Climate March draws huge crowd to DC

Thousands of people poured into Washington, D.C., on Saturday to take part in the Climate March, the latest in a string of protests linked to the Trump administration’s policies.

Demonstrators planned to march from near the Capitol down Pennsylvania Avenue toward the White House, with attendees facing sweltering conditions on the bright Saturday afternoon.

The demonstration stems from a 2014 climate protest in New York, where more than 300,000 people came out to voice support for stronger environmental protection policies.

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The organizers of the 2014 People’s Climate March said it was the largest climate-change demonstration in history.

The Sierra Club said the tens of thousands of people taking to the streets in D.C. on Saturday showed “the true power of the climate movement.”

“Donald Trump can try to stick his head in the sand when it comes to protecting our clean air and water all he wants, but that will never drown out the millions of voices across the country demanding action,” the group’s executive director Michael Brune said in a statement.

True #climatemarch pic.twitter.com/mDHXvFRRTa

— Nathalie Baptiste (@nhbaptiste) April 29, 2017

“Let us pause now for a moment of science”.. and then come march with us! #PeoplesClimate #climatemarch pic.twitter.com/2jF0aVTdND

— Peoples Climate (@Peoples_Climate) April 29, 2017

Today, on the 100th day of the Trump administration we take our resistance to @POTUS! #ClimateMarch pic.twitter.com/GHvXyrPBAI

— Peoples Climate (@Peoples_Climate) April 29, 2017

We told you we were bringing the RESISTANCE to your doorstep @POTUS! #climatemarch pic.twitter.com/ncUoB3dZGs

— Peoples Climate (@Peoples_Climate) April 29, 2017

Saturday’s march falls on the 100th day of President Trump’s administration, which environmental activists and organizations have criticized as being opposed to the scientific consensus on climate change.

Trump signed an executive order in March aimed at undoing former President Barack Obama’s climate change agenda, including regulations of greenhouse gas emissions.

Trump has also pushed for major reforms at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which has faced criticism for backing away from the Obama administration’s climate work.

The demonstration comes a day after the EPA took down the climate page on its website, a move that is sure to galvanize protestors already skeptical of the Trump administration. 

The EPA said it removed the pages as part of an update to “reflect the agency’s new direction under President Donald Trump and Administrator Scott Pruitt.”

EPA officials removed a page relating to the Obama administration’s main emissions regulation for power plants. That page now directs to an article about the executive order Trump signed undoing Obama’s climate agenda.

The Climate March is the third large demonstration in recent weeks linked to protests surrounding Trump, following marches earlier this month calling on Trump to release his tax returns and last week’s Science March. 

Updated: 2:52 p.m.