PORT ANGELES — Olympic Climate Action will host a rally Monday in protest of the “climate-killing Cabinet” nominees of President Donald Trump.
The protest will be from 8 a.m. to 9 a.m. at the traffic triangle at the west end of Front and First streets in Port Angeles at the foot of Valley Street, said Ed Chadd of the group’s executive committee. Demonstrators are encouraged to dress warmly and brightly and to bring signs or flags.
The demonstration will be followed at 9 a.m. by a presentation to Port of Port Angeles commissioners urging them to oppose nominees to the president’s Cabinet. The group will speak during the public comment period of the commissioners’ meeting at 338 W. First St., according to Holly Hairell, public relations manager.
Earlier this month, the group wrote Sens. Maria Cantwell (D-Mountlake Terrace) and Patty Murray (D-Seattle) to carefully vet the Cabinet-level nominees, specifically Scott Pruitt for head of the Environmental Protection Agency, Rex Tillerson for secretary of state, Ryan Zinke for secretary of the Interior, Rick Perry for secretary of Energy and Mike Pompeo for the head of the CIA.
“In summary, we are concerned that Donald Trump seems to be putting in place a Climate Denial administration that threatens our very future, and we ask you to do everything in your power to protect our nation and the earth from those who ignore science, risking those they are entrusted to protect,” the letter says.
The group is asking local and tribal governments across the North Olympic Peninsula to consider sending a similar message, Chadd said.
Pruitt’s confirmation hearing before the Senate Energy and Public Works Committee was Wednesday.
Senate Foreign Relations Committee has scheduled a vote on Tillerson on Monday. Tillerson’s nomination could still be brought to the Senate floor if the committee declined to give him a positive recommendation. He would need 50 votes to be confirmed.
Zinke’s hearing before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee was Tuesday, while Perry’s hearing before the same committee was Thursday and Pompeo’s hearing before the Senate Intelligence Committee was Friday.
Chadd said Monday’s rally will be in conjunction with protests of Trump’s Cabinet nominations across the nation during the first 100 hours of his administration, which are organized by a coalition of the nation’s leading environmental groups.
Olympic Climate Action is a grass-roots organization that formed in 2012. It is made up of more than 500 people from across the Olympic Peninsula dedicated to research, education and action on climate change, Chadd said.
For more information, see the Olympic Climate Action website at www. olyclimate.org or the group’s Facebook page.
