Throughout the past week people have flocked to the streets in numbers reminiscent of the women’s marches earlier this year. This time, however, people were protesting the supposed anti-science policies of President Donald J. Trump. These people were specifically outraged over the massive funding cuts to the Environmental Protection Agency (E.P.A.) and the National Parks Service, based upon the mistaken claims that the environment does not need protection and that the National Parks do not need servicing. Of the many signs they paraded, a personal favorite was the one saying “Trump is so bad he got a bunch of nerds to go out during allergy season.” Needless to say, this is totally accurate, as April is considered the worst month for allergies, and Trump’s policies in relation to the environment and science in general leave a  lot to be desired.

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I always support people expressing their concerns with their government; I think it’s a very important right, and honestly, I agree with the protester’s opinion on this issue.

— freshman Robin Garrido

These marches took place nationwide, and some even took place on the international community, such as some in Canada and Australia. The protesters we made up largely of people working with or in the scientific community, such as researchers or university students, as well as people that simply wanted an excuse to protest President Trump. As can be seen by their coverage in the media, as well as on media sites like Imgur and Reddit, whose users are the marches have excellently done their job of bringing attention to President Trump’s policies that oppose known science.

“Protesting is a fundamental part of our democracy, and the scientific protests are no different. If people have something that they are concerned about and they feel that their government is not doing what they ask, they can try to help the government move in a direction that they want, but ultimately, I find that these protests usually end up fizzling out, because as they are often organised on social media, they are quick to occur, but they also die more quickly. In the end, however, protesting is a fundamental part of our democracy and I think it is always a good idea,” sophomore Samuel White said.

Although some may say that these people are protesting simply because of the policymaker rather than policies themselves, this is both absolutely fine and untrue. People are allowed to and it is widespread enough that it might be in the category of “socially acceptable” to protest a leader. This has been bin uncomfortably clear through the nonstop marches going on worldwide in the days following Trump’s inauguration. In addition, the policies are clearly designed with the intent of ignoring or removing the E.P.A., especially as its current head has always been a staunch advocate for its discontinuation.

To conclude, President Trump’s policies that affect the environment or agencies that affect or protect the environment have angered people to the “march in the streets” level. In addition, his policies have been very clearly placed in opposition to most known science regarding the environment. Plus, as someone pointed out, the policies got a bunch of nerds to go out during allergy season.