Sierra Club Protests Zinke at Everglades National Park
South Floridians rallied Saturday at the Ernest Coe Visitors Center at Everglades National Park to send a strong message to President Trump's Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke about the urgent need to act on climate change. The secretary, who denies climate change and has consistently supported fossil fuel development on public lands and elsewhere, visited the Everglades and viewed damage from Hurricane Irma.
Ironically, the Trump Administration's climate denial and pullout of the Paris Climate Agreement and expansion of coal, oil and fracked gas on public lands mean we are more likely to see more powerful storms. Trump and Zinke are also a threat to public lands having crafted a plan to vastly reduce the size of national monuments (protected public lands) across the country.
Diana Umpierre, Sierra Club Everglades organizer, who attended the rally, responded:
"The threat of climate change is real — and the damaging effects can already be clearly seen in the Everglades. Even as the Secretary surveys the damage from Irma, we know that the forecast calls for more frequent, extreme storms. We are going to lose the Everglades if Trump and Zinke expand drilling for oil and gas and revive the coal industry. Burning more fossil fuels means the end for the Everglades and South Florida."
The protest was covered by WLTV Channel 23 Univision.
Watch a video clip of the protest.