Protesters demand climate action

Thousands across U.S. denounce environmental rollbacks

People march Saturday in Chicago near Trump Tower to protest President Donald Trump’s environmental policies. As Trump marked his 100th day in office, thousands of people across the U.S. took to the streets to demand action on climate change.
People march Saturday in Chicago near Trump Tower to protest President Donald Trump’s environmental policies. As Trump marked his 100th day in office, thousands of people across the U.S. took to the streets to demand action on climate change.

SEATTLE -- Thousands of people across the U.S. marched in rain, snow and sweltering heat Saturday to demand action on climate change, taking aim at President Donald Trump's agenda for rolling back environmental protections.

photo

AP

Jessica Fujan leads a chant Saturday as people protesting the Trump administration’s environmental policies march in Chicago.

The protests coincided with Trump's 100th day in office.

At the marquee event, the People's Climate March in Washington, D.C., tens of thousands of demonstrators made their way down Pennsylvania Avenue on their way to encircle the White House as temperatures soared into the 90s.

Organizers said about 300 sister marches or rallies were being held around the country, including in Boston, San Francisco and Seattle. A wet spring snow fell in Denver, where several hundred activists posed in the shape of a giant thermometer for a photograph and a dozen people rode stationary bikes to power the loudspeakers. In Chicago, a rain-soaked crowd of thousands headed from the city's federal plaza to Trump Tower.

"We are here because there is no Planet B," the Rev. Mariama White-Hammond of Bethel AME Church told a rally in Boston.

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The demonstrations came a week after supporters of science gathered in 600 cities around the globe, alarmed by the political and public rejection of established research on topics including climate change and the safety of vaccines.

Participants said Saturday that they object to Trump's rollback of restrictions on mining, oil drilling and greenhouse gas emissions at coal-fired power plants, among other things. Trump has called climate change a hoax, disputing the overwhelming consensus of scientists that the world is warming and that man-made carbon emissions are primarily to blame.

Among those attending the Chicago rally were members of the union representing Environmental Protection Agency employees. Trump has proposed cutting the EPA's budget by almost one-third, eliminating more than 3,000 jobs.

John O'Grady, president of the American Federation of Government Employees Council 238, called the march "a chance to speak out in unity against this administration" and its "ridiculous gutting of the EPA budget and staffing."

More than 2,000 people gathered at the Maine State House in Augusta. Speakers included a lobsterman, a solar company owner and members of the Penobscot Nation tribe.

"I've seen firsthand the impacts of climate change to not only the Gulf of Maine, but also to our evolving fisheries, and to the coastal communities that depend upon them," said lobsterman Richard Nelson of Friendship, Maine.

People in the crowd spoke about the importance of addressing climate change to industries such as renewable energy, forestry, farming and seafood. Saharlah Farah, a 16-year old immigrant from Somalia who lives in Portland, Maine, talked about how climate change could take a larger toll on marginalized groups that have fewer financial resources.

"But I see untapped power here today," she said.

A demonstration stretched for several blocks in downtown Tampa, Fla., where marchers said they were concerned about the threat rising seas pose to the city.

People gathered on the Boston Common carried signs with slogans such as "Dump Trump." Handmade signs at Seattle's march included the general -- "Love Life" -- and the specific -- "Don't Kill Otters."

Some of the marches drew big-name attendees, including former Vice President Al Gore and actor Leonardo DiCaprio in the nation's capital. In Montpelier, Vt., Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., called the marches part of a fight for the future of the planet.

"Honored to join Indigenous leaders and native peoples as they fight for climate justice," DiCaprio tweeted.

On the eve of the march, the EPA announced that it was beginning an overhaul of its website, which included taking down a long-standing site devoted to the science of climate change, which the agency said was "under review." It said the changes were being done to better represent the new direction the agency is taking.

"As EPA renews its commitment to human health and clean air, land, and water, our website needs to reflect the views of the leadership of the agency," J.P. Freire, the agency's associate administrator for public affairs, said in a statement. "We want to eliminate confusion by removing outdated language first and making room to discuss how we're protecting the environment and human health by partnering with states and working within the law."

One of the websites that appeared to be gone had been cited to challenge statements made by the EPA's new administrator, Scott Pruitt. Another provided detailed information on the previous administration's Clean Power Plan, including fact sheets about greenhouse gas emissions on the state and local levels and how different demographic groups were affected by such emissions.

"Hang on EPA, the midterms are coming. 2018," read one sign carried by Kathy Sommer of Stony Brook, N.Y., as the protest assembled on the National Mall on Saturday morning.

Information for this article was contributed by Gene Johnson, Sara Burnett, Colleen Slevin, Wilson Ring and Patrick Whittle of The Associated Press and by Chris Mooney, Juliet Eilperin, Brady Dennis, Joe Heim and Lori Aratani of The Washington Post.

A Section on 04/30/2017

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