Another weekend, another DC march

WASHINGTON — Environmentalists will once again rally in the nation’s capital this weekend, this time for the People’s Climate March.

The Saturday demonstration will come one week after the March for Science and Earth Day rally, but organizers say the People’s Climate March will be more political and aimed at specific Trump administration policies.

It’s unclear how many people will attend, but demonstration permits from the National Park Service indicate that organizers are prepared to accommodate 50,000 to 100,000 people. Actor Leonardo DiCaprio, Virgin Airlines founder Richard Branson and former Vice President Al Gore are expected to attend.

Hundreds of smaller climate marches are planned across the country to coincide with the main event in Washington.

Thanu Yakupitiyage, national communications manager at 350.org — an advocacy group that is part of the coalition organizing the march — said march leaders have helped coordinate more than 450 buses carrying protesters to Washington from across the country.

The People’s Climate March is the third large demonstration to occur on consecutive weekends in downtown Washington. The Tax March kicked off the string of highprofile protests on April 15, when people demonstrated in front of the marched along Pennsylvania Avenue, calling on President Donald Trump to release his tax returns.

Another protest is scheduled for Monday, when immigration advocates say they plan to show they won’t be intimidated by rhetoric and policies aimed at the immigrant community.

Saturday’s demonstration will begin at 10 a.m. near the Capitol. At 12:30 p.m., protesters will begin marching west on Pennsylvania Avenue NW toward the White House. Organizers then will surround the White House and “make a loud sound demanding climate justice and good jobs that will drown out all of the climatedenying nonsense that has been coming out of this administration,” according to their website.