At the beginning of the week, newly appointed President Trump signed an executive order banning the National Parks Service from being active on Twitter. This action quickly gained a lot of attention when one National Park refused to comply. The Badlands National Park continued to post on Twitter after the executive order was handed down. In response, Trump had their Twitter account forcibly shutdown and removed the rogue Tweets. Democratic National Committee press secretary was quoted saying, "Vladimir Putin would be proud."
The Environmental Protection Agency
Trump has instated a media blackout for the Environmental Protection Agency as well as freezing all funds going to the agency.
Trump and his administration are well known for being climate change deniers. Within only five days as acting President of the United States, Donald Trump has signed 10 executive orders. One of these officially grants permission for the Dakota Pipeline to continue being built. Despite protestors and an official halt on the project from former President Obama, Trump has given the okay for it to proceed. His own conflict of interest has been brought into question as Trump owns a portion of the investment in DAPL. He has not yet released proof that he sold off his shares nor has he released his tax returns.
Overriding an executive order
On Tuesday, the National Parks Service created an unofficial Twitter account that Trump could not touch.
Within hours, the new account gained over 90,000 followers while sending out as may tweets regarding climate change as they could push out. They also kept the public up-to-date on all the moves Trump was making in regards to attempting to shut down other Twitter accounts. Today the Department of Agriculture has stepped in and officially rescinded Trump's gag order on all of their agencies' accounts.
Scientists and employees have taken back access to the Twitter accounts and the mention of a Scientists March on Washington has been buzzing around. A date has not yet been set, but organizers are now working out the details. The goal is to bring science to the forefront of politics as far as climate change, evolution, transparency, and funding for scientific research. Environmentalists, conservationists, and scientists eagerly await more information about this non-partisan protest.
