For Immediate Release
Jamie Zaccaria 609-234-8348
*Please call us if you would like pictures from the March or to meet up in D.C.*
The New Jersey Sierra Club will send hundreds of people to the People’s Climate March tomorrow to march against President Trump in Washington D.C. On Saturday, April 29th, thousands of people throughout the nation and the world are coming together in Washington D.C. to demand action on climate change 100 days into Trump’s presidency. People will be marching against President Trump’s attack on our environment and rollback of climate protections. In a sweeping attack on our environment, the President is ending half a dozen programs to reduce air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, while increasing our dependence on fossil fuels. There will be over 14 Sierra Club buses leaving from New Jersey, including buses from Princeton, Paramus, West Orange, Chatham, New Brunswick, Lincroft, Wall, Camden, Newton, and Jersey City.
“Thousands of people from New Jersey are joining tens of thousands more in Washington D.C. to send a clear message to the Fossil Fool in the White House to stop his dangerous and deliberate attack on our climate. We are coming out now, because if we do not we don’t speak out against President Trump’s rollbacks, our environment, our health, and our planet will be at risk. Climate change is real. New Jersey is seeing the impacts to public health on a daily basis, more flooding from severe storms, and higher sea levels. President Trump and the Republican Congress by denying climate change are denying our future,” said Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club. “We are joining demand the President and Congress take action on climate change. We will tell the Climate-denier in Chief to make our Planet Great Again.”
Earlier this month, President Trump has signed a broad executive order today intended to kill federal action on climate change and push fossil fuels over renewable energy. A major part of the Executive Order is to eliminate the Clean Power Plan as well as lifting the moratorium on coal leasing on federal lands, increasing the limits on methane leaks, and rescinding National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) guidance that directs agencies to account for the climate crisis. Another piece of the order will direct the Bureau of Land Management to rescind the 2015 rule updating controls on hydraulic fracturing on federal and tribal lands, as well as eliminate review of emissions standards for new oil and gas operations. These actions will threaten green jobs, our economy, while putting more people at risk to climate change.
“We need to stand up to President Trump dismantling environmental protections, which will increase pollution in our lungs, major storms along our coasts, and more dirty pipelines crossing our communities. That is why hundreds of thousands of people from all over are joining against Trump’s rollbacks, especially from New Jersey,” said Jeff Tittel. “While New Jersey is more vulnerable to climate change than almost any other state in the nation, Trump is increasing dirty fuels, which will exacerbate climate impacts. At the same time, Trump is targeting the Atlantic Coast for possible offshore drilling for oil and gas, which will devastate our coastal communities, tourism, and ecosystems. These actions will threaten green jobs, our economy, while putting more people at risk to climate change.”
By eliminating the Clean Power Plan, Trump wants to keep open dirty coal plants open in Pennsylvania, the Mid-West and the South. This will hurt our lungs in New Jersey because we get one-third of our air pollution from out-of-state. It is unconscionable that our President is trying to get rid of a program that would help avoid 6,000 premature deaths, prevent 150,000 asthma attacks in children as well as save Americans more than $80 per year on their electric bills. We will even loose green jobs that boost our economy, while we suffer from more pipelines, dirty infrastructure, and climate impacts.
“We are coming to the streets to say enough hot air, we want action. We are joining the People's Climate March to say we want you to fight climate change and create green energy jobs. We will stand up to say we want windmills, not oil rigs off our coast. We will demand clean energy over dirty fuels to keep our communities safe, create green jobs, and combat climate change,” said Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club. “We will join tomorrow to stand up against Trump’s anti-environmental agenda. It is up to us to defend clean air, clean water, and climate change protections against Trump.”