January, 25 2017, 11:00pm EDT
Major Climate March in Communities Nationwide on April 29
Organizing Starts Now to Resist Attacks on the Environment and Communities. Leaders Call for a New Clean Energy Economy that Stops Climate Change and Creates Good Jobs for All
WASHINGTON
Climate activists have announced a major "People's Climate March" on April 29th in Washington, D.C. and throughout the country. The effort is being organized by the coalition formed out of 2014's People's Climate March, which brought over 400,000 people to the streets of New York City and many more around the world.
The April 29th march comes in response to widespread outrage against President Trump's disastrous anti-climate agenda - including his executive orders this week advancing the Keystone and Dakota Access pipelines - along with his attacks on health care, immigrants, and programs and policies that improve the lives of all Americans.
The march will cap off 100 days of action to fight back against Trump's proposals to reverse climate action, dismantle our government, and hand power over to the 1 percent.
More than 145 protests in local communities took place across the country in the first 100 hours of the Trump presidency, demonstrating widespread opposition to the administration's anti-environment and corporate agenda as part of an ongoing campaign organized by the People's Climate Movement.
"The climate crisis is an outcome of the long term disinvestment of low-income communities, and low-income communities of color," said Rae Breaux, lead climate justice organizer for People's Action Institute.
"President Trump's First 100 Days plan is a clear sign that he will fast-track profits for corporations before he invests in the needs of the American people.
"Now is the time to come together and build an economy where investments are made to benefit workers, communities of color and low-income folks - an economy that is structured to reflect the fact that black, brown and indigenous lives matter," she said.
Background and History: The People's Climate Movement grew out of the largest climate march in U.S. history in New York in September of 2014, creating a groundbreaking coalition of green and environmental justice groups, labor unions, faith, students, indigenous peoples and civil rights groups working to advance a climate agenda rooted in economic and racial justice.
With the 100 days of action and April march, this coalition will leverage their power once again, to resist the Trump administration and corporate leaders' efforts to thwart or reverse progress towards a more just America.
Now more than ever, it will take everyone to change everything. So, the People's Climate Movement is calling on everyone to join in resisting Trump, his crooked administration and the one percent who are running our country.
For more information on The People's Climate Movement and the mobilization on April 29th, please visit: https://peoplesclimate.org/
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Here's what others are saying about Climate Action and standing up to President Trump:
Jeremiah Lowery, Environmental Justice Organizer, Washington, D.C.: "As a community member of the frontline, we must not be forgotten. The next 100 days are critical. Trump's policies will have devastating impact on communities directly impacted by climate change. Supporting local organizing efforts will be important in any effort to stop Trump's attack on our environment, health, and ultimately collective well-being"
Denise Abdul-Rahman, NAACP Indiana Executive Board Member and State Chair:
"The NAACP mantra is about advocating for civil rights. Our grassroots based organization has injected civil disobedience to oppose the current attorney general appointee, we are asserting our voices and calling for a more just and inclusive policies and appointees. We are strategizing at local, state and federal level to curtail the oppressive policies espoused by the Koch Brothers and Alec. These are policies that disproportionately impact our communities, such as criminal justice, voting rights, jobs, women's rights, health care, climate and education. We are with the People, and the People's Climate Movement."
Reverend Leo Woodbury, Kingdom Living Temple in Florence, South Carolina: "President Trump's issuing of executive orders rolling back President Obama's climate agenda in his first days of office and his efforts at dismantling the EPA is a serious threat to our communities. In South Carolina and across the country, communities of color and low-income people are on the front-lines of the climate crisis and we need to fight back. This year we are rebuilding our church for the second time in two years due to flooding from storms that were stronger due to climate change. In our communities, and others across the country, people are dealing with wells and drinking water contaminated with human waste, pesticides and toxic chemicals due to overflow from storms that are stronger than ever before as a result of global warming. We need to come together under the People's Climate Movement banner in Washington, D.C. on April 29th to say we are fighting for our planet and our communities."
