Climate Groups Launch Wave of Resistance During Congressional Recess

Climate, labor, environmental and social justice advocates are teaming up this April Recess to turn up the heat on lawmakers over Trump's executive orders and his proposed budget, all of which spell disaster for our climate and communities.

Over the coming weeks, people across the country will join town halls and meetings held by Congressional representatives in their home states, urging them to challenge the Trump administration's destructive, climate-denying agenda.

At each event, volunteers will also be recruiting for this April 29th's Peoples Climate March, which aims to bring tens of thousands of people to DC in support of bold action for climate, jobs, and justice.

The April recess push is part of the Resistance Recess supported by MoveOn.org and a broad set of progressive groups.

Since being in office, President Trump has appointed climate-deniers to top federal energy and environment positions, ordered approval of the Dakota Access and Keystone XL pipelines, proposed massive budget cuts to the EPA, and more. The Trump administration's latest executive order threw support behind fossil fuel industry CEOs under the guise of "bringing back coal" while challenging the Clean Power Plan.

These actions, which strip away critical and hard-won protections, will directly harm Indigenous peoples, farmers, landowners, workers, environmental justice communities, and people everywhere who already live with the devastating impacts of the climate crisis.

At town halls and meetings in the coming weeks, members of Congress will have a choice to make -- either they will protect the people by supporting the just transition to a clean energy economy, or they will abandon their constituents by aligning with Trump to prop up and profit with polluting fossil fuel billionaires.

Quotes:

May Boeve, 350 Action Executive Director, said, "With Trump slashing climate protections left and right, we need our elected officials to stand up and push back on this dangerous tirade. We can't afford Congress members who sit on the sidelines of this presidency, and communities across the country are taking action during this recess to make sure they don't. Our future depends on blocking Trump's climate attacks while supporting the transition to clean energy, and people-powered resistance -- in the streets and in the Capitol -- will make it happen."

Rhea Suh, president of the Natural Resources Defense Council, said, "With each passing week, President Trump and congressional Republican allies are putting our health and climate in increasing danger. They're sounding the retreat from the promise of cleaner, smarter ways to power our future. And they're abandoning American climate and clean-energy leadership around the world. It's time for citizens to speak out and demand that Trump and his congressional backers put our health and a healthy planet first, before it's too late."

Dr. Adrienne Hollis, Director of the Federal Policy Office of WE ACT for Environmental Justice, which also facilitates the Environmental Justice Leadership Forum on Climate Change, said, "Environmental justice communities - which include communities of color and/or those of low socioeconomic status - are already experiencing environmental impacts caused by climate change. When programs designed to protect those vulnerable communities are recklessly eliminated, these communities suffer first and worst."