KAILUA-KONA — In solidarity, they marched.
From Kailua-Kona to Hilo to the marquee event Peoples Climate March in Washington, D.C., thousands of like-minded folks nationwide took to the streets on Saturday to demand action on climate change and take aim at the Trump Administration’s policies they say are an assault on the environment.
About 300 sister marches or rallies were held around the country, including in Seattle, Boston and San Francisco. The demonstrations also coincided with President Donald Trump’s 100th day in office.
“It’s a global day of action,” said Maya Parish, who along with Tonya Coulter, both of Rally for Common Ground, co-organized Kailua-Kona’s event held at Hale Halawai. Several hundred people turned out for the local Peoples Climate March and Rally, many carrying signs with messages such as “The Oceans Are Rising and So Are We,” “Science not Silence,” “People Over Profit.”
Kailua-Kona resident Thalia Davis and son, Lincoln, were just two of those carrying signs, ready for the march to begin shorty before 2 p.m.
“I have kids. And, I’m concerned about what’s happening with our planet; concerned about how every one is treating it. I’m concerned about the current Trump Administration and their lack of understanding of what’s going on,” Thalia said.
After marching a loop in the downtown Kailua-Kona area, a rally was held featuring presenters, live entertainment, food and drinks, and about 20 booths representing local organizations “working in capacity or another towards a sustainable and regenerative renewable Hawaii Island,” said Parish.
Among the topics covered by the presenters were an update on what’s happening at Pohakuloa Training Area and the renewable energy sector to how people can make a difference by getting involved in the political realm or investing financially in socially responsible ways. The group also issued a handful of calls to action, which will be posted on Rally for Common Ground’s Facebook page.
Earlier Saturday, thousands of people around the country also took part in marches, many braving rain, snow and sweltering heat.
At the Peoples Climate March in Washington, D.C., tens of thousands of demonstrators made their way down Pennsylvania Avenue on their way to encircle the White House as temperatures soared into the 90s.
A wet spring snow fell in Denver, where several hundred activists posed in the shape of a giant thermometer for a photograph and a dozen people rode stationary bikes to power the loudspeakers. In Chicago, a rain-soaked crowd of thousands headed from the city’s federal plaza to Trump Tower.
Participants Saturday said they object to Trump’s rollback of restrictions on mining, oil drilling and greenhouse gas emissions at coal-fired power plants, among other things. Trump has called climate change a hoax, disputing the overwhelming consensus of scientists that the world is warming and that man-made carbon emissions are primarily to blame.