Editor's Insight: Dubious agendas lurk behind the March for Science

The March for Science demonstrations attracted hundreds around the country at the weekend and many more thousands abroad.

Taken literally, a March for Science is likely to differ from other protests but that didn’t stop them from being captured by the merchants of grievance.

It wasn’t really science that was at stake – it was Earth Day, a day of protest about the environment that started back in 1970.

Naturally, such an event attracts activists who have been predicting the end of the world as we know it for decades.

Added to that, science as defined by evidence-based experimentation has come under attack from a wide range of groups in sectors such as health, agriculture, energy and the climate.

Environmental groups are not alone in using science to further their cause against the establishment, which has its own body of scientific knowledge.

Somewhere in this mix, conspiracy theories have flourished and scientists are often on the defensive because they are unable to say for certain that X won’t follow Y.

For example, a film called Vaccine is doing the rounds, promoted by people opposed to immunisation. Anti-fluoridationists can come up with similar material.

No amount of evidence from health authorities will stop people from believing these forms of medication are evil.

They will still refuse to vaccinate their kids against measles and other diseases that have been virtually wiped out. They will also continue to view fluoridation as a form of mass medication of dubious value.

The Trump factor
This appeared to be the major motivator of the Earth Day marches, at least in the US. Many of the scientists taking part wouldn’t have been political in the normal sense. But many would be likely victims of planned government cutbacks as President Trump winds back many of President Obama's policies.

The Environmental Protection Agency is one that is having its budget cut back and Mr Trump is no believer in climate change.

But he also has support from other scientists, many of whom work in the fossil fuel industry and aren’t wedded to the idea that the cost of green technology is worth it.

They've heard these apocalyptic predictions before, ranging from population growth to acid rain. Reason magazine has just published an article with 18 predictions made in 1970 that have proved spectacularly wrong.

These include the world facing mass starvation, running out of unrenewable mineral resources, rising pollution, nuclear winters, pesticide poisoning, the disappearance of tropical forests and a new Ice Age.

Instead, what happened is that science proved effective in tackling some of these problems. Yet other discoveries, such as genetic engineering or modification of food crops, are still opposed as strongly as vaccines are by others.

Opposition to GM crops
Federated Farmers backs the March for Science in the hope that scientists will accept evidence that shows GM crops are beneficial, produce more food with fewer resources or need for chemicals, and pose no danger to health.

"This is particularly relevant in New Zealand when we are talking about climate change but also the use of 1080, fluoridation, immunisation, genetic modification and water," Federated Farmers national president Dr William Rolleston says.

"We have seen in many of these debates that activists have peddled fear to generate public outrage to keep these technologies from our use, or restrict our social licence to operate."

Greenpeace, for one, still campaigns against Golden Rice, which ended hunger for hundreds of millions who live in rice-consuming countries.

No more oil demand
The same could be said for continued use of fossil fuels. One sign at the Auckland March for Science said: “Stop all Oil Exploration,” hardly a scientific statement. But it fits in with campaigns that question the forces of industrialisation and globalisation that underpin modern civilisation.

Scientists are, in fact, working out ways to use resources such as coal for low-cost heating and energy so that it produces fewer carbon emissions.

The fishing industry is another that says a lot of claims about over-fishing and dumping are exaggerated by Greenpeace when in fact scientists are workling hard to ensure fisheries remain bountiful.

Others say recent weather events are evidence the climate is getting worse. Yet the number of cyclones and hurricanes is declining, at least in the US. Carbon emissions are also declining in some countries, such as the US, if not in China or India.

On the local front, there have been other giveaways of a political agenda in the March for Science, such as calls to uphold the Treaty of Waitangi and dubious statements that ignoring so-called Maori "science" is a form of colonisation.