by Sharon Wilke

Editor’s Note: This is the first of an occasional series on our Trump-accelerated environmental and climate crisis. This week, we start with the assault on science, research, and the people and organizations who drive this vital enterprise. They are essential to understanding and stopping the damage to our planet.

“Trump is doing so much damage (to science), it will take years and years to recover from it.”

 — John P. Holdren, science advisor to former President Barack Obama

President Obama’s former science advisor, John P. Holdren, says organized public interest groups such as Indivisible Mass Coalition are in a unique position to help stop the Trump administration’s attacks on science. These attacks are causing serious harm to public health and all aspects of our environment and will have increasingly disastrous effects over time if not stopped. Holdren suggested actions that Indivisible activists can take to help stop those attacks.

A highly respected scientist, policy expert and longtime professor at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government, Holdren headed the Office of Science and Technology Policy in the Obama White House in addition to serving as the president’s science advisor. In a recent webinar, he spoke about the significance of the Trump administration’s firing of top scientists and researchers who are not fervent supporters of Trump’s ideology; the dismantling of agencies, departments, regulations and advisory boards; severe cuts to funding and grants vital to public health and the environment; and other attacks on science and research. The Trump administration is not only anti-science, Holdren said, it’s also “anti-facts and anti-public information,” taking down websites and closing down public access to databases of all kinds. With its attacks on science, universities, museums, libraries, and even primary education, Holden added, the administration is trying to “knock down all of the guardrails against presidential power over virtually everything.”

Having worked with Holdren for many years in my former communications role at the Kennedy School’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, I tuned in to the webinar because I knew he would provide hard facts and meaningful insights into how administration actions against science are hurting American citizens and our country. 

Among the many attacks Holdren described, here are a few that stood out to me as especially dangerous. 

Elimination of critical regulations and oversight

The administration is gutting the scientific basis of regulation at agencies such as the Environmental Protection Agency, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the U.S. Geological Survey, and the Department of the Interior, Holdren said. The EPA is dismantling its Office of Research and Development and NOAA its Office of Atmospheric and Oceanic Research. It is places like these, Holdren said, “that produce the basis for regulation in these critical environmental domains where the public health is at risk.”

In the health domain, the administration has dissolved many of the committees that advise the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug Administration, the National Science Foundation, and the EPA — or has repopulated them with anti-science people. One of many dangerous moves was Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s recent replacement of the CDC’s vaccine committee members with people who don’t believe the mainstream science about vaccinations. 

Scientific brain drain

Trump‘s government is creating a scientific “brain drain” in the United States by firing “a very large number of senior scientists,” as well as other specialists in scientific fields across government agencies and departments, said Holdren. The administration is also forcing the dismissal of nongovernment scientists and researchers across the country by canceling their grant funding. 

Many of these people will not be able to return to work in their areas of expertise or will take their skills to other countries (as some already have) — a huge loss to the United States today and in the future. The government is also clamping down on visas for talented individuals from other countries who want to come here to study science and technology. 

Defunding climate science and abandoning the Endangerment Finding 

Trump’s proposed budget for fiscal year 2026 includes no funds for climate research and very little for the environment or clean energy.

The Trump-era EPA has proposed abandoning the Endangerment Finding, which gives the agency the responsibility and authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions for industry and vehicles. This, Holdren said, “is a cornerstone of the U.S.’ ability to address the climate change challenge in the place that matters the most, which is reducing the emissions that are driving global climate change.” The abandonment of this authority would be one of the most significant deregulatory actions in American history, according to the EPA.

What can Indivisible groups do to help stop these attacks?

Holdren believes that the key to stopping the administration’s attacks on science is to persuade 12 Republican senators and six members of the House to vote with Democrats against the dismantling of federal science. To achieve this, he offers several suggestions:

• Urge Republican members of Congress to prioritize their oaths of office and the public interest over their fear of Trump, stressing how the administration’s actions are harming Republican voters, along with just about everyone else, in areas such as jobs, the cost of living, pensions, air and water safety, veterans’ services, Medicaid and Social Security.

• Make these arguments in letters to the editor, op-eds and social media posts and by speaking out in town meetings and at protests. Help the public better understand how much they and their families are affected by science, and point out the harm the attacks are causing to everyone in the country .

• Remind the public that advances in science have been largely responsible for the productivity increases in the U.S. economy and for our international competitiveness, as well as for maintaining our public health and national security.

• Encourage leaders in business, research, health care and education to write op-eds, give interviews, speak up at meetings, and write letters to Republican members of Congress and influencers they know, again emphasizing how the Trump administration’s actions are harming the sectors in which they work and thus harming American strengths and our citizens’ interests. 

“Public interest groups like Indivisible in Massachusetts can be very helpful in fighting these attacks on science because the groups include a large number of people, are well organized and motivated, and know how to use effective methods against the Trump administration’s attacks on science, education and our democratic institutions,” Holdren said. “Organized, collective planning and implementation of measures to educate voters and to pressure the Republicans in Congress to stand up can make a huge difference.”

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Forming Courage Collectives to support science and research in targeted ways is an opportunity for activists who are asking, “What’s next after No Kings?” Learn more about pillars-based organizing HERE, and sign up for training on 11/9/2025 or 11/10/2025.

Sharon Wilke is a writer for Indivisible Mass Coalition’s IndivisiBlog and a member of Indivisible LAB.