United States scientists are continuing to defy gag orders from the newly inaugurated U.S. President, Donald Trump and his administration, with now seemingly someone from NASA speaking out online. Using the Twitter account @RogueNASA, one “government employee” is speaking out on climate change and government oversight.
Ninety-seven percent of climate scientists agree that climate change is caused by human activities. #climatechange
— Rogue NASA (@RogueNASA) January 25, 2017
Following the Trump administration's repeated denial of climate change, a number of U.S. national park twitter accounts (some official, some not) have been posting facts related to it and national parks in general. Joining them now is someone who seemingly works for NASA. They describe themselves as a ‘government employee,' but considering the name of their account, we're inclined to believe it's a NASA scientist.
Carbon dioxide levels have risen from 280 ppm to 400 ppm in the last 150 years. This is a fact that can be backed up with data. #climate
— Rogue NASA (@RogueNASA) January 25, 2017
The account appeared late yesterday, on the evening of the 25th January. It began by posting a mix of climate change data and lamentations that scientists were forced to create anonymous Twitter accounts to speak facts to the world. They highlighted how many government scientists are fearful of speaking out under the Trum administration, worrying that their job may be at risk if they do.
That isn't stopping this account though. It has already garnered a quarter of a million followers and shows no sign of slowing down.
It will have a fight on its hands though. While the Trump administration has gone back on its word to take down the Environmental Protection Agency's climate web pages, it has announced that new scientific studies and data from the agency must go through political review before publication.
Science is not a partisan issue. Science is the foundation of our society—we owe so much to peer-reviewed scientific research. #resist
— Rogue NASA (@RogueNASA) January 26, 2017
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KitGuru Says: Politicians pre-approving science advisories is only one step above the UK government's tactics of firing those it disagrees with. Poor old David Nutt.