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Recently, scientists and science-supporters marched on Washington on Earth Day to make a point to the Trump administration: science is here, whether you believe in it or not.

On the campaign trail, Donald Trump tweeted repetitively that climate change was a trap perpetrated by the Chinese. He painted a serious issue to be some controversial joke. He called global warming an “expensive hoax.” The truth is, climate change is not controversial. Debating about whether or not it’s real is unnecessary and ignorant; it’s just a fact that climate change is a serious threat our planet faces. Pretending it’s not is simply a refusal to take responsibility for the problem at hand. Although Trump was pretty flamboyant in his remarks about science, he’s not the first president to deny and ignore environmental problems. Historically, scientists and constituents have found themselves pitted against the government on issues that are undeniably important.

There are very few laws and regulations in place that protect our environment. Interest groups like the Sierra Club work to influence policies, but overall, there is a serious lack of concern for science in our government. It’s hardly an issue that comes up often in town hall meetings or debates, but it’s arguably the most important. Even when it is brought up, politicians debate on whether or not it’s seriously a problem. But it is. Just like people try to debate that evolution is just a theory, it’s still a fact. What government officials need to realize is that science is science, whether you agree with it or not. You can’t just say it doesn’t exist; that’s the thing about facts. They’re true whether or not you want them to be. As famous scientist Bill Nye the Science Guy has said, “The natural world is a package deal: you don’t get to select which facts you like and which you don’t.”

So the debate shouldn’t be whether or not global warming is real. It should be how we’re going to fix the problem at hand.

That’s the point protesters tried to make during the March for Science. As a country, it’s time to step up and take responsibility for the planet and the habits we’ve formed that are hurting it. Stricter regulations need to be put in place to ensure that Earth will still be around and viable for future generations.