WASHINGTON, Feb 20 (APP): Hundreds of scientists staged a rally in
the city of Boston to urge the Trump administration to accept reality on issues such as climate change, adding another voice of dissent to the policies of newly elected President Donald Trump.
The event, called the Rally to Stand Up for Science, was organized by
the Natural History Museum, ClimateTruth.org and a number of other groups, and its timing was coincided with the annual meeting the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) also being held in Boston.
Participants of the rally held different posters to vent their
frustration over the policies of the new administration, including on the issue of immigration which has become a dominant issue across the country.
“Science and education are the future, and denying that denies us a
future,” said Perry Hatchfield, a PhD student in physics at the University of Connecticut, who held an “Immigrants Make Science Great” sign.
President Trump, soon after taking over the charge, issued an executive
order to ban travel from seven Muslim countries as part of his strategy to clampdown on terrorism. He has also expedited processes to deport illegal immigrants.
But the ban has since been stayed by several federal courts. Media
reports said on Sunday that the Trump administration is set to unveil new policy measures that will seek to reinforce ban but excluding green card holders.
The earlier ban was also applicable on those green card holders, or
permanent residents, who were in any of the seven countries under ban, and could not return due to the new orders.
President Trump has cast aside the issue of climate change as a hoax and
has said it would undo the historic Paris Climate Agreement, a cause that was espoused by former President Obama.
After assuming the office, Trump has said he had an “open mind” on
the issue, but his appointment of anti-climate people to lead the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Energy indicates that Trump is unlikely to change his views on climate.
The organizers of the scientist rally said that the gathering was the
first one and that similar protests will be held in future.
“Science is Real,” read a placard held by Anne Rookey, an IT manager
from the area Who said that the participants in the rally represented a range of political views here, but were united in “our confidence in science and evidence-based investigation”.
“Those organizing the event cited not only the issue of climate
change, on which Trump and his appointees have often challenged the scientific consensus that it is mostly caused by humans, but also charged that there has been “muzzling” of scientists and that research data has been deleted by his administration,” according to a report carried out by the Washington Post.