March for Science draws thousands to downtown Austin

More political protests as tens of thousands of people across the world take to the streets including here in Austin. This rally and march was about science and climate change. The rallies coincided with Earth Day and were held in more than 500 cities around the world.

The Austin rally and march was one of the dozen satellite events to a main rally in Washington D.C. Organizers and those in attendance said they are hoping to show support for the scientific community and the role science plays in society. Laura Olesen, is a realtor who was at the rally, “I think we all need to fight for what’s right and fight our nation and fight for the planet as people say there's no planet me, and I believe in science,” she said.

The march was purposely timed to coincide with Earth Day which promotes environmentalism. “This is really an exciting opportunity to celebrate Earth Day and also to make a point that science is extremely important to keep funding for science in government and industry and we need to make sure we are protecting our climate and protecting our planet,” said a local biologist attending the rally.

Many at the marches voiced concern with President Donald Trump's position on climate change and see proposed cutbacks to the Environmental Protection Agency as threats to science. “I think this is hopefully going to send a message to our legislature and other leaders in government that science is extremely important and it ensures the financial stability of our country to support science instead of ideology,” the local biologist said.

Organizers said the rallies are non-partisan and they were promoting the understanding of science and defending it from attacks, they hope to catch the attention of Texas lawmakers. “A lot of these people are quite busy and need to listen; we all need to listen to each other for sure. By us coming out here making it known that there are issues and we are willing to talk about it I think it's very important for the Capitol to see and notice,” said Brant Gracia, an organizer and speaker at the event.

After the rally, the group marched to the Earth Day celebration held at the Huston-Tillotson campus.