Protesters disrupt U.S. fossil, nuclear event at climate talks

BONN, GERMANY — Protesters drowned out speeches by White House advisers and business representatives Monday at an event the U.S. government spon- sored at the U.N. climate talks in Germany promoting the use of fossil fuels and nuclear energy.

About 200 protesters stood up 10 minutes into the event and began singing an anti- coal song to the tune of “God Bless the U.S.A.” They were ushered out of the room with- out further incident.

The event late Monday was the only one the U.S. delega- tion organized at the ongoing climate talks in Bonn. The American delegates are being closely watched by diplomats from the other 194 nations at the conference because of President Donald Trump’s announcement that he wants to quit the 2015 Paris climate accord.

Before the panel, which featured U.S. government advisers and energy industry representatives, the governors of Oregon and Washington, Kate Brown and Jay Inslee, said Trump’s rejection of climate change was “a dead end.”

“What you’re going to hear today is essentially Donald Trump trying to sell 8-track tapes in a Spotify streaming world,” Inslee told reporters.

David Banks, who was part of the U.S. panel, said ruling out the use of fossil fuels and other non-renewable sources of energy was only controversial “if we choose to bury our heads in the sand and ignore the reality of the global energy system.”