Science is in the (White) House
Three years ago, my husband and I participated in our local 4th of July parade, a stars-and-stripes spectacle of kids, adults, and—of course—dogs, celebrating freedom and community in the chair-lined streets. We’d been invited to join a small group of peace activists marching to promote positive change, most of us carrying placards made with poster board and markers.
In the spirit of the March for Science that had occurred a few months prior, Robert carried a fluorescent green sign bearing the words “Science is Patriotic” penned in red and blue. The sign is still taped to the wall of our garage, where we build survey equipment for wolverines and other carnivores so we can better understand their needs.
I’ve been thinking about this motto a lot lately, and its profound implications at a time when Americans suffer the devastating blows of COVID-19.
I pictured Robert’s sign, for example, when I watched Dr. Fauci stand before the TV cameras and implore people to wear masks because science now tells us this simple act will save lives.
I visualized that bright placard, too—albeit in a darker hue—when I heard our nation’s leader mock Joe Biden because he would “listen to the scientists” if he were put in charge of managing the pandemic.
As if NOT listening to scientists hadn’t gotten us here in the first place.
As if NOT listening to scientists in the midst of a pandemic weren’t treacherous and misanthropic behavior.
As if NOT listening to scientists as we tackle the other global crises of our day—climate change, species extinction, deforestation; the list goes on—is in any way an option.
I view science as a vital lens through which we must examine the natural world and work to protect it. Given my deeply held beliefs, I’ve found the anti-science diatribe of the last four years to be, frankly, exhausting.
How can we address climate change if one of the most powerful people in the world doesn’t value science?
How can our youth feel invested in science if the President of the United States disparages it at every turn?
How can scientists like Robert, who worked hard to earn a doctoral degree because he thought it would matter, feel like their voices are being heard if politicians make a concerted decision NOT to listen?
Science needs help, of course; it doesn’t operate in a vacuum. As Marc Bekoff put it in his book Rewilding Our Hearts, “Science alone doesn’t hold the answers to the current crisis nor does it get people to feel compassion or to act differently.”
Indeed, to address our most complex and divisive ecological problems, we must engage sociologists and cultural leaders, psychologists and teachers, economists and preachers, poets and journalists—every critical thinker across the globe.
But without science to enhance our knowledge and inform our decisions, we’re spinning through the universe without a tether.
Said another way: We ignore the wisdom of scientists at our own peril.
I’m sure it comes as no surprise that I felt the weight of a thousand polar bears lifted off my shoulders when I tuned in to Biden’s victory speech on Saturday night, sitting in front of the fire and nursing a weeks-old headache.
Still reeling from the news that the Trump Administration wants to initiate seismic testing in the Arctic Refuge ASAP, I had to breathe in the moment when Harris told a parking lot full of masked supporters and the entire nation she loves:
For four years, you marched and organized for equality and justice, for our lives, and for our planet. And then, you voted. And you delivered a clear message. You chose hope and unity, decency, science and, yes, truth.
And only days after Trump ended federal protections for wolves, my burning eyes filled with tears when Biden asked and then answered:
What is our mandate? I believe it’s this: Americans have called upon us to marshal the forces of decency, the forces of fairness, to marshal the forces of science and the forces of hope in the great battles of our time.
“This is the time to heal in America,” Biden also pronounced.
Yes, America, this is our time to heal—and to redouble our efforts to help heal the planet. Soon, science will once again be embraced as part of the national conversation, and it’s essential that we listen.
Because science is patriotic, and we are all citizens of the earth.