The American Geophysical Union (AGU), an organization of 60,000 earth and space scientists from across the globe, is holding its annual meeting this week in San Francisco. More than 26,000 members have convened to present research and get updated on topics like space exploration, global water resources, natural hazards, weather patterns, and climate change. But  one very unscientific topic is also on the minds of participants: the upcoming Trump presidency. 

It’s been a tough couple of weeks for the scientific community, especially climate scientists.

Trump has announced a host of environment-unfriendly appointments to his cabinet and federal agencies, including Scott Pruitt, a climate change denier, as the head of the EPA; Rex Tillerson, the CEO of ExxonMobil, as secretary of state; and most recently, former Texas governor Rick Perry as the head of the Department of Energy (an agency he once suggested should be abolished). The Trump transition team also requested a list of professionals in the Department of Energy who have worked on climate change, raising the chilling specter of purges throughout the federal government. 

These are just some of the reasons hundreds of scientists left the AGU conference at noon on Tuesday, December 14, to attend a lunchtime rally organized by Climatetruth.org and the Natural History Museum. Protesters wore lab coats and held signs with memorable slogans like “Ice doesn’t have an agenda. It just melts.” Sierra was there talking with organizers, scientists, and activists. Here are a few of them, in their own words, on why we all need to stand up for science. 

Kim Cobb, climate scientist

“There’s this conception in the scientific community that if we just do good work, that’s our best defense against the attacks on climate science, and obviously that’s not true. We’re seeing that unfold every day right now. So organizing and getting out here en masse is absolutely critical. 

I’ve studied the temperature extremes that have impacted the coral bleaching in the remote tropical Pacific this year. Diving on those reefs was a huge wake-up call for me. In fact, I was there when the news came through that Trump had won. That was one of those life moments I’ll never forget. A lot of my peers want to draw a firm line in the sand between science and advocacy. But we don’t have the luxury of sitting back and not having our voice being heard. I’m worried about witch-hunts of climate scientists. I’m horrified at the prospects for dramatically reduced funding. These are some of the truly nightmarish scenarios that will cripple our ability as a nation to confront this climate challenge. There is a way forward on climate change. We can develop solutions that are amenable to both liberals and conservatives. If we don’t start talking, though, we won’t be getting there anytime soon.”  

 
David Karabelnikoff, Idle No More Bay Area 

“My grandfather was the first Alaska Native to earn an engineering degree from the University of Alaska in 1938. This was before they took the “No dogs, no Natives” signs down at the state’s capitol. I grew up watching Star Trek, and I felt that science-based decision-making was always going to be best. I think that the scientific community is going to have to take much more of the approach that indigenous people have taken to protect their language and knowledge. Look at Standing Rock, where tens of thousands of people came together to stand in solidarity. We have grown into a national movement. If we can bring the indigenous, activist, and scientific communities together, I think we can form a coalition that will outlast the Trump administration. That is what I’m here for.”  

 
Naomi Oreskes, geologist and author of Merchants of Doubt

“We’re witnessing the federal government being handed over to the fossil fuel industry. As bad as things have been for climate scientists in the past, nobody thought it could get this bad. Scientists would like to be left alone to do their science. But we’ve been forced into this situation by the attacks on our work, by the flagrant misrepresentation of science by the Trump transition team. There are members of the EPA transition team that have harassed and sued our own people. We have been in court defending fundamental basic scientific data and information—we’re not talking about defending a policy, we’re talking about scientists who are being harassed just for the simple fact of having done science. Right now we’re just getting these scientists to stand up and be counted and to say, ‘We’re scientists. We do science. And we want to use that information to protect people from harm.’ That’s what this is really about. If we drill for oil in the Arctic, if we hand over the State Department to Rex Tillerson and ExxonMobil, a small number of people are going to become wildly wealthy and the rest of us are going to lose big." 

 
Brant Olson, Climatetruth.org 

“I’m most worried about losing the connection between sound policy-making and science. Here at the AGU, where you’ve got 26,000 scientists converging from all different disciplines, you really get a sense of how committed the community is to debate over the facts. Empirical research is such an essential part of the work that is done in Washington, D.C. I think everyone here recognizes that that connection is increasingly tenuous. Partly because of the disinformation and intimidation campaigns that have been waged by a number of groups over the years, many scientists are nervous to stick their necks out and be vocal, so this event is really about showing that the public has the back of the scientific community. We’re not going to stand for the Trump administration intimidating our scientists. We’re here; we’re standing in solitary together.” 

Leila Salazar-López, Amazon Watch

“The Amazon—the most biologically diverse rainforest, the engine of our global weather system—is at a tipping point. It could face ecological collapse by 2020. I know there’s a lot of doomsday scenarios right now, but that’s our doomsday scenario. We can’t afford the dialogue about reducing emissions. It’s about stopping extraction. We have some major challenges right now but we have some hope in the fact that indigenous people are standing strong in defending their territories. There is a prophecy in indigenous cosmology that after 500 years of colonization, there will be a joining of the eagle and the condor, the people of the north and the people of the south. Just over the last few years I’ve seen it happening. At the climate conference, at the IUCN conference, at the Convention of Biological Diversity, at all these global and international conferences. For too long the voice of indigenous people was not valued as truth among scientists. I think that’s changed. Now people are starting to listen. I gain strength today from all the scientists saying, ‘Get out of the lab. Get into the streets.’” 

Beka Economopoulos, The Natural History Museum

“We are living in a fake news, anti-science, anti-knowledge moment. The incoming administration and Congress are proposing to gut science funding, pull out of the Paris climate agreement, derail the clean power plan, appoint climate deniers to the EPA, and make the CEO of Exxon the secretary of state—all of this has very serious implications for real people and communities and for the planet. There have been a number of efforts by scientists in the wake of the election like creating petitions, and sign-on letters, but we really wanted to make scientist-led organizing and resisting visible and send a strong message to the world. The AGU conference is the perfect backdrop for us to bring scientists and indigenous leaders and community groups that are on the front lines of climate change to all stand together and demonstrate that this is a growing movement. You’ll be hearing from us in the coming months and years.”