Angela Adrar, Executive Director, Climate Justice Alliance: "For the next 100 days and as long as it will take, the Climate Justice Alliance is standing side by side across the U.S. in unity with the people-- in defiance of those who want to divide us. Women of color will not be sacrificed, our communities will not be sacrificed -- now is the time to fight for climate justice as it is key to our liberation and justice for all. Defenders of water, land, air, food, our bodies, and homes will unite across struggles to grow the resistance. Inauguration was just the beginning of a social movement uprising that is making Her-story."
Aura Vasquez, Director of Climate Justice, Center for Popular Democracy: "Around the country and the world, we agreed that climate change is real and affects those most vulnerable. We cannot afford to continue polluting our air and water. Our families deserve a healthy environment to live in. CPD is committed to continue pushing for climate justice with some of the strongest grassroots organizations in the country. We can't back down now. We need climate solutions that protect the most vulnerable from climate change-related damage while finding viable solutions to our current climate crisis."
Michelle Suarez, Florida Institute for Reform and Empowerment, (F.I.R.E.): "As the climate crisis worsens, it's clear that women, children, indigenous nations, low-income and communities of color must lead the way. Marginalized communities can no longer be ignored, instead, real solutions must come from more intentional relationships with one another, an intersectional approach as we empower, educate, and mobilize towards ensuring more resilient communities, justice and equity for all."
Chloe Jackson, Just Transition and Climate Justice Organizer, Missourians Organizing for Reform and Empowerment: "Communities across the country have been working for environmental and social justice for centuries. Now it's time for our struggles to unite and work together across borders to fight racism, sexism, xenophobia, and environmental destruction. We have a lot of work to do, and we are stronger together. Our vision for a better future can be achieved if we join hands in this struggle and support each other."
Mark Magana, President and CEO, GreenLatinos: "Latino communities and GreenLatinos members across this country will stand together with the People's Climate Movement and lift our voices for justice; the right to clean air and clean water; the right to a healthy, clean, and protected environment; the right to live. Latinos have a culture that is grounded in environmentalism and conservationism. It is a way of being for our community, and it is in our DNA. GreenLatinos members from across the country will join the People's Climate March in Washington, DC on April 29th to bring that collective culture and wisdom to bare on the most anti-environment administration and Congress in generations."
Jamie Henn, 350.org Strategic Communications Director: "As Trump's corrupt cabinet presents a dark and divisive vision for our world, we envision a world powered by renewable energy with an economy that works for all of us. For too long, a small few have exploited people and planet all in the name of profit. Now, we all must come together to fight for the world we know is possible."
Dr. Rachel Cleetus, Climate Policy Manager, Union of Concerned Scientists: "Climate change is contributing to an increase in extreme weather disasters. We're seeing more rains that come as deluges, stronger North Atlantic hurricanes, worsening droughts and heat waves, and a longer, more severe Western wildfire season. When disaster strikes, we see the same old pattern: low-income and minority communities are hit harder than others and have a much harder time recovering."
Patrick Carolan, Executive Director, Franciscan Action Network: "Pope Francis, in his encyclical on ecology, Laudato Si, calls on "every person living on this planet" (LS#3) to "move forward in a bold cultural revolution." (LS#114) It is our moral responsibility to enter in to dialogue with political and faith leaders and ardently work to care for our common home."
Dominique Browning, Senior Director, Moms Clean Air Force: "We represent a million moms--and dads--from across the country. Republican and Democrat, we want to see action to cut the carbon and methane emissions that are changing our climate to so dangerously, and so rapidly. Climate change threatens the health of our children. We are ready to march, to show elected officials that we expect them to respect science, respect medicine, and do the right thing."
Karina Castillo, Miami-based meteorologist and Moms Clean Air Force Organizer: "In Florida, Latinas understand that climate change is a major threat to our health, our livelihood, and our future. Our families and communities are on the line. We are going to make that loud and clear."
Kieran Suckling, Executive Director, Center for Biological Diversity: "From coast-to-coast, we've seen a massive movement building to resist Trump and any policies that would hurt wildlife, marginalize entire classes of people and drive the climate deeper into crisis," said Kieran Suckling, executive director of the Center for Biological Diversity, which just completed its 16-city Earth2Trump tour across the country. "People from all walks of life, are speaking with a single voice of resistance against Trump and his corrupt agenda to gut climate progress and dig fossil fuels from the ground. It's a powerful movement that will show its mighty political force at the People's Climate March in 2017 and over the next four years."
