Mar 9, 2017 02:53 AM
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/next/body/science-march/
EXCERPT: In lecture halls packed to overflowing at the nation’s biggest science conference in Boston, the buzz wasn’t all about a new discovery, but political activism.
Underlying many of the sessions at this year’s American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Annual Meeting was a central preoccupation and worry: how should scientists respond to looming challenges posed by the new administration’s policy statements and threatened cuts to the budgets of agencies such as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency?
One answer was public protest, as hundreds of scientists took to the streets and attended the “Stand Up for Science Rally” in Copley Square half a mile from the conference—a dry run for the national March for Science in Washington planned for Earth Day on April 22.
Yet not all scientists agree on the push for public protest. Many openly question whether political activism “crosses the line” and endangers their credibility and objectivity. And if scientists do march and lobby, will they merely stiffen resistance to hearing evidence that should inform the nation’s policy makers?
Today’s dilemma is far from unique...
EXCERPT: In lecture halls packed to overflowing at the nation’s biggest science conference in Boston, the buzz wasn’t all about a new discovery, but political activism.
Underlying many of the sessions at this year’s American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Annual Meeting was a central preoccupation and worry: how should scientists respond to looming challenges posed by the new administration’s policy statements and threatened cuts to the budgets of agencies such as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency?
One answer was public protest, as hundreds of scientists took to the streets and attended the “Stand Up for Science Rally” in Copley Square half a mile from the conference—a dry run for the national March for Science in Washington planned for Earth Day on April 22.
Yet not all scientists agree on the push for public protest. Many openly question whether political activism “crosses the line” and endangers their credibility and objectivity. And if scientists do march and lobby, will they merely stiffen resistance to hearing evidence that should inform the nation’s policy makers?
Today’s dilemma is far from unique...
