Newly inaugurated President Donald Trump better have remembered an umbrella during his transition into the White House, because a hail storm of passionate opposition is headed his way. Riding on the heels of the monumental Women’s March on Washington are plans to organize yet another march, this time in the name of promoting science and scientific endeavors. Billing themselves as the March for Science, this rapidly growing group seeks to combat the anti-environmental rhetoric Trump and his administration have frequently disclosed.
Throughout his rise to fame Trump has made many questionable remarks in regards to climate change, perhaps most frequently cited is the laughable Tweet in which Trump posits, “The concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive.”
Trump later claimed the Tweet was a joke but his stance on climate change since has been anything but comforting to the scientific community that is in enormous agreement on its existence. Eighteen different scientific associations including American Association for the Advancement of Science and U.S. National Academy of Sciences, have made statements that resound in their support of measures to diminish the effects of human activity on greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.
An exact date for the March for Science has not yet been released but the organizers plan to release a statement with more details on January 30. The rapid increase in interest of the march is a testament to the rising resentment of Trump and the resistance of his anti-environmental beliefs. If this march is even a fraction of the Women’s March on Washington it is sure to garner widespread attention.
In reflection of these recent events the question arises; will the marches ever end? Or will the next four years unfold measured by the succession of their protests. Though the answer may not be clear, it is transparent that there is a deep divide in America, one that will not be easily healed.