Environmental protesters return to Washington as Trump passes milestone

[rooster59]

Environmental protesters return to Washington as Trump passes milestone

By Lacey Johnson and Ian Simpson

 

U.S. President Donald Trump walks along the Rose Garden as he returns from a day trip to Atlanta on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, U.S., April 28, 2017. REUTERS/Carlos Barria/Files

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Protesters marched in Washington on a second consecutive Saturday to challenge President Donald Trump's stance on the environment and call on him to stand by policies to stop climate change championed by his predecessor.

 

Thousands of people gathered for the afternoon march from the lawn of the U.S. Capitol to the White House, an event that coincides with the completion of Trump's first 100 days in office and the end of the traditional "honeymoon" period for a new president.

 

The Peoples Climate March, which drew about 15,000 people, according to an estimate by a Reuters reporter, rivaled last weekend's March for Science in size. Protesters sounded many of the same themes at both events.

 

Carrying signs emblazoned with slogans such as "Imagine a world free a climate change," and "Planet over profits," demonstrators on Saturday said they were angered by the prospect of Trump carrying through on his vow to roll back protections put in place by his predecessors.

 

"We're going to rise up and let them know that we're sick and tired of seeing our children die of asthma," said Rev. Leo Woodberry of Florence, S.C., who spoke during a press conference before the march. "We're sick and tired of seeing people with cancer because of coal ash ponds. We're sick and tired of seeing sea-level rise."

 

Trump's administration is considering withdrawing from the Paris Agreement, which more than 190 countries including the United States signed in hopes of curbing global warming. Trump has also proposed deep cuts for the Environmental Protection Agency.

 

In his campaign, Trump called climate change a hoax. Last month he kept a promise to the coal industry by undoing climate-change rules put in place by his predecessor, Democrat Barack Obama.

 

Tom McGettrick, 57, an electrical engineer who drove up from the Florida Keys to attend the march, said his main concern is the weakening of the EPA.

 

"Forty years of environmental protection has done wonders for the environment, especially in the Midwest," said McGettrick, who spent most of his life in Michigan.

 

"When I was a teenager and went to Lake Erie, it was one of the most polluted bodies of water in the country," he said. "Now when you go to Lake Erie it's really beautiful."

 

The Washington event, which coincided with Trump's 100-day milestone, follows an exclusive interview with Reuters in which the president reflected wistfully at his life as a billionaire real estate developer that he left behind after his Jan. 20 inauguration.

 

"This is more work than in my previous life," Trump told Reuters. "I thought it would be easier."

 

Saturday's march was part of an effort to build support for candidates with strong environmental records in the run-up to next year's midterm elections and the 2020 presidential race, organizers said.

 

"We're using this as a tactic to advance the strategy of building enough power to win on climate over the course of the long haul," said Paul Getsos, national coordinator for the Peoples Climate Movement. Sponsors of Saturday's events include labor unions, the Sierra Club and civil rights groups.

 

As a side theme, marchers will protest Trump's crackdown on illegal immigrants and other issues championed by the maverick Republican billionaire.

 

Since Trump's inauguration on Jan. 20, there have been national protests focused on issues ranging from abortion rights to immigration and science policy.

 

Myron Ebell, a climate change skeptic at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, a libertarian think tank, said the march would have little impact on the administration.

 

"The real decisions are made in this country in elections, and we have now a president and a House and a Senate that are determined to pursue a pro-energy agenda," he said by telephone.

 

Environmental activists believe public opinion is on their side. A Gallup poll this month showed 59 percent of Americans agreed environmental protection should take priority over increased U.S. energy production.

 

Trump representatives had no immediate comment on the protest.

 

Dozens of "sister" marches are planned for other North America locales, from Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia, to Dutch Harbor in Alaska's Aleutian Islands. Overseas, about three dozen events range from a protest in Vienna to a tree-planting event in Zambia.

 

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-04-30

[darksidedog]

I don't believe that Donald truly thinks Global warming isn't real. It's just that making a profit is the only thing that matters to him and his conscienceless buddies.

[boomerangutang]

1st two paragraph except below from yesterday's NPR article......

 

"President Trump has ordered the Department of the Interior to review all designations of national monuments greater than 100,000 acres created since 1996.

That executive order, which he signed Wednesday, places at least 20 — and as many as 40 — monuments in the government's sights. The areas now under review span a vast range of landscapes — from arid deserts to frozen mountain peaks, from striking craggy vistas to teeming underwater playgrounds."

 

for more text plus beautiful photos........ npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/04/28/525883061/photos-see-the-sweeping-american-landscapes-under-review-by-trump

 

 

Edited April 30, 2017 by boomerangutang

[Shaunduhpostman]

Sorry to read that only 15,000 protested. Says a lot about the way the protests were organized. Trumps environmental schtick is of more concern to Americans than that. I doubt there are very many who like the fact that he is seemingly dismantling the national park system, to take one example. It almost seems worse that they did have the protest,  as it only advertises how apparently impotent the environmental cause is to people like Trump. I would guess this might even encourage him to do more harm to the environment.

[boomerangutang]

2 hours ago, Shaunduhpostman said:

Sorry to read that only 15,000 protested. Says a lot about the way the protests were organized. Trumps environmental schtick is of more concern to Americans than that. I doubt there are very many who like the fact that he is seemingly dismantling the national park system, to take one example. It almost seems worse that they did have the protest,  as it only advertises how apparently impotent the environmental cause is to people like Trump. I would guess this might even encourage him to do more harm to the environment.

