Statement From Former Gov. Scientists & Public Health Officials Calling for Science-based Response to the Serious and Growing COVID-19 Pandemic

I’m honored to join my peers in commending current gov scientists, researchers, and public health officials who are prioritizing the well-being of Americans above politics amid this devastating pandemic. Sign on here. #LetScienceSpeak

We are scientists and public health experts who have dedicated our careers to promoting the health of all Americans. In the past, we have pursued that mission within different components of the federal government, whether in advisory roles to Congress or within the executive branch under both Republican and Democratic administrations. The offices in which we served had different roles but shared a common goal of saving lives and advancing public health through scientific research, public education, and informed policy.

We have gathered with one voice because the clear and present danger of the continued spread of COVID-19 hangs above us. Unless science and expertise guide our preparation and response to the serious and growing SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, our nation will again suffer avoidable death and disruption. Together, we commend our fellow scientists and public health experts currently serving in government who are holding steadfast to the principles of scientific integrity and independence. We call on them to continue pursuing their mission to advance public health, regardless of politics.

Having served in these same roles, we understand the immense responsibility of controlling the spread — and potential resurgence — of COVID-19, which has already killed more than 129,000 Americans and 530,000 people worldwide. As our society and economy reopen, the American public, healthcare workers, and state and local officials across the country are looking to the federal government to ensure that we put the worst behind us. The federal government, after all, plays the lead role in pandemic preparedness and response activities, from stockpiling essential medicines and supplies, to coordinating hospital surge capacity, to supporting vaccine development and providing guidelines on mitigating the spread of disease.

For the federal government to fulfill this role, independent and sound science must be the driving force behind its efforts. Research and data must inform production and allocation decisions for vital supplies such as personal protective equipment and ventilators; basic accounting for new cases, hospitalizations, and deaths; and plans to develop vaccines and treatments. Science should steer decision-making and policy, even as our elected leaders weigh competing priorities. Scientists working for the United States government are some of the best in the world, and their work has been vital in combating many of the epidemics in the 20th and 21st centuries, from HIV to SARS, from H1N1 influenza to Ebola. They are working tirelessly right now to save lives in the face of this novel coronavirus.

But at great cost to our country, science and expertise have been marginalized in our government’s response to the pandemic thus far. Far too often, political expediency has won out over scientists’ advice. The federal pandemic response has muzzled key public health experts within the government and pushed them aside in decision-making processes. In short, the independence of our public health institutions has been compromised. If we continue to cast aside the scientific advice of our own experts, the consequences for the nation will be dire. Indeed, sidelining science has already cost lives, imperiled the safety of our loved ones, compromised our ability to safely re-open our businesses, schools, and places of worship, and endangered the health of our democracy itself.

The novel coronavirus has starkly reshaped our global reality. It is highly likely to continue spreading, either through one large, sustained wave, or resurging in multiple waves. To save lives, we must let science guide us and let scientists speak. Congress must more rigorously oversee the pandemic response and any attempts at political inference in scientific decision-making, while federal inspectors general must be allowed to conduct their oversight functions without fear of retaliation. Data from our federal agencies must be more accessible to outside experts, and the processes generating data on the pandemic more transparent. When federal employees speak out about interference in science, the law must better protect them. Finally, this global pandemic demands a global solution. Our scientists must be free to coordinate with their peers around the world to surmount COVID-19.

To the federal employees working on the frontlines of this pandemic, preparing our country for any resurgence of COVID-19, we say: keep speaking out. We support you. You stand as a bulwark against the spread of misinformation and the diversion of public health policies and programs to suit political goals. The health of the American public and the integrity of our august scientific and public health agencies depend on you.

(If you are a former government scientist or public health official and would like to add your name to this statement, please complete this form. Protect Democracy will update this list with new signatories until July 20th.).

Overcoming Obstacles: A Few People I Admire

Do you agree that overcoming personal and social challenges takes courage and persistence? Our challenge might be a learning disorder, a physical issue, or peer pressure resulting in political correctness. Learning challenges affect 1 in 5 children according to the NCLD. One in 4 adults in America live with a disability according to the CDC.

