FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE ***Click photo for video from event ***
January 9, 2017
CONTACT: Micah Parkin, 350 Colorado, 504-258-1247, micah(at)350colorado.org
Over 125 people Join Rally in Denver as Part of National Protests Against Trump’s ‘Climate Denial Cabinet’
Denver, CO — Today, 125 people joined a rally in Denver as part of a national day of action at Senate offices in all 50 states, urging the Senators to block President Elect Donald Trump’s proposed Cabinet members who deny the reality of climate science.
Actions were held at both Colorado US Senators’ Denver offices to urge them to stand against climate change denial and with science and our communities.
Participants rallied with signs and banners outside the offices and then delivered a letter that in 3 days of circulation gathered signatures from over 40 Colorado organizations and businesses and more than 700 individuals urging the Senators to block Trump’s climate change denying Cabinet picks. Those in attendance held pictures of climate change-related Colorado disasters, like record-breaking wildfires, floods, droughts with signs reading “Climate Denial = Climate Chaos” and pictures of their children with “Protect the Next Generation, Stop Trump’s Climate Denier Cabinet”.
“In the face of plans to regress on much of the progress on climate change mitigation and clean energy deployment that has occurred in the last few years, we’re calling on Senators Bennet and Gardner to stand with Colorado’s climate scientists and over 70% of Coloradans who want climate action and stand against Trump’s proposed climate change denier Cabinet posts, who represent a greedy fossil fuel industry willing to scorch the planet for profits,” said 350 Colorado Director Micah Parkin, who moved to Colorado after one of the worst climate change-related disasters in US history – Hurricane Katrina – flooded over 80% of her home city of New Orleans, killing 1,836 people.
Since the election, Trump has appointed climate deniers to every single cabinet position pertaining to energy and environment. In all 50 states, people are urging Senators to stand up to Trump’s Climate Denial Cabinet, including Pruitt for EPA Administrator, ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson as Secretary of State, Rick Perry as Energy Secretary, and handing over public lands to Ryan Zinke as Secretary of the Interior.
Rev. Peter Sawtell of Eco-Justice Ministries also spoke at the event: “Almost every faith tradition has two central principles important for today. Tell the truth — and that includes being truthful about the clear scientific evidence of climate disruption. Care for the Earth — protect and preserve this great gift of an interconnected world which nurtures and sustains us. I object to the people nominated to Cabinet positions who deny the threat of climate change, and who apparently will not take action to protect our world.”
Senator Bennet accepts the science of climate change, but has not yet released a public position about if he plans to accept or reject Trump’s Cabinet selections. When running for Senate in 2014, Senator Gardner said that climate change is caused in part by human activity, despite previously expressing skepticism about man-made climate change and voting against an amendment in the House that would have explicitly stated that climate change is real. Gardner’s staff were not aware of the Senator’s position on the Trump’s Cabinet appointees.
“Trump’s Climate Denial Cabinet would prioritize greed and profit over the health, safety and livelihoods of our communities. Senators Michael Bennet and Cory Gardner need to be on the right side of history by standing against denialism and cronyism, starting with blocking Trump’s Cabinet picks,” said Parkin.
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Click here for a full copy of the letter delivered to the Senators, with organizational and business signers. (Individual signers not included to protect their privacy.)
