New video: Combating climate change in the Trump era with 350.org

Our fight to combat climate change and stop the fossil fuel industry is becoming more important than ever. Donald Trump’s new Environmental Protection Agency administrator, climate-denier Scott Pruitt, has spent his career attempting to dismantle the agency he now oversees.

With Pruitt at the helm, climate denial could become more mainstream, especially as “fake news” and “alternative facts” have recently been trending topics. But the truth is the threat from climate change is real, and time is running out.

That’s why it was an honor to welcome May Boeve, executive director of 350.org, to CREDO headquarters Tuesday, Feb. 21 for a conversation about climate justice in the Trump era.

350 has been one of CREDO’s strongest and most-reliable allies when it comes to fighting climate change. CREDO members have voted to donate more than $379,000 to 350 since 2011, and CREDO activists have joined 350 in climate protests and public resistance. A few years ago, when CREDO team members and our activists were getting arrested in front of the White House, May was there.

During her visit, May highlighted three critical challenges facing our movement to combat climate change:

1. The imminent threat of climate change. The Earth is becoming increasingly hotter year over year, sea ice melt data is truly devastating and climate change will hurt the poorest and most vulnerable first.
2. The assault on reason. Fake news and climate denial are particularly dangerous, especially when it comes to climate change. Science is the bedrock of understanding and combating climate change, and the current administration’s refusal to believe facts is unsettling.
3. Scott Pruitt. It would be hard to find someone closer to the fossil fuel industry than the EPA’s new chief. While the climate movement has made major strides in the last few years in slowing or stopping pipelines and fracking, Pruitt could turn these hard-fought victories around with new policies that heavily favor his friends in the oil and gas industry.

So what can we do to combat climate change in the Trump era? Since the election, many people who’ve never taken action before are making their voices heard, across all movements. Millions marched on Washington and across the globe for women’s rights, thousands protested at airports in solidarity with their Muslim neighbors and many more are flooding phone lines on Capitol Hill.

As May put it, “There is a level of activism that doesn’t just say ‘This is the issue I care about,’ but says ‘This is the type of person I am, and this is the type of country I want to see.'”

May offered a number of ways we can get involved to push back against Trump’s anti-climate agenda. One of the easiest ways individuals can take action is to “thank or spank” your elected officials. Let your elected officials know when you support their actions to protect the environment, and hold them accountable when their votes threaten the climate.

350 also invites you to join the April 29 People’s Climate Mobilization, a massive march in Washington that will bring hundreds of thousands of people together to push back on Trump’s agenda of climate denial and fossil fuel expansion. CREDO has been proud to work with 350 on every march they’ve organized.

While many challenges remain ahead in the climate justice movement, May left us with a positive message as we prepare for this march: “We know how to stop pipelines at the city level, we know how to pass clean energy policies, we know how to get states to be leaders on waste and water issues … but we have to reclaim the political space to do it. And that’s what [the People’s Climate Mobilization] is going to be about.”

We hope you will join CREDO and 350.org in taking back this political space. To learn more about the People’s Climate Mobilization, click here.

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