Can scientists moonlight as activists?
, 2022-11-20 18:25:01
A person holds a placard as climate activists including Extinction Rebellion and Fridays for Future stage a protest demanding more action to protect the planet.
Nicholas Goldberg, Tribune News Service
Peter Kalmus, a climate scientist with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, chained himself to the doors of the Wilson Air Center in Charlotte, North Carolina, last week as part of a protest against private jets and the carbon emissions they spew. He and several colleagues were arrested, handcuffed and charged with trespassing. Around the world, some 80 scientists participated in the day of protest.
“I feel like the failure of society to respond logically and rationally to the findings of climate science frankly puts my children into direct danger,” Kalmus told me. “It would just be really weird if I responded to that like a vegetable and didn’t do anything about it.”
Allan Chornak, a wildlife biologist who (along with Kalmus) chained himself to a door of the JP Morgan Chase building in April in downtown Los Angeles, said something similar before being arrested by Los Angeles police and briefly jailed. He and other scientists were protesting the company’s role in financing the fossil fuel industry.
“We’ve tried being unbiased, we’ve tried being silent, we’ve tried the policy game…,” said Chornack about his fellow scientist-activists, 1,000 of whom reportedly participated in…
,
To read the original article, go to Click here
Private Internet Access gives you unparalleled access to thousands
of next-gen servers in over 83 countries and each US state. Your
VPN experience will always be fast, smooth, and reliable.
