugurationย Day.

Protesters hold signs against racism, sexism, homophobia, and more.
Participants in a movement called DisruptJ20 take to the streets the night of Trumpโ€™s inauguration in an attempt to shut down activities related toย it.

A Standing Rock supporter holds a megaphone next to riot police
An advocate for clean water who was at Standing Rock, known as a โ€œwater protector,โ€ talks to riot police after they had dispersed a crowd that was gathered around aย fire.

Protesters urge the Senate to reject science-denying Cabinet nominees
Participants in the DisruptJ20 movement, aimed at shutting down the inauguration and related activities, express their disapproval of several Trump Cabinet picks at the Washingtonย Monument.

A woman holds an anti-fracking sign at the Women's March.
Signs at the Womenโ€™s March on Washington also displayed anti-fracking, pro-climate actionย messages.

Two children play with signs left after the Women's March
Young Ben and Cora Ebinger fromย Minneapolis, Minnesota, play with signs left across from the White House after the Womenโ€™s March onย Washington.

Main image:ย One woman’s sign calls toย โ€œSave the EPAโ€ย during a rally before the Womenโ€™s March on Washington the day after Trump’sย inauguration.

Julie-Dermansky-022
Julie Dermansky is a multimedia reporter and artist based in New Orleans. She is an affiliate scholar at Rutgers Universityโ€™s Center for the Study of Genocide and Human Rights. Visit her website at www.jsdart.com.

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