Thanks to Trump, Scientists Are Planning to Run For Office

unicornempire:

berniesrevolution:

For American science, the next four years look to be challenging. The newly inaugurated President Trump, and many of his Cabinet picks, have repeatedly cast doubt upon the reality of human-made climate change, questioned the repeatedly proven safety of vaccines. Since the inauguration, the administration has already frozen grants and contracts by the Environmental Protection Agency and gagged researchers at the US Department of Agriculture. Many scientists are asking themselves: What can I do?

And the answer from a newly formed group called 314 Action is: Get elected.

The organization, named after the first three digits of pi, is a political action committee that was created to support scientists in running for office. It’s the science version of Emily’s List, which focuses on pro-choice female candidates, or VoteVets, which backs war veterans. “A lot of scientists traditionally feel that science is above politics but we’re seeing that politics is not above getting involved in science,” says founder Shaughnessy Naughton. 

“We’re losing, and the only way to stop that is to get more people with scientific backgrounds at the table.”

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This is amazing. There are so many scientists being hurt by Trump right now, and I know they are heartbroken and not sure what to do for the future. I’ve seen so many posts about people talking about how they are saddled with debt and now their jobs have simply vanished out from under them, with no chance of getting back on their feet. If you’re in this boat, get into politics! 

Thanks to Trump, Scientists Are Planning to Run For Office