Protesters rally in Provincetown Saturday against President Donald Trump’s environmental agenda
PROVINCETOWN — Hundreds of people marched in Provincetown Saturday afternoon to protest President Donald Trump’s environmental policies and make a pledge to have an impact on climate change.
The event was one of many that took place across the nation on the president’s hundredth day in office.
In Provincetown, activists marched down Commercial Street to MacMillan Pier and then rallied on the steps of town hall, calling for a reduction of society’s carbon footprint.
Speakers called for an end to the Trump environmental agenda and urged people to not sit by idly.
They also called for a support of “science-based research,” saying those who don’t believe in climate change ignore “truth, fact and logic.”
State Representative Sarah Peake (D-Provincetown) said science is real and must be affirmed every day. She told the protesters that Beacon Hill lawmakers are ready to act.
“There is a political will to make change and reduce our reliance on carbon and fossil fuels. We can make that happen,” she said.
Peake said Massachusetts is already number one in energy efficiency in the nation.
Protesters held signs that read: We Resist. We Build. We Rise,” “Don’t Trump Mother Earth” and “Water is Life.”
Peake said it was critical for Democrats to win back the House and Senate in the coming election cycles.
She said it was time “to stop this President’s agenda,” and pointed to erosion at Herring Cove in Provincetown as evidence that climate change is real.
Andrew Gottlieb, the new executive director of the Association to Preserve Cape Cod, said it was time to get more local officials involved in stopping climate change.
“We believe in science, we do a lot or work on our own to understand the impact of climate change and, as importantly, the ways that we can take local action to mitigate the impact of rising sea levels,” he said.
Gottlieb said changing the mind set on climate change is a “long game” that will take work on the local, regional and state level.
He called on the protestors to take the message into their town halls and get more engaged locally.
Bryan Lagare, a marine researcher with the Center for Coastal Studies in Provincetown, said we face an imminent threat from climate change and rising temperatures.
“Temperatures affect the intensity and the frequency of storms which will affect coastal communities,” Lagare said.
He also said rising water temperatures and increasing acidity in the oceans adversely impact spawning fish. “It is a huge problem,” he said.
Lagare said Trump Administration policies threaten to undo decades of research and protection.
Chris Powicki, an energy consultant and adjunct professor at Cape Cod Community College, had harsh words for Trump, calling him, “one of the world’s worst human beings.”
“This is an expression of resistance and a call for action,” he said.
Powicki said the Trump agenda was driven by fossil fuels, combined with an opposition of climate science, the Paris climate agreement and increased fuel efficiency.
Protesters also rallied at the Boston Common on Saturday afternoon.
Organizers and participants focused on how climate change affects all communities, including marginalized groups. Protesters carried signs that read: “We won’t go back,” ”Science Trump’s Ignorance,” and “Dump Trump.”
Bethel AME Church Rev. Mariama White-Hammond told the crowd “there is no Planet B.”
Organizers have said the aim is to protest Trump’s efforts to roll back protections for the climate and his assaults on air, water and land.
In Washington, D.C., large crowds on Saturday made their way down Pennsylvania Avenue in sweltering heat. They planned to encircle the White House.
Participants in the Peoples Climate March say they’re objecting to Trump’s rollback of restrictions on mining, oil drilling and greenhouse gas emissions at coal-fired power plants, among other things.
In Augusta, Maine, protesters outside the statehouse said they wanted to draw attention to the damage climate change can cause marginalized communities.
A demonstration stretched for several blocks in downtown Tampa, Florida, where marchers said they were concerned about the threat rising seas pose to the city.
By MATT PITTA, CapeCod.com News Director. Material from The Associated Press was used in this report
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