March for Science Draws a Friendly Crowd in Chehalis

Earth Day took on a different tone this year as the inaugural March for Science grabbed center stage in cities across the nation and outposts around the globe. 

The epicenter of the event took place in Washington, D.C., where it is estimated that roughly a half million people turned out in poor weather to voice their support for scientific inquiry and the implementation of those findings to guide political policy. 

The movement spawned 600 satellite events around the globe, including a 5,000 person turnout at the state Capitol in Olympia. In Chehalis, the turnout was significantly smaller, but the enthusiasm was palpable. 

On Saturday, roughly 75 people turned up at the Vernetta Smith Chehalis Timberland Library for the two-hour, family-friendly demonstration in support of science. Organizer Cheryl Hammer said the turnout was just about what she expected, but hypothesized that if the weather had cooperated a little better the crowd likely would have been larger. 

As it was, the fickle weather threatened to put a damper on the event all morning before finally unleashing windswept raindrops from angry black clouds just prior to 1 p.m.

There were several local organizations represented at the March for Science in Chehalis, including the Chehalis River Basin Land Trust and the Lewis County Beekeepers Association, but most of the turnout was comprised of individual citizens and families.

Carol Majewski was one demonstrator in attendance at the March for Science in Chehalis. It was an extra special day for the Toledo resident as Majewski was not only celebrating Earth Day and the guiding principles of science, but also her birthday. She said that she remembers the very first Earth Day event of 1970 when the bulk of the effort was focused toward hands-on work to clean up the air, landscapes and waterways.

“A lot of that has happened since then, but in 1970 we didn’t know what we were doing by putting so much carbon in the air. We’re in a different phase with Earth Day now,” said Majewski, who held a sign that read “Protect our Scientists. They protect Us.”

Majewski even brought her adult daughter along for the pro-science demonstration and outfitted her with a relationship appropriate sign to wave at drivers and pedestrians trekking to and from in front of the Library. The sign her daughter dutifully toted read, “There is No Planet B ... Love Your Mother!”

Majewski tried her best to walk the line of nonpartisan support of science that was drawn by event organizers but she could not help stating her concern for the number of scientific-based agencies that have already received, or are currently facing, substantial cuts by the new federal administration. “I mean, my goodness. There is a reason that we have all of these agencies. They are here to protect us,” said Majewski.

Jeff Landrum was another local resident who was inspired to turn out for the March for Science with his family in tow. Landrum has a master’s degree in geology and uses his scientific training in his work as a consultant, but mostly he employs scientific principles in his work at home in Winlock, where he raises grass-fed beef and cider apples for market. 

Sporting a pink crocheted brain hat that a friend made special for the March for Science, Landrum and his well adorned children wound up as the best dressed at the event. Landrum’s son Peter, 5, showed up dressed as Bill Nye the Science Guy while his daughter Jane, 2, sported an outfit inspired by Rachel Carson, author of “Silent Spring.” 

“I brought my kids because I want them to know a world that values science and the exploration of scientific ideas in public policy and everyday life,” said Landrum. “I think it’s really important that our children value science.”

Landrum noted that he was inspired by the energetic turnout in Chehalis as well as the success of the global event as a whole. “The fact that people are taking an interest in science is a good thing,” said Landrum. “More than anything science is a process of questioning and understanding the world and it has helped humanity in so many ways.”

Congressional candidate Peter Harrison was also at the March for Science in Chehalis. Harrison is a Democrat trained in biology and chemistry who logged a career in computer science before retiring to a life of politics. He is hoping to unseat Jaime Herrera Beutler from Washington’s 3rd Congressional District during 2018’s election. One of Harrison’s main quibbles with Herrera Beutler is that she is “not pro-science.”

Breaking the request to keep things politically neutral, Harrison noted House Resolution 14.31, also known as the EPA Science Advisory Board Reform Act of 2017, as evidence that Herrera Beutler does not value science and is committed to keeping climate change a controversial partisan issue. 

Harrison said that the House bill changed the constitution of the EPA science boards by making sure that for every climate change believer on the panel there will also be a climate change denier in order to ensure a “fair and balanced” representation. 

However, Harrison believes that climate change deniers are a fringe element on par with people who believe Earth is flat and that the sun revolves around our home planet. He says those types of unfounded beliefs have no business on a science-centric panel.

“They are taking science out of one of one of our agencies that is most in need of it,” said Harrison, who believes that most of those outlying opinions are funded by lobbyists and various economic interests. “Right now they have way more influence than we the people.”

As the weather closed in and helped the March for Science in Chehalis to draw to a close, Hammer expressed her gratitude to the Vernetta Smith Chehalis Timberland Library for providing such a welcoming space for young and old alike to show their support for science.

“They didn’t object to anything,” said Hammer. “If they do this again next year I’d love to do it.”