Standing Up for Science

PRESENTED BY CONTENT FOR POTENTIAL REMOVAL

At noon, scientists are standing up against the Trump-Musk coup, gathering in front of the Lincoln Memorial for a massive rally throughout the afternoon. The cavalcade of speakers includes Dr. Atul Gawande, the Assistant Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development for Global Health until this January; Dr. Francis Collins, the director of the National Institutes of Health until last week; Nobelist Dr. Victor Ambros, one of the discoverers of mRNA; former Sen. Bill Nelson, the NASA Administrator until January; Dr. Gretchen Goldman, the president of the Union of Concerned Scientists; climate scientist and GOP antagonist Michael Mann; Rep. Bill Foster (D-Ill.), a physicist; Sen. Chris Van Hollen and Reps. Glenn Ivey and Jamie Raskin of Maryland; Rep Suhas Subramanyam (Va.); former GOP Rep. Fred Upton of Michigan; and dozens of top scientists, medical researchers, and science and health advocates from around the country.

If you can’t get down to the Lincoln Memorial or one of the many rallies taking place across the United States and Europe today, you can watch the livestream and post on social media using #standupforscience2025.

Also at noon, people are rallying at the Foggy Bottom Metro stop in front of the Department of State to save the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), the international HIV/AIDS treatment program established by George W. Bush that protects over 1000 babies a day from contracting HIV. Trump’s quisling Secretary of State Marco Rubio keeps claiming the program hasn’t been killed, but the reality is harsh. PEPFAR depends on USAID funds and administration, and the wanton destruction of USAID is unleashing a tsunami of misery and death.

On the destroying science front, Trump’s Interior Secretary Doug Burgum is dismantling the Department of Interior’s advisory committees on scientific quality and integrity, climate adaptation science, public lands rules, and more, reports Jacob Carter, one of the scientists on the science integrity committee.

Trump’s EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin has illegally frozen $20 billion in committed funds from the Inflation Reduction Act for green banks sitting in a Citibank account. Senior DOJ prosecutor Denise Cheung resigned last month when commanded to launch a criminal investigation into the program. Judge John McConnell yesterday ordered the regime to end its broad funding freeze, but it’s unclear what will happen.

The Trump regime is working to censor all communications from the federal government, issuing a list of flagged words including “history,” “culture,” “dignity,” “respect,” and “justice” to help their team of neo-Nazi propagandists resegregate the federal government. The U.S. Constitution (“establish Justice”) and the Declaration of Indepence (“all men are created equal”) fall afoul of these treasonous guidelines. How long before these same rules are enforced on what the American people are allowed to say?

Meanwhile, at Trump’s command, DC Mayor Muriel Bowser is clearing homeless encampments and planning to painting over Black Lives Matter Plaza.

House Minority (not Opposition) Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) personally castigated Reps. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas), Maxwell Frost (D-Fla.), Melanie Stansbury (D-N.M.), Maxine Dexter (D-Ore.), and other patriotic leaders after they successfully mocked Trump’s address on Tuesday.

Indivisible’s Leah Greenberg and Ezra Levin have more to say on how to deal with the Congressional Democrats.

In the meantime I would like to extend a personal apology for defending Jeffries’ leadership. I was wrong!

Climate Action Today:

• 12 PM: Union of Concerned Scientists
  Stand Up For Science

• 12 PM: Fork Off Coalition
  Rally for PEPFAR: Save Babies From HIV

Thanks for subscribing and spreading the word. If you’ve got job listings, event listings, or other hot news, I want to hear it. Connect with me—@[email protected], @climatebrad on Threads, and @climatebrad.hillheat.com on BlueSky.