People across the globe gathered in more than 600 demonstrations, including one in New Orleans, for the March for Science on April 22. The event was intended to be a nonpartisan gathering of people who care about the promotion of policy based in scientific evidence for public security. In a time when our government appears to be denying scientific research, the March for Science places a critical matter to the forefront of public policy conversations.

Since his election in November, President Donald Trump has advocated for legislation which contradicts years of research into the detrimental environmental and health impacts of climate change. His proposals have included cuts to the Environmental Protection Agency and the National Institute of Health, threatening major organizations that attempt to help our planet and health. For this reason, the coordinators for the March for Science wanted a large-scale event that would emphasize the importance of science in our daily lives.

Protests in support of facts that are taught to children should not be necessary.

With so many looming threats to science-based policies, we must remember the role science plays in our lives every day. It affects everything, from the cars we drive to the food we eat. As experts continue to learn more about our world, policy must adapt to our developing needs and knowledge.

The impact that basic science has on environmental policy is evident in New Orleans and throughout coastal regions of Louisiana. Science helped create methods to clean up the British Petroleum oil spill in 2010. Science explains why people are protesting the proposed Bayou Bridge Pipeline that threatens Louisiana wetlands. Science is the reason environmental specialists try to fight climate change, which would prevent sea levels from rising and trapping New Orleans under water.

As Tulane students, we must understand the impact that science-based policy, like environmental policy, has on our city. The March for Science brought awareness so that we all start paying more attention to these issues that can hurt us, issues that our current administration has been neglecting. In New Orleans, ignoring science is a threat to our livelihoods.

Though the March for Science is over, the message it sent cannot fade. We need to keep pushing for the promotion of scientific research in order to formulate policies that will help our planet and our health. Tulane students should remember this message. We are the future. Our security is at risk, but it will soon be in our control.

This is an opinion article and does not reflect the views of The Tulane Hullabaloo. Daniel is a junior at the Newcomb-Tulane College and can be reached at [email protected].