Climate march draws massive crowd
More than 100,000 protesters gathered in Washington D.C. in record 33 C temperatures
WASHINGTON— On a sweltering April day, tens of thousands of demonstrators assembled in Washington on Saturday for the latest instalment of the regular protests that punctuate the Trump era. This large-scale climate march marked U.S. President Donald Trump’s first 100 days in office, which have already seen multiple rollbacks of environmental protections and Obama climate policies.
The People’s Climate March, which originated with a massive demonstration in New York in September 2014, picked a symbolically striking day for its 2017 event. The temperature reached 33 C by 3 p.m., tying a heat record for April 29 in the district set in 1974 — which only amplified the movement’s message.
On the eve of the march, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that it was beginning an overhaul of its website, which included taking down a long-standing site devoted to the science of climate change, which the agency said was “under review.”
“Hang on EPA, the mid-terms are coming. 2018,” read one sign, as the protest assembled on the Mall.
“There is no Planet B,” read another sign, displaying one of the most popular messages of the event (and of last week’s March for Science).
Hillary Clinton tweeted praise of the marchers Saturday afternoon, writing, “Great to see ppl take to the streets & combat climate change, protect the next generation & fight for jobs & economic justice.”
Trump was in Pennsylvania for a rally on Saturday and did not tweet any immediate reaction.
Many of the signs at Saturday’s climate march were dark and ominous, warning of climate catastrophe, dying oceans, crop destruction and planet degradation. But the mood of the marchers was anything but sombre. It was a racially diverse crowd with marchers of all ages.
The protest itself smelled of sweat, sunscreen and the occasional whiff of incense. It sounded like a drum circle — a never-ending drum circle. The climate event differs from last week’s March for Science in its focus and also its participants — only one out of eight contingents of Saturday’s protest featured scientific researchers. The rest included labour activists, indigenous people already facing severe effects from climate change, and children and young people who will live with the effects of climate change longest as the Earth continues to warm.
The motivation for the current climate march is clear: The Trump administration already has moved to roll back former president Barack Obama’s signature climate initiative, the Clean Power Plan, and Trump and his team have taken many other actions to weaken environmental protections of air and water, and to enable fossil fuel exploitation on public lands and waters.
Marchers on Saturday gathered at the Capitol and marched along Pennsylvania Avenue. They unleashed their anger as they passed in front of the Trump hotel where they booed loudly and chanted “Shame!” and “We want a leader, not a creepy tweeter!” and “we will not go away, welcome to your 100 days!”
The protesters were vociferous, but peaceful. Interactions with the phalanx of police officers who stood at barriers in front of the hotel were friendly, with many protesters stopping to get pictures of themselves with officers.
Organizers told the National Park Service that they expected 50,000 to 100,000 attendees. By late afternoon, they were claiming to have greatly exceeded that and reached 200,000. More than 375 satellite marches were held around the United States and even more around the world, from Manila to Amsterdam.