Just a few days into the Trump administration, scientists are already rebelling against efforts to stifle the truth. Shortly after Badlands National Park tweets about climate change were removed, several new “rogue” Twitter accounts started popping up. One of the account claims to be run by current National Park Service (NPS) rangers working on their own time. While it’s difficult to verify the account is really run by NPS rangers, it does demonstrate how difficult it will be for the president and his posse to silence Americans guided by science.
National Park Twitter accounts were briefly suspended, according to Time, after the NPS tweeted out photos comparing President Donald Trump’s inauguration with President Barack Obama’s inauguration. Then the Badlands National Park Twitter account tweeted a few climate change facts, which were swiftly removed, sparking a Twitter truth war.
Related: Rogue national park tweets climate change facts in defiance of Donald Trump
@AltNatParkSer, which Twitter says joined their site in May 2015, began actively tweeting yesterday, shooting out more climate change facts and saying, “Mr Trump, you may have taken us down officially. But with scientific evidence & the Internet our message will get out.”
A flurry of people quickly began to question if the account was real. Again, it’s hard to 100 percent verify the account is indeed run by current NPS rangers, although they claim that’s who they are.
Hello, we are the Alternative National Park Service Twitter Account activated in time of war and censorship to ensure fact-based education. https://t.co/Ez8twyES7p
— NOT ALT WORLD (@NotAltWorld) January 25, 2017
We promise 100 percent that we include environmental scientists and far too much coffee. #ResistTrump https://t.co/dV5DZjtmfh
— NOT ALT WORLD (@NotAltWorld) January 25, 2017
Hi @JettGoldsmith This accnt being run by several active NPS rangers and friends.
— NOT ALT WORLD (@NotAltWorld) January 25, 2017
Other Twitter accounts that are more clearly parody accounts popped up too, like @BadIandsNPS (using an uppercase ‘I’ to look like an ‘L’), which started this month. With a rather Orwellian vibe, @BadIandsNPS tweeted, “We apologize for our insolence, @realdonaldtrump. We have been successfully reeducated.” Since then, along with tweeting those infamous inauguration pictures, the account has also tweeted sarcastic quips such as this one:
Recent research suggests that polar bears don't actually like the cold, so they're fine with climate change. pic.twitter.com/WLxDOnTZTQ
— BadlandsNPSFans (@BadIandsNPSFans) January 24, 2017
@BadHombreNPS also started up in January to fire off climate change facts. Neither of those two accounts have claimed in tweets that they’re run by current NPS rangers. @BadHombreNPS does claim in their account description they’re the “unofficial feed of Badlands NP” to protect “rugged scenery, fossil beds, 244,000 acres of mixed-grass prairie & wildlife from two-bit cheetoh-hued despots.”
It appears people are hungry for the information these “rogue” accounts are tweeting; at time of publication, @BadIandsNPS boasted 42.7K followers, @BadHombreNPS 27.1K followers, and @AltNatParkSer 180K followers. The latter has also used their platform to publicize a scientist march on Washington, D.C, pointing to a blog, Scientists’ March on Washington. The blog includes a January 21 post announcing they are planning a march, although they have not yet picked a date. You can follow their Facebook and Twitter accounts, or sign up to receive updates here.
+ Scientists’ March on Washington
Via The Guardian and A.V. Club
Images via Wikimedia Commons (1,2)
