Peter Walks for Democracy

Last week, thousands of people gathered across the country to Stand Up For Science. In Washington, DC, my friend and co-author, Michael Mann stood in front of the Lincoln Memorial and asked, “What would Benjamin Franklin do?” Mike’s at the University of Pennsylvania which Franklin founded. It’s a great question.

Franklin was a scientist, a diplomat, and an abolitionist. He would have fought—HE DID FIGHT—for enlightenment, freedom, and truth. He would have stood up for science.

We have a sacred duty in this country as social, physical, biological scientists, and professionals. As Mike, Brandi Robinson and I wrote in the anchor chapter of Teaching Climate Change in the United States,” In a democracy, those who understand what is at stake ought to use their knowledge and expertise to develop understanding, build will, prompt action, and see that it is achieved.” That was Franklin. We must preserve, defend, and advance reality.

For the last 8 years, I have watched university people say that we have to understand the people attacking science and reality. We have to meet them where they are and accept them. On the one hand, this is true. We have to meet our neighbors where they are. It is part of community. But then there are people who patently refuse to engage. And there is no “nice” path forward with them. There is no “with.”

A lion’s share of the right-wing policy, politics, media, and money machine has been punching us in the face while we’ve tried to get them to do the equivalent of composting and riding an e-bike. The utter lack of power play has been disappointing to say the least. We have to fight. Fighting does not mean violence. It means using your voice, organizing, and entering the fray of public opinion, the public square, the press, the court, and electoral politics. By all means, keep your work as your work and your service your service. And understand that the politicization of science—the fundamental methods of understanding and interpreting our world—are under attack by right-wing political forces. If you will not fight for that, then you are obeying in advance.

While I can’t and won’t speak for him, Mike understands this. He’s been a target of the carbon combustion kleptocrats for two decades. He didn’t try to appease them. He didn’t say, “What do you really need?” No. He fought back.

We have to fight back. Period. End of story. That’s what Ben Franklin would have done. That’s what Ben Franklin did. That’s what I intend to do.