Letter to the editor

Dear Editor,

Just 4 drops of water – my wife, my daughters, and I – trying to fill a huge bucket.  We went to Portland last Saturday to March for Science.  And there we were joined by about a thousand others, and we filled it. 

You should have seen it. Congress Street was packed with marchers from all across southern Maine. Carrying signs like: “Make America Think Again” and “Democrat or Republican - Air Don’t Care” and “Science Expensive? Try ignorance!”  

Everyone was marching in defense of Mother Science - demanding respect for facts and evidence and scientific approaches to writing legislation and solving problems.  

You may not have seen it if you only watched the “Big 3” national newscasts, even though hundreds of thousands Marched for Science in more than 600 locations all across the world. More than 15,000 turned out in Washington, DC alone. A handful even turned out in Antarctica and underwater at the Wake Island atoll. But the “Big 3’s” weekend political talk a shows - CBS’ Face the Nation, ABC’s This Week, and NBC’s Meet the Press - didn’t even mention the marches.

The marches were all over the internet, however.  If you want to see what happened at the various marches, Google “March for Science” or go to one of the March for Science Facebook sites.  

Portland, Maine has one, and in addition to photos and video of the march, it also provides access to the speeches given at the end of the march. In one of those, Cicy Po, award winning science teacher at Portland’s Catholic high school, Cheverus, who challenged the view that “Religion is the enemy of science,” explained why we were all there: “Today, we march for science as a way to secure greater good for all.”

This coming weekend, I’ll be marching again: This time for the environment.  I realize that has confused many people: Why march for Science one weekend and a Peoples’ Climate March the following weekend?  But that was the point, to make it clear that it’s not just climate science that’s under attack and in need of defense right now. The current administration has also been dismissing, rejecting, and attacking scientific principles overall.  

But this weekend, it is climate’s turn to take the focus.  So, come march with me again; this time at 10 a.m. in Augusta.  Come be a snowflake or a drop in a bucket.  And if enough of us show up, maybe we’ll be able to fill the bucket once again. 

Gordon Street

Raymond, ME