Chicagoans Will Rally Today To Protest Trump's Exit From The Paris Accord
By Stephen Gossett in News on Jun 2, 2017 4:20PM
Photo: Tyler LaRiviere / People's Climate March, April, 2017
The rebukes was swift and strong when President Donald Trump announced on Thursday that the United States will withdraw from the Paris climate accord, with everyone from the former POTUS to a righteously pissed Weather Channel shaking a fist. On Friday, Chicagoans will take the streets to make their displease know, too.
An emergency protest will gather outside at Michigan and Wacker, outside the Trump Tower—the unofficial locus of so many demonstrations over the past many months—at 4:30 p.m. Protesters will then march through downtown to the Thompson Center to call on Gov. Bruce Rauner to initiate a Clean Power Plan for the state. The action is hosted by a wide-ranging coalition of activist groups that includes Indivisible Chicago, the National Resources Defense Council, the Sierra Club of Illinois, Chicago Women Take Action and others, according to event details.
Trump's decision to yank the country was his most prominent action yet in a pattern of anti-environmentalist policies and political appointments. Nearly 200 nations are signed on to the climate agreement, which was signed in 2015 and established targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
More than 80 mayors around the country—including Mayor Rahm Emanuel—have pledged to adopt the accord in defiance of Trump. He, along with Obama, Sens. Duckworth and Durbin and numerous other politicians with Illinois ties came out vociferously against the announcement. Perhaps Ald. George Cardenas best articulated the opposition when he said, “I just don't think he's well. I think this president's just off his rocker," according to the Tribune.
A large-scale protest is scheduled for the following day downtown, also. The Chicago March for Truth is slated to kick off at 11 a.m. on Saturday, at 50 W. Adams St. Protesters will then march to Trump Tower to "demand more accountability and transparency from their federal, state and local elected officials," including and independent investigation into Russian interference in November's election.