The novel Covid-19 virus affects 100% of us. Wearing a mask is proven to save lives during the pandemic but many people refuse. Not convinced? Check out the county comparison posted on MasksSaveLives.org. Everyone with or without a preexisting personal challenge needs wear a mask - it could save your life and the lives of other people. I posted a blog on April 1 about mask confusion and many people in the U.S. are still not wearing masks.

I admire my wife and son (shown in the photo) for overcoming many personal challenges and being willing to wear the mask!

We admire Greta for acknowledging how her autism fuels her passion to fight carbon pollution and asking people to listen to scientists.

We admire Governor Gavin for sharing how his learning challenges taught him to solve problems and inspire others. He deserves much credit for his environmental and public health actions.

There are so many more famous people that we admire who overcame adversity including Ben Franklin, Albert Einstein, and Oprah Winfrey. Everyone has something and now we must all join together to fight the virus!

Before we judge or blame others, let’s smile with compassionate eyes and feel our shared humanity and goodwill towards all creatures.

Plastics By Air, By Land, By Sea Accumulating In Lungs and Gills

Visiting India in 1994, I found the clash of modern and ancient cultures fascinating. In Mumbai, BMWs swerved around ox cart vendors. I wondered why there was so much plastic litter on the ground and beaches — one vendor selling street food (which I did not dare consume) told me that for thousands of years until recently people used banana leaves or other natural materials for holding food. Street food came wrapped in leaves - even today if you go to an Asian grocery look for the delicious sticky rice desert wrapped in a banana leaf. The Indian street vendor told me that when they changed to use plastic wrappers to sell food people thought the plastic would biodegrade naturally like banana leaves. He said I should not worry because the plastic wrappers are recycled.

But when I visited an area called New Mumbai for recycling, thinking modern machines did the sorting, I could not believe my eyes- children and families were picking out the trash by separating piles of tires, plastics and other trash. They used polluted water to “clean” plastic wrappers to reuse and sell back to street vendors! I felt so bad for these people trying to survive this way.

According to TheStreet article last year, “Humans have produced about 8 billion tons of plastic since 1950, and more than half of it went straight to landfills. Of all of the plastic that's no longer in use, only about 9% was actually recycled.” Major producers of plastic waste according to the article include China, U.S., and European and South American countries.

I wrote about the plight of overconsumption, especially coming from the U.S. and possible solutions. We’ve seen the tragic consequences of plastics all around us ending up in rivers and oceans and killing wildlife. However, I had no idea until last week that microplastics are getting into our lungs!

Dr. Janice Brahney with the Utah State University and her colleagues made a surprising discovery that microplastics are showing up in air samples of remote locations. She was kind enough to send me the Science article (AAAS) and she is spreading the word like in a New York Times opinion that we are likely breathing microplastics around the world.

For the AAAS article, the authors state, “The finding that microplastics are ubiquitous in the atmosphere and are transported to distant locations has widespread ecological implications…As plastics accumulate in pristine wilderness, we may anticipate shifts in community composition, possibly leading to declines in biodiversity on the basis of the different tolerances to the physical and toxicological consequences of consuming microplastics.”

In the NYT opinion piece Dr. Brahney states, “Airborne microplastics don’t care what ZIP code you live in. Preventing a landfill in your community won’t limit your exposure. And there are still many questions. If dust in the Grand Canyon contains microplastics, how many of these tiny plastic particles are in city dust? How high will airborne concentrations of microplastics get? What effect are they having on the environment? Are microplastics more toxic than other, better-understood sources of air pollution such as natural and industrial dusts?”

GlobalCitizen reports, “there are nearly 500 times more pieces of microplastic in the oceans than there are stars in our galaxy. Each minute, one garbage truck’s worth of plastic is dumped into marine ecosystems. The European Union alone releases six times as much plastic into the oceans as is found in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, a roiling web of plastic twice the size of Texas”

So life consuming plastic waste is another example of the law of karma that I learned in India- what we put out in the world comes back to us. Airborne microplastics are another reason to wear a face mask not only during the Covid-19 pandemic. We need to totally change our mindset, such as listening to what scientists can tell us and what we still need to learn, for taking positive actions to restore the world’s health and environment! As academia hits the mainstream, it’s now perish or publish.