Photo credit: Outdoor Adventure Play
President Trump hasn’t even been in office for one week, but his first term is already riddled with controversy. One unexpected hot button issue? The size of the crowd at his inauguration. Though a widely-circulated photograph shows that his inaugural attendance was substantially lower than that of President Obama in 2009, Trump and his administration have issued official statements declaring otherwise. The U.S. National Parks Service, a federal organization in charge of much of America’s beautiful parks and monuments (including the National Mall), retweeted the tell-tale image.
As one may imagine, Trump was not pleased. In an unprecedented move, he banned the organization from tweeting, which only prompted backlash from another National Park Service Twitter account. In a defiant move, employees of Badlands National Park in South Dakota boldly continued to post about its park, the environment, and, much to Trump’s dismay, facts about climate change. Unsurprisingly, the president demanded the tweets be taken down, too—but not before some eagle-eyed Twitter users immortalized them through screenshots.
Yesterday @BadlandsNPS had to delete these Tweets about climate. So here they are again. pic.twitter.com/fTxSHb6QHj
— Dr Paul Coxon (@paulcoxon) January 25, 2017
Many Twitter users came to Badlands’ defense, proving you can’t silence science.
Thank you, #BadlandsNationalPark for sharing scientific facts on #climatechange #USofScience https://t.co/Zd0tRGh4Gv
— PLOS (@PLOS) January 25, 2017
“In times of universal deceit, tweeting the truth about climate change is a revolutionary act” #badlandsnationalpark #Badlands
— Fred. (@freeloosedirt) January 25, 2017
Let’s take a moment to thank #BadlandsNationalPark & all other governmental employees & agencies who will stand up to Trump’s ignorance.
— Michael J. Rance (@MichaelJRance) January 24, 2017
#BadlandsNationalPark for President.
— Darin W. (@DarinLWolfe) January 24, 2017
The drama didn’t stop there. The Trump administration may have been able to temporarily censor the National Park Service’s’ Twitter accounts, but the organization has far from given up the fight. In response to the censorship, a group of National Park employees have taken it upon themselves to anonymously maintain the organization’s commitment to openly sharing scientific facts and combating climate change by creating an entirely new and untouchable Twitter account, @AltUSNatParkService. As it is an “alternative” and unofficial page, no one—not even the president—can control it.
Mr Trump, you may have taken us down officially. But with scientific evidence & the Internet our message will get out.
— AltUSNatParkService (@AltNatParkSer) January 24, 2017
When all is said and done, one must wonder: Mr. Trump does know that the National Park Service is responsible for the land surrounding his new home, right?
Fun fact: The White House is surrounded by NPS land, and during Occupy they supported the protesters despite the mayor’s objection.
— AltUSNatParkService (@AltNatParkSer) January 25, 2017
To support the National Park organization as it celebrates over a century of service, visit its website.
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h/t: [IFL SCIENCE!]