Yesterday people across the United States rallied at their Senators’ offices to tell them to oppose the fossil fuel industry puppets that Donald Trump nominated for his cabinet. These protests could not be more timely: the first confirmation hearings on Trump’s picks start this week, and many Senators are waiting to hear from their constituents before they choose a side.
We know they’re working: At least one Senate office reported that Monday’s action was their largest meeting with constituents ever. We made waves in the DC media that Senators read, and in the local news that they listen to when choosing their positions.
Here’s just a few of the amazing events that happened across the country yesterday:
350 New Mexico led a colorful protest outside the offices of Sens. Udall and Heinrich. “Nix Rex” sums it up when it comes to Exxon’s CEO for Secretary of State:
A crowd gathered in front of South Carolina Sen. Lindsay Graham’s offices. Sen. Graham says he believes in climate change, but thus far hasn’t picked a position on many of Trump’s picks:
The #south Carolina #DayAgainstDenial event looked gooood. Looking at you @LindseyGrahamSC pic.twitter.com/3E3faq2XfF
— drew hudson (@wealsoherdcats) January 9, 2017
New York City turned out in big numbers to tell Sen. Chuck Schumer — the Senate Minority Leader — to lead the resistance to Trump’s dangerous nominees
Many thanks to all who joined us tonight in BK to call on @SenSchumer to reject Trump’s climate-denying cabinet. #DayAgainstDenial pic.twitter.com/1NBRXsCNZA
— 350 Brooklyn (@350brooklyn) January 10, 2017
Floridians stepped up to demand that their Senators do their job and defend their coastline:
Strong crowd outside Senator Rubio's office in Tampa FL for #DayAgainstDenial, demanding US Congress reject Exxon CEO as Sec. of State. pic.twitter.com/El15yHSOLb
— Mark Ohe @[email protected] (@mark_ohe) January 10, 2017
Baltimore rallied outside Sen. Ben Cardin’s office — and got the press out to cover them in the cold:
Many of the actions brought out amazing art, like these fossil fuel industry puppets in Minnesota (where it felt like 13F during the rally):
https://www.instagram.com/p/BPDgrU3DkE4/
Colorado faced an unseasonably warm day for their rally outside Sen. Cory Gardner’s office in Denver (short sleeves in January?)
#DayAgainstDenial happening in #denver now. Sen Cory Gardners office lobby won't allow cameras. pic.twitter.com/tU80Ij91nz
— TheNationReport Ⓥ (@TheNationReport) January 9, 2017
The amazing Massachusetts climate movement stepped up again to lead a march through the snow to tell their Senators they have their backs when they stand strong:
More from today's #DayAgainstDenial action in Boston. Climate denial has got to GO! #ExxonKnew #PollutersOut #SpeakUpCharlie pic.twitter.com/hcnN3swnZT
— Corporate Accountability (@StopCorpAbuse) January 9, 2017
Los Angeles showed up to send a message to their newest Senator, Kamala Harris:
Activists gathered in front of Sen. @KamalaHarris' LA office for #DayAgainstDenial to #RejectRex & other terrible Trump cabinet appointments pic.twitter.com/DUXG064S9V
— Jon Rainwater #CeasefireNow (@jonrainwater) January 9, 2017
Despite the rain, San Francisco came out in big numbers with over 300 people outside Senator Dianne Feinstein’s office.
Group shot. 300+ people at the #DayAgainstDenial in San Francisco @SenFeinstein pic.twitter.com/KbtfEz97Lw
— Emily Jovais (@EmilyJovais) January 10, 2017
And, last but NOT least, special shoutout to the crew in Idaho who got stuck in the elevator on the way to see their Senator — and still tweeted about it:
https://twitter.com/DecolonialBoy/status/818544333494157312
Thank you again to all the organizers and everyone who came out for the actions. Your voice and your presence make a difference.
Of course, we need to keep the pressure on. We made a website to track the positions of every Senator on Trump’s climate denial cabinet — click here to see where your Senators stand, make a call to tell them to do better, and then join us for what comes next.
The actions yesterday are just one step in the resistance to Trump’s agenda. We’ll need to do more — but stepping out in the streets and jamming the phone lines, before hearings start, is crucial to building the movement we need for what’s to come.