Extra

I was at one of the hundreds of marches last weekend in which hundreds of thousands of scientists, researchers, and evidence nerds took the time and made the effort to express their support for the use of science in our society, and to express dismay at the anti-science policies being promoted by the president and Republicans in Congress. As one marcher's sign succinctly announced, "You know the problem is dire when this many introverts come out to march." 

What problem? Trump's budget proposes reducing funding for environmental protection, for health research, for global monitoring of our planet's climate change. Trump's executive orders prohibit Federal employees from even mentioning the words "global climate change." As if pretending it doesn't exist will make it go away.  

"Science" is a method of observing phenomena and carefully testing opinions and assumptions about them, to know what is true and real. Evidence is the best basis for making governmental policy, yet this Republican-controlled government doesn't even want to collect evidence for informed policymaking.  

That is why so many science-minded introverts were in the streets last weekend. The survival of a habitable Earth, as