Haw Riverkeeper and executive director Emily Sutton addresses science rally in Raleigh

"Safe drinking water is not partisan. We must have science and evidence to be able to advocate for effective policies and regulations.” - Emily Sutton, Executive director and haw riverkeeper

On March 7, 2025 in Raleigh on Halifax Mall, scientists, students, advocates and community members joined concerned residents across the country rallied to defend science as a public good and a cornerstone of social progress. Stand Up For Science 2025 is a national day of action calling for robust, interference-free scientific research and policies that ensure science serves everyone. In Washington, DC, state capitals and cities around the country, people gathered to advocate for continued government support for science, defend against censorship and push back on attacks against diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility in research and education.

Emily Sutton addresses crowd on behalf of the Haw River and clean water for NC.

“Hello, everyone. Thank you so much for coming out in support of science today. I'm Emily Sutton, your Haw Riverkeeper at Haw River Assembly. Waterkeepers across the state work every day to protect our streams and creeks and lakes and rivers for the communities and the ecosystems that depend on them.

I am the only person on this stage without a Ph.D today. But I was asked to speak to you today because of the critical role that science plays in advocacy and policy work across the state. Science plays a critical role in ALL of our lives. Often times, that science is inconvenient to big business, and in a state where environmental concerns and public health are not prioritized over corporate greed and profits, the actual science itself is threatened.

My work as the Riverkeeper has given me a crash course in chemistry, data collection and analysis, and research translation. I don't have a science background, but we have thousands of people across the watershed that are facing toxic drinking water contamination for their families. How do we know that? Because of our partnerships with scientists and researchers to assess the health risks of chemicals that are being dumped into our rivers and water supplies. Those scientists have not only determined what these, often proprietary chemicals are, but have also determined at what levels their drinking water could cuase cancer. These families are drinking bottled water, brushing their teeth and cooking with bottled water, and no longer eating the food from their gardens because we now know, with scientific evidence, that their exposure levels will cause cancer.
But that isn't where the science stops. That isn't enough to support our communities. We then use that science to work with state agencies to set discharge limits on polluters, sue polluters to uphold the clean water act, and push legislation to protect these communities. In a state where industry and big business have their finger on the scales, we can not push these policies and protections without the science to back it up.
A few weeks ago, the proud boys were in moore square three blocks from here. The proud boys are known for violence, racist, threatening values, but they were here protesting for cleian water for the lumbee tribe in SE NC. How did they know the water was polluted? Scientists helped test their water and document contaminant levels. What did they want? For polluters to be held accountable. Safe drinking water is not partisan. We must have that science and evidence to be able to advocacte for the effective policies and regulations.
We're all here today because we want to see a positive change in our world. We still have that power. Whether you have a doctorate degree or no formal education at all, we have the power to advocate for policies and protections for our communties across the state and across the world. Science is a critical tool of all of our messaging and right now, our scientific communities need our help defending their work, their jobs, and the very foundation of their research.
Just yesterday, news broke that NIH has been instructed to review and cancel EXISTING (already funded) grants that relate to DEI, environmental justice, racial health disparities, and transgender health.
Right now, NC Environmental management commission is threatening to pass a PFAS minimization plan that would actually be worse than doing nothing. This plan is not based on scientific evidence of toxic exposure levels, it is based on what the polluters and their lobbyists have agreed to do. This is a direct result of science being inconvenient for increasing corporate profits. We can’t rely on the science to speak for itself, we have to carry that message to our communities and the elected officials that represent us.
Most of us here work in science or adjacent to science. It’s not enough to talk amongst ourselves about the dire situation our research institutions are in. We need each of you to speak directly to your own communities, your churches, your neighbors, your book clubs, your PTAs and HOAs, and most importantly those folks that represent you at the local, state, and federal levels, about the tangible impacts these threats will have on the communities we fight to protect.

Get involved with your community based advocacy groups. Talk to your state representatives. Call them. Whether they are rupublican or democrat. If they don't hear from their constituents, they are not going to work on that action.
Democracy requires action from all of us.”