{"id":20665,"date":"2025-05-07T15:47:34","date_gmt":"2025-05-07T15:47:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/?p=20665"},"modified":"2025-05-27T14:28:19","modified_gmt":"2025-05-27T14:28:19","slug":"esa-action-alert-contact-your-member-of-congress-to-advocate-for-science","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/2025\/05\/07\/esa-action-alert-contact-your-member-of-congress-to-advocate-for-science\/","title":{"rendered":"ESA Action Alert: Contact your Member of Congress to advocate for science"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Dear ESA Member:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As you may know, <strong>President Trump\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Fiscal-Year-2026-Discretionary-Budget-Request.pdf\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Fiscal-Year-2026-Discretionary-Budget-Request.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Fiscal Year 2026 (FY26) budget request<\/a><\/strong> sent to Congress cuts research accounts across federal agencies that would devastate America\u2019s scientific enterprise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The ecological community is facing unprecedented hurdles to see strong funding for science in FY26. Each of you has an important role as a constituent to let your Member of Congress and your state elected officials know how and why strong federal funding for science benefits you, your state and the nation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We cannot assume that Congress will draft reasonable FY26 appropriation bills and disregard the president\u2019s budget request. \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The president\u2019s budget request would devastate the research community:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The <strong>National Science Foundation<\/strong> would see a <strong>56% percent cut<\/strong>, reducing its budget from $8.8 billion to $3.9 billion.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The <strong>USGS<\/strong> would see a <strong>39% cut<\/strong> and its budget would be reduced from $1.4 billion to $891 million. ESA, with over 70 organizations, <a href=\"https:\/\/esa.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/2025_USGS-EMA-Support_LTR.pdf\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/esa.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/2025_USGS-EMA-Support_LTR.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">sent a letter<\/a> to Secretary of the Interior Burgum advocating for the USGS Ecosystems Mission Area last week before the release of the president\u2019s budget.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The <strong>EPA<\/strong> would see a <strong>54%<\/strong> cut and its budget would be reduced from $9.1 Billion to $4.2 billion.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:30px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Take these actions today to advocate for science!<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>(tools and resources below)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul style=\"background-color:#e4e8ec\" class=\"wp-block-list has-background\">\n<li><strong>Call, write and\/or visit your members of Congress.<\/strong><br>Dial the U.S. Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121 and ask to be connected to your Senators and Representative.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Meet with your Member of Congress\u2019s staff person in their local or DC office.<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Call and write your State Representative and Governor (large amounts of federal funding goes to states<\/strong>).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Use social media to reach your Member of Congress.<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Write an op-ed or letter to the editor for your local newspaper about the importance of science. <\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We thank you for contacting federal and state lawmakers to ensure that FY26 appropriation bills restore funding for scientific research \u2015 especially for ecological research.<br><br>Thanks for your consideration,<br>ESA Public Affairs Office<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:50px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"tips\">Here are some tips to develop a short, concise message.<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Step 1. Start with a High-Level Talking Point<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Example: Our nation\u2019s research enterprise is among the most powerful engines for American prosperity. Proposed FY 2026 Budget would devastate scientific research! One of the consistent areas o orf bipartisan agreement over the past 70 years has been the importance of the federal government\u2019s role in supporting research and innovation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Step 2. Share Your Personal Story!<\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Tell them your personal story about how budget cuts are directly affecting you and\/or your lab and how they relate to the district or state. Personal stories are the most compelling and effective.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Highlight drastic cuts proposed by the FY26 President\u2019s Budget to key agencies important to you:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>NSF: $3.9 billion, a 56% decrease<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>EPA: $4.2 billion, a 54% decrease<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>NOAA: $4.799 billion, a 24% decrease<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>DOE, Office of Science: $7.092 billion, a 14% decrease<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>NASA: $18.8 billion, a 24% decrease<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>USFWS, Ecological Services: $251 million, a 12.8% decrease<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>USFS, Forest &amp; Rangeland Research (not including Forest Inventory Analysis): $0, a 100% decrease<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>USGS: $891 million, a 39% decrease\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The budget request \u201celiminates programs [within USGS] that provide grants to universities\u201d and that focus on climate change, among other things\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Step 3. Say Thank You!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Thank your Member of Congress for their support for the FY 2025 R&amp;D budget and sustainable funding for our nation\u2019s science and tech agencies. Ask them to continue sustainable, predictable funding and urge them to prioritize these investments and reject the administration-proposed cuts to science as they begin to craft the FY 2026 funding bills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Resources:<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/esa.org\/public-policy\/get-involved\/policy-toolkit\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>ESA Policy Toolkit<\/strong><\/a>: tools to make sure you\u2019re well-equipped when talking with decision-makers<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/XLypT49gknE?si=XvH4JilDSBCPCcDZ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">View ESA\u2019s \u201cCommunicating with Congress\u201d webinar<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.congress.gov\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Contact your federal Congressional delegation<\/a>: one Representative and two Senators.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.congress.gov\/state-legislature-websites\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Contact your state legislators.<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nga.org\/governors\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Contact your Governor.<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>President Trump\u2019s FY26 budget request cuts research accounts across federal agencies that would devastate America\u2019s scientific enterprise.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":26,"featured_media":16801,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1941,10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20665","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-current-policy-positions","category-ecology-in-policy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20665","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/26"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20665"}],"version-history":[{"count":21,"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20665\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20697,"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20665\/revisions\/20697"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16801"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20665"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20665"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20665"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}