When Science is Attacked, Dissent is Patriotic

Science and technology innovation in the past several decades has provided marvelous improvements to our daily lives, including medicines that cure diseases, vaccines that prevent them, and technology that propels our transportation, home appliances, cell phones, and much more.

When I hear politicians promoting a return to a mythical American past that was supposedly “great,” I wonder if we’re willing to give up all these advances in science and technology to get there. I don’t think we do—I know I don’t.

When citizens dissent from, or disagree with, our government’s actions, we do so because we love our country and share the vision of our founders for an America in which all citizens have equal opportunities to pursue life, liberty, and happiness—not just the privileged, but all citizens. Dissent reminds our government of its role in protecting those rights; it’s patriotic.

One of the principles supported throughout our country’s history is the critical need for public education. We value an educated population. Investing in comprehensive science education ensures that Americans are poised to make discoveries in medicine, physics, astronomy, geology, and other disciplines that enrich people’s everyday lives.

Science, simply put, explores what makes things tick and attempts to solve problems when they don’t work as they should—whether it’s a human body or a solar system. Increasing science knowledge benefits all of humankind.

The United States is a world leader in scientific research and discovery. Nobel Prizes for science categories (chemistry, physics and physiology or medicine) have been awarded to nearly 1000 American scientists in the past century. In fact, the US has more Nobel laureates in all categories than any country in the world. That honored position is rapidly being eroded. We cannot simply watch attacks on science continue.

I have a long history with science. After getting a degree in biology, I worked in hospitals, medical research labs, and health clinics as a medical laboratory scientist for more than 25 years. The body of scientific knowledge grew dramatically in that time alone, and that growth stimulated my sense of curiosity. The best part of any of my work was discovering something new about human health and how to preserve it.

Science is my lifeblood. When officials in high places of government attack the scientific community by preventing their study and aborting the practices they’ve engineered for the benefit of all, I get angry. Leaders’ efforts to stop progress in fighting human diseases or creating a pollution-free environment are unconscionable. Even worse, these officials disseminate false information to the public that will endanger our health. We cannot remain silent.

There have been governmental attacks on numerous scientific fronts to date, which creates a dangerous situation for us all. Just 10 of them are listed here, but there are many more.

· Attacks on Clean Energy Research

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) delayed, sidelined, or buried 46 clean‑energy studies on hydropower, wind, solar, etc. by politically blocking them—hindering scientific transparency and progress in clean energy policy. The Union of Concerned Scientists.

· Attacks on EPA Health Studies

EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler enacted a rule limiting what health studies could inform environmental regulation—limiting what evidence can be used when crafting environmental regulations and effectively blocking the use of many studies involving confidential health data AP News.

· Attacks on NIH Scientific Integrity

In April 2025, the NIH removed its internal scientific‑integrity safeguards meant to protect against political interference—especially the DEI‑centric provisions—replacing them with weaker HHS-wide policies Scientific American.

· Attacks on Public Health Risk Reporting

In 2018, the Trump White House blocked or delayed the release of a key health report on PFAS (“forever chemicals”) due to concerns about its “public relations nightmare” potential, even though the findings showed current safety standards were outdated Scientific American.

· Attacks on Access to Federal Climate and Health Data

In 2025, over 8,000 web pages and 3,000 datasets were purged across agencies like the CDC and FDA, eliminating vital public health, environmental, and DEI data. Multiple lawsuits ensued to restore the content Wikipedia.

· Attacks on Clinical-Trial Diversity

The FDA removed pages encouraging diversity in clinical trials—an outcome of policies targeting DEI language, which threatened representation in health research STAT.

· Attacks on Cancer & Alzheimer’s Research Funding

Trump-era funding restrictions led to a nearly $65 million pause in Alzheimer’s research grants and widespread NIH grant terminations, often linked to unintended consequences of DEI executive orders The Guardian.

· Attacks on NASA and NSF Science Funding and Staff

Major proposed cuts included plans to fire ~2,100 senior NASA employees and drastically reduce NSF grants (freezing payouts, terminating ~400 grants, and preparing 25–50% layoffs by early 2025) timesofindia.indiatimes.com.

· Attacks on EPA Science Advisors and Standards

The EPA Science Advisory Board faced an 84% funding cut, and Congress introduced the HONEST Act, which aimed to restrict EPA’s use of health studies—potentially sidelining non-public data Center for American Progress.

· Attacks on Clean Water and Pollution Safeguards

The administration rescinded Obama-era clean water protections, repealed methane emission rules, and eased pesticide standards, undermining scientifically-informed regulatory guardrails Earth Justice and Center for American Progress.

Each of these actions illustrates a broad trend under the Trump administration of sidelining scientific integrity by suppressing agency research, limiting data access, weakening environmental and health protections, and rolling back diversity and inclusion in research. We disagree with this alarming trend toward destroying scientific integrity. The progress scientists have made creates a safer world.

One reason leaders are working against effective science programs is because they don’t benefit the officials at the top of the administration or they hinder officials’ objectives and the objectives of their donors.

Another reason people attack science is out of fear. We often fear what we don’t understand, and science can be complex.

After more than 25 years in medical settings, I chose to share my knowledge and love of science with young people. I taught high school science for 8 years, because I think understanding it is vital to our common good. While not all students came to value the subjects I taught as much as I did, I worked hard to engender an appreciation of what science could do for them.

One of my students responded to a lesson on the expanding universe by saying, “How can they know that? I don’t believe it.” I have difficulty understanding some science principles myself, but I generally trust the scientists who discover them. I told my student, “It doesn’t matter whether you believe it or not. What’s true is true whether you believe it or not.” That’s the beauty of science.

Citizen protests against ongoing attacks on science are being silenced, even though speaking out against actions we disagree with are protected by the First Amendment of the Constitution. Why would leaders cripple science research and life-giving programs, then hide scientists’ accomplishments from the public?

We should all agree that advances in science are vital to a prosperous society, even when we don’t fully understand their effects.

As members of a society who care about our nation’s future, we dissent. We want critical medical research funding to be restored, we want our government to act to protect our environment, and we want access to collected data that demonstrates the administration is actively protecting the best interests of its citizens.

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