Margrete Strand Rangnes, Executive Vice President, Public Citizen: "Despite the Trump Administration's insistence to bury its head in the sand and deny the overwhelming scientific evidence, climate change is real and is impacting people's lives. Moving away from fossil fuels and toward energy efficiency and renewable energy will not only lower energy prices for consumers, but also save lives and improve the health of people and communities"
Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune: "On April 29th, it's going to be much clearer to Donald Trump that he won't drag America or the world backwards on climate without the fight of his life. Our planet is in crisis, and voices from around the nation must and will be heard."
Eva Lin (18 years old), Alliance for Climate Education (ACE) Fellow, San Francisco, CA: "As a young person, a woman, and an immigrant, Trump's presidency threatens my future career as an environmental activist, my bodily autonomy, and my right to simply exist in this country."
Gene Karpinski, President, League of Conservation Voters: "The Trump administration's agenda for the environment is a polluter's dream. It's one of the most dangerous we've seen yet. We must fight back -- but it's going to take all of us."
Ernesto Vargas, Deputy National Director, Chispa, League of Conservation Voters: "We must grow the resistance to this administration's disregard for our climate and our communities. We must organize to guarantee that the political power of communities of color is seen, heard and felt at the White House." (Chispa is a community organizing program building Latino leadership to influence policy makers and local leaders to take action on climate change.)
Alexa Aispuro, Volunteer, Chispa Nevada, League of Conservation Voters: "As a young woman, I believe now more than ever our communities are ready to stand up for Mother Earth. I want to ensure that future generations have access to clean air and water, hope for curbing climate change. That's why I look forward to joining the April 29th march and encouraging others in my state and around the country to do the same."
Mike Tidwell, Director, Chesapeake Climate Action Network: "This morning, Trump made clear that he is putting pipelines over people. We want to make clear: We will never stop fighting. In Trump's first 100 days of office, we will continue mobilizing a historic movement to protect our water, our climate, and our communities."
People's Action builds the power of poor and working people, in rural, suburban, and urban areas to win change through issue campaigns and elections.
LATEST NEWS
Supreme Court Urged to 'Rule Quickly' After Trump Immunity Arguments
"It'd be a travesty for justices to delay matters further," said one legal expert.
Apr 25, 2024
After about three hours of oral arguments Thursday on former President Donald Trump's immunity claims, legal experts and democracy defenders urged the U.S. Supreme Court to rule swiftly, with just over six months until the November election.
Trump—the presumptive Republican candidate to challenge Democratic President Joe Biden, despite his 88 felony charges in four ongoing criminal cases—is arguing that presidential immunity should protect him from federal charges for trying to overturn his 2020 loss to Biden, which culminated in the January 6, 2021 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.
Justices across the ideological spectrum didn't seem inclined to support Trump's broad immunity claims—which critics have said "reflect a misreading of constitutional text and history as well as this court's precedent." However, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) shared examples of what it would mean if they did.
"Trump could sell pardons, ambassadorships, and other official benefits to his wealthy donors, members of his clubs, or cronies who helped him commit other crimes," CREW warned. "Trump could sell nuclear codes and government secrets to help pay back crippling debts."
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After warning that a president could also order the occupation or closure of the Capitol or high court to prevent actions against him, CREW concluded that "the Supreme Court never should have taken this appeal up in the first place. They should rule quickly and shut these ludicrous claims down for good."
The organization was far from alone in demanding a quick decision from the nation's highest court.
"In the name of accountability, the court must not delay its decision," the Brennan Center for Justice said Thursday evening. "The Supreme Court's time is up. It needs to let the prosecution move forward. The court decided Bush v. Gore in three days—it should act with similar alacrity in deciding Trump v. U.S."
In Bush v. Gore, the case that decided the 2000 election, the high court issued a related stay on December 9, heard oral arguments on December 11, and issued a final decision on December 12.
