Rallies protest climate rollback
AS PRESIDENT Donald Trump celebrated his 100th day in the White House, protesters around the US took to the streets to condemn his climate change policies.
Crowd estimates varied, but some media reported that tens of thousands of protesters took part in the People’s Climate March in Washington DC, making their way down down the National Mall from the Capital Building to the White House as temperatures hit the 30s.
Oscar-winner Leonardo DiCaprio, The Good Wife actor Alan Cumming and former vice-president Al Gore were among the crowd, with protesters taking aim at President Trump’s rollback of environmental protections such as restrictions on mining, oil drilling and greenhouse gas emissions from coal-fired power plants.
Organisers said about 300 sister marches or rallies were held around the country, including in Boston, Chicago, Denver, Miami, Tampa, San Francisco and Seattle.
The Trump administration is considering withdrawing from the Paris Agreement, which has been signed by more than 190 countries to tackle global warming.
In his presidential campaign, Mr Trump called climate change a hoax created by the Chinese.
He has already fulfilled an election promise to the coal industry by signing an order to reverse rules aimed at pushing US utilities away from coal plants to cleaner-burning fuels.