On April 22 , coinciding with World Earth Day , more than one million Americans took the streets for the so-called " March for Science ," a celebration of scientific activity that took a political turn this year.
Trump came to power by excluding scientific knowledge from his political decisions. He promised, and complied, to leave the Paris Agreement against climate change. In addition, he has demanded that numerous environmental regulations are eliminated in the interest of economic competitiveness .
The most significant gesture, however, was his decision to put the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) at the forefront of Scott Pruitt , a renowned climate denier. Not only that, this institution, together with health, science, and technology research agencies are most affected by the cuts in the proposed budget for 2018 .
Trump has been characterized by misinformation, fallacious ideas about science and decisions that have horrified the scientific community.
"If they are imposed, the cuts would severely damage energy technology innovation in the US, as well as the expectations that this country would be able to do its part in reducing the emissions of greenhouse gases ,” said to EL UNIVERSAL John Holdren , a professor at Harvard and former chief adviser in science and technology during Barack Obama 's administration.
For Holdren, Trump's scientific decisions are based on "a combination of ignorance and far right ideology ." He explained that removing the funds will affect the initial phase of all R&D projects , which basically feed on federal money, which in turn will slow down or make it impossible to start new research to find more effective therapies and even the cure for Alzheimer, Parkinson, all types of cancer, flu and diabetes , among others diseases.
The construction of the wall on the Mexican border also has environmental effects . "This outrageous proposal only reveals the demagogy and irresponsibility that characterized the Trump campaign. The idea that this crazy project will allow ignoring environmental regulations and concerns simply adds to the indignation," he concluded.
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