On Earth Day, Saturday April 22nd, March for Science Chicago will be held, and with it a strong message sent to our leaders in Washington D.C. Over 45,000+ are expected to attend the event, which runs from 10am to 3pm, to rally and march in support of science.
The flagship march will take place in our nation’s capital, and approximately 500+ other rallies will occur all around the world. The event is being organized to show support for the scientific community, recognize how science serves society at-large and promote an approach to governing that leverages peer-reviewed, evidence-based policy making.
The results of the Presidential election in November spotlight the backlash against expertise and even just basic facts currently present in our country. There is a serious strain of anti-intellectualism prevalent within the establishment and an overt war on basic truth pervasive in American society right now.
March for Science Chicago is a chance to show support to the person who advocates doing their homework and values being informed. The new administration brought in a Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, who was CEO of ExxonMobil, one of the environment’s biggest adversaries, for the past 11 years.
If that wasn’t environmental unfriendly enough, the choice to head the Environmental Protection Agency, Scott Pruitt. proudly described himself as “a leading advocate against the EPA’s activist agenda.”
When you have climate change deniers like this in power, the assault on basic science only grows stronger.
April is the month in which the “Go Green” movement is traditionally spotlighted, so while March for Science Chicago is a very big tent, climate change will no doubt be one of the central themes on Saturday.
It’s going to become even more of a hot button issue this summer, as the sequel to Al Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth” will be released on July 28th.
Last week’s Tax March Chicago drew 2-4,000 (here is a collection of some of the more interesting protest signs at this link), while the Chicago edition of the Women’s March in January drew about 250,000 (photos of the signs at this URL).
The size of March for Science Chicago projects to be somewhere in the middle.
#whysciencematters #ScienceMarch #ScienceMarchChi #ScienceMarchchicago cc @laurenlizreed @FalconsFans_CHI @Holly_Brooke7 pic.twitter.com/HDOtnnwB3T
— Paul M. Banks (@PaulMBanks) January 27, 2017
March for Science Chicago Details
Hash tags: #MFSChi #chisciencecity #takeastandforscience
Website: sciencemarchchicago.org
Twitter handle:
https://twitter.com/ScienceMarchCHI/status/854681375340990466
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, partnered with FOX Sports Engage Network. and News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times and NBC Chicago.com, contributes to Chicago Tribune.com, Bold, WGN CLTV and KOZN.
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