                  You ain't seen nothin' yet.  There are a lot of avid environmentalists in the US, and they're not going to be shy about stepping out in public and having their voices heard.   There are a lot of people like me who put environmentalism + sanctity of public lands - at no less important than economics, treasonous activity in the WH, abortion, war with N.Korea, or any other issue.

 

                      I'm not physically in the US, so it's not easy to go out an protest - from a town like Chiang Rai.  So, I wind up posting on T.Visa and other venues.  Maybe just a tiny voice in the conversation, but lots of tiny things together can have a big effect.  Example:  most of the oxygen on the planet is produced by algae - which are too small to be seen individually by the naked eye.   Yet, when working together, in big enough numbers, they have a massive affect.

 

 

[iReason]

EPA removes climate change data, other scientific information from website

 

"WASHINGTON — The Environmental Protection Agency is updating its website and, in the process, has removed a page that explained the causes and effects of climate change."

 

“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."

 

"The overhaul already appears to have impacted at least two of the agency’s websites – the EPA’s main climate change site and another regarding the Clean Power Plan, a rule put in place under former President Obama to reduce carbon pollution from power plants."

 

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2017/04/29/epa-removes-climate-change-data-other-scientific-information-website/101072040/

 

This EPA chief:

http://www.cnbc.com/2017/03/28/epa-chief-scott-pruitt-signals-less-aggressive-response-to-emissions.html

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/feb/22/scott-pruitt-emails-oklahoma-fossil-fuels-koch-brothers

 

Emails reveal Pruitt's behind-the-scenes collaboration with oil and natural gas giant

http://edition.cnn.com/2017/02/22/politics/scott-pruitt-epa-oklahoma/

 

The epitome of a Swamp Dweller.

Edited April 30, 2017 by iReason

[Stargeezr]

These protesters should all go out in the rust belt states and protest that the coal mines are running again, and likely maybe some closed mills and factories may also start up again. All that this does is create jobs in the rust belt  and darn,  that must be a bad thing. Lets all quit our jobs and go out and protest. Remember this, the people of USA need jobs like everyone in the world. Look at China and Russia, do you think that these coutries are wanting protesters to shut down

their mills and factories, and oil industry.  China, Russia, India the ME and South America all have industries that pollute and none of those countries have any carbon tax, but USA and Canada  well there are

people in these countries who want to charge their citizens a carbon tax  and live happy ever after.  I am glad that I lived to retirement and enjoy living in a city that thankfully is not full of industrial pollution,

but if I did I would still want to have a career to get to retirement and live and enjoy it as long as I can.

 If Donald Trump can get Americans back to work and get some of their factories going again, then that cannot all be a bad thing. We live in a real world  and not in the imagined world that some of these protesters live in.

Geezer

[Credo]

5 minutes ago, Stargrazer9889 said:

These protesters should all go out in the rust belt states and protest that the coal mines are running again, and likely maybe some closed mills and factories may also start up again. All that this does is create jobs in the rust belt  and darn,  that must be a bad thing. Lets all quit our jobs and go out and protest. Remember this, the people of USA need jobs like everyone in the world. Look at China and Russia, do you think that these coutries are wanting protesters to shut down

their mills and factories, and oil industry.  China, Russia, India the ME and South America all have industries that pollute and none of those countries have any carbon tax, but USA and Canada  well there are

people in these countries who want to charge their citizens a carbon tax  and live happy ever after.  I am glad that I lived to retirement and enjoy living in a city that thankfully is not full of industrial pollution,

but if I did I would still want to have a career to get to retirement and live and enjoy it as long as I can.

 If Donald Trump can get Americans back to work and get some of their factories going again, then that cannot all be a bad thing. We live in a real world  and not in the imagined world that some of these protesters live in.

Geezer

Keeping a few jobs in the rust belt is nice, but the US simply cannot compete with cheap labor and if it does, it will be because of mechanization of the plants.   They will never be labor intensive in the US and be profitable.   

 

If Trump wants to make America Great, he needs to start attracting service industries and businesses which require a well educated and trained group of people.   He's not doing that.   As a matter of fact, he's not doing much of anything.   

[Credo]

15 hours ago, boomerangutang said:

                  You ain't seen nothin' yet.  There are a lot of avid environmentalists in the US, and they're not going to be shy about stepping out in public and having their voices heard.   There are a lot of people like me who put environmentalism + sanctity of public lands - at no less important than economics, treasonous activity in the WH, abortion, war with N.Korea, or any other issue.

 

                      I'm not physically in the US, so it's not easy to go out an protest - from a town like Chiang Rai.  So, I wind up posting on T.Visa and other venues.  Maybe just a tiny voice in the conversation, but lots of tiny things together can have a big effect.  Example:  most of the oxygen on the planet is produced by algae - which are too small to be seen individually by the naked eye.   Yet, when working together, in big enough numbers, they have a massive affect.

 

 

The problem with that is that much of Trump's campaign was based on getting tough with China, it's currency manipulation and unfair trade.   That was a big gamble for the Chinese.   There is no way they were going to undermine Clinton in favor of Trump.