In the wake of President Donald Trump’s administration’s recently proposed environmental policy changes, University of Mississippi biology faculty members are speaking out against the White House’s stance on climate change and its causes.
Tiffany Bensen, professor of environmental biology, said climate change is not a debatable issue – it’s scientific fact.
Five days after Trump’s inauguration, his administration announced any studies or data from scientists at the Environmental Protection Agency will be reviewed before being released to the public. These politically appointed reviewers will also have jurisdiction over the EPA’s online content (including the scientific evidence showing Earth’s climate is warming due to manmade carbon emissions), according to the Associated Press. Senior Trump campaign adviser Bob Walker also revealed plans to lower funding for NASA’s Earth science division, which focuses on climate change research.
“[Other countries are] going to despise and question the intelligence of the American people for electing the current administration,” Sara Liljegren said.
Liljegren said she fears the Trump administration will withdraw the United States from the Paris Agreement. The Paris Agreement is a component of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, which strengthened previous international climate guidelines and added financial aspects to international climate control.
One-hundred and twenty-nine countries have ratified the agreement acknowledging mankind’s contributions to Earth’s warming climate.
“It’s pretty settled that climate change is real. The evidence and data are indisputable,” Bensen said. “They can come up with all kinds of reasons … but the relationship between carbon emissions and temperature increase is tight.”
Clifford Ochs said he began teaching biology at Ole Miss more than 20 years ago. He said he thinks students’ opinions toward climate change have improved since he began teaching here.
“My impression is that students – in particular – are more receptive to the topic of climate change than they were 15 years ago,” Ochs said. “The public takes climate change more seriously, despite what the president might have said.”
Scientists like Bensen and Ochs decided to follow the lead set by the hundreds of women who marched last month and organized their own protest of the new administration’s environmental policies. The March for Science will take place on Earth Day, April 22. Science fans can find more information on Facebook, Instagram and the website https://www.marchforscience.com.
Liljegren says she supports the cause of the march.
“I’ve never gone to a protest in my life, but there is a march being organized similar to the Women’s March,” Liljegren said.
For scientists like Bensen, the call to action has never been louder. Bensen said she has written to her congressman and visited the Mississippi State Senate offices to voice her grave concerns.
“I’ve been more politically active in the last three to six weeks than I have ever been in my entire life. We are facing an administration that is very threatening on all sorts of fronts,” Bensen said. “Scientists are rising to the occasion.”
This article was produced by students in an upper-level journalism class.
