RISE Stronger, 500 Women Scientists, and the Union of Concerned Scientists have come together to call on you to speak up for science by writing an op-ed in support of government funding for science, technology, and the programs that enrich and improve our society and local communities.
Building a better society through science
President Trump's budget proposes slashing $54 billion (10.9%) from "non-defense discretionary" funding for the next fiscal year, with even deeper cuts in the years following. While Congress is not expected to take the president's recommendations, House Republicans are still considering cutting $4 billion from non-defense spending. Most people appreciate that the purpose of defense spending is to keep us safe. However, fewer people recognize that non-defense spending supports all of the programs that build a better society, including funding the science and basic research that enriches our local communities and improves our lives.
Debates over federal spending will be a hot topic in the news when Congress returns this September and attempts to finalize a budget. Therefore, we propose mobilizing scientists and science supporters of science from across the country to submit op-eds to their local newspapers explaining the importance of non-defense spending by telling the story of how federally funded science research contributes to a better society.
The goal of this project is to build the public support we will need to move beyond the idea that "flat funding is the new up". We must move toward an ideal long term goal: sustained increases in research funding. Achieving this goal will involve more than the typical support for science arguments, which simply fight for our slice of the non-defense funding pie. We need to make an argument about growing the overall pie, of which science is one tangible example we can use to explain how this funding makes us a stronger nation.
To be successful we will need to target the op-eds toward citizens who are likely to support defense spending but who do not understand the importance of nondefense spending (i.e. conservatives and moderates). The challenge will be to find a message in your story that will resonate with local issues and with a group that may not initially support federal spending. This will involve not just writing about what you motivates you, but finding the overlap between what you love about science and what the target audience cares about.
If you wish to join the effort we can commit to providing assistance editing your op-ed - including help from science communications and media professionals - and to publicizing the final result online. In exchange, we ask that you commit to working within the framework above and sticking to the ambitious timeline below. This project is experimental, so we cannot guarantee success. However, we believe we're in a moment in history where we cannot sit idly by and hope for the best. We need to take an active role in our democracy and we can at least guarantee you that.
Conference calls/webinars
We will be holding two conference calls/webinars, and we ask participants to try to attend one of these. We will discuss the scope, expected content, and process of the project as well as answer any of your questions.
Webinar link: join.freeconferencecall.com/rise-science-tech | Call-in number: 641.715.3580 (access code: 609621#)
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