Streets Swell With People's Climate Marchers Because 'Our Existence Depends on It'

Energized crowds are expected to take to the streets nationwide on Saturday, President Donald Trump's 100th day in office, to protest the administration's regressive environmental policies and stand up for the climate, clean energy jobs, and a fossil-free future.

The Peoples Climate March in Washington, D.C. will feature speakers including a pastor from South Carolina, a nurse affected by Hurricane Sandy, an Indigenous community leader from the Gulf Coast, a student activist from Las Vegas, an Iraq war veteran, a Muslim imam, a local community activist, a labor leader, and a young advocate for low-income communities.

Solidarity and sister marches are planned around the country and the world; as of Saturday morning, events had already gotten underway in Denmark, the Philippines, and elsewhere.

In the U.S., the marches were preceded by a week of action that saw the introduction of ambitious clean energy legislation in Congress; a rally bringing together Indigenous, Black, and Latino communities; and pledges of intersectional support between the labor and climate movements.

"This march grew out of the relationship-building among some of the country's most important progressive organizations and movements," said Paul Getsos, national coordinator for the Peoples Climate Movement, who noted the march "was planned before the election as a strategic moment to continue to build power to move our leaders to act on climate while creating family-sustaining jobs, investing in frontline and indigenous communities, and protecting workers who will be impacted by the transition to a new clean and renewable energy economy."

Under Trump, however, the call has taken on new urgency as his climate-denying cabinet moves to dismantle critical environmental and public health protections while propping up dirty energy like coal and Big Oil.

"On the 100th day of the Trump presidency, the Peoples Climate March will show that our movements are ready to fight for our climate, jobs, and justice," said May Boeve, executive director of 350.org. "While Trump and his crony cabinet rollback hard-won protections of our communities and our climate, we are mobilizing to fight for the bold solutions we need. We will present our vision to replace the fossil fuel industry with a 100 percent clean energy economy that works for all. Today, we march. Tomorrow, we rise united across our communities to make our vision of a just and equitable world a reality."

Added Angela Adrar, executive director of the Climate Justice Alliance: "When our communities are most threatened by climate; the solutions we build must allow us to have control of our resources and the energy we produce in an equitable and truly democratic way."

"They must create meaningful work that allows people to grow and develop to their fullest capacity," she said. "They must allow us to retain culture and traditions from our ancestors and give us the freedom of self-determination we so deserve so that we can thrive. This does not come easy and it must come with resistance and visionary opposition. Our existence depends on it."