On Thursday, the arguments "got away from the central question: Is a former president immune from criminal prosecution if he tried to overthrow a presidential election, using private means and the power of his office to do so?" the Brennan Center noted. "The answer is simple: No."
"It is not an 'official act' to try to overthrow the peaceful transfer of power or the Constitution, even if you conspire with other government officials to do it or use the Oval Office phone," the center said. "Trump's attorney was pushing the court to come up with a sea change in the law. That's unnecessary and a delay tactic that will hurt the pursuit of justice in this case."
In a departure from previous claims, Trump's attorney, D. John Sauer, "appeared to agree with Special Counsel Jack Smith, who is leading the prosecution, that there are some allegations in the indictment that do not involve 'official acts' of the president," NBC Newsreported, noting questions from liberal Justice Elena Kagan and conservative Justice Amy Coney Barrett, a Trump appointee.
Barrett summarized various allegations from the indictment and in three cases—involving dishonest election claims, false allegations of fraud, and fake electors—Sauer conceded that Trump's alleged conduct sounded private, suggesting that a more narrow case against the ex-president that excluded any potential official acts could proceed.
Due to Trump attorney's concessions in Supreme Court oral argument, there's now a very clear path for DOJ's case to go forward.\n\nIt'd be a travesty for Justices to delay matters further.\n\nJustice Amy Coney Barrett got Trump attorney to concede core allegations are private acts.\u2b07\ufe0f— (@)
According to NBC:
Matthew Seligman, a lawyer and a fellow at the Constitutional Law Center at Stanford Law School who filed a brief backing prosecutors, said Sauer's concessions highlight that Trump is "not immune for the vast majority of the conduct alleged in the indictment."
Ultimately, he said, the case will go to trial "absent some external intervention—like Trump ordering [the Justice Department] to drop the charges" after having won the election.
At the same time, Sauer's backtracking might have little consequence from an electoral perspective. Further delay in a trial, which Sauer is close to achieving, is a form of victory in itself.
Slate's Mark Joseph Stern pointed out that when Barrett similarly questioned Michael Dreeben, the U.S. Department of Justice lawyer arguing the case for Smith, it seemed like they "were trying to work out some compromise wherein the trial court could distinguish between official and unofficial acts, then instruct the jury not to impose criminal liability on the former."
"It was fascinating to watch Barrett nodding along as Dreeben pitched a compromise that would largely preserve Smith's January 6 prosecution but limit what the jury could hear, or at least consider," Stern added. "That, though, would take months to suss out in the trial court. More delays!"
Stern and other experts signaled that the decision likely comes down to Barrett and Chief Justice John Roberts, with the three liberals seemingly supporting the prosecution of Trump and the other four conservatives suggesting it is unconstitutional.
People for the American Way president Svante Myrick said in a statement that "today's argument brought both good and bad news. It was chilling to hear Donald Trump's lawyer say that staging a military coup could be considered part of a president's official duties."
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Trump was not at the Supreme Court on Thursday; he was at his trial in New York, where he faces 34 counts for allegedly falsifying business records related to hush money payments to cover up sex scandals during the 2016 election cycle. The are two other cases: a federal one for mishandling classified material and another in Georgia for interfering with the last presidential contest.
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Twenty more demonstrators were arrested Thursday, the second day of Earth Week protests targeting Citigroup's Manhattan headquarters in what organizers called "the beginning of a wave of direct actions to take place over the summer targeting big banks for creating climate chaos that is killing our communities and our planet."
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Stop the Money Pipeline co-director Alec Connon said: "To have any chance of reigning in the climate crisis, we must stop investing in fossil fuel expansion. Yet, Citibank is pumping billions of dollars into new coal, oil, and gas projects."
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According to the protest organizers:
Citi has provided $668 million in funding to Formosa Plastics between 2001-2021, which is trying to build a $9.4 billion plastics facility in a majority Black community in the heart of Cancer Alley in Louisiana.
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Thursday's exchange followed a similar back-and-forth on Tuesday between Patel and Said Arikat, a journalist for the Jerusalem-based
Palestinian news outlet al-Quds who asked about the mass graves.
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