Detroit rally pushes back against Trump efforts to dismantle climate and health protections

More than 200 people rallied in Detroit during Saturday’s “Climate Can’t Wait” rally.

The event was designed to “push back on [Trump administration] attempts to dismantle climate and health protections,” organizers said in a pre-event press release.

Participants included U.S. Reps. Rashida Tlaib (D-Detroit) and Debbie Dingell (D-Ann Arbor), and Detroit City Councilwoman Gabriela Santiago-Romero.

“Four hundred EPA [Environmental Protection Agency] employees were recently fired, including dozens from our region. Their job is to ensure the air we breathe is clean, the water we drink is safe, the ground our children play on won’t give them cancer. Downriver we have Superfund sites and Brownfield sites being cleaned up from dangerous chemicals. Everyone in the country knows what happened to children in Flint because of lead in the pipes,” said Dingell. “Congress passed the Bipartisan Infrastructure bill to get the lead out of every pipe in America so no child or American was ever in danger again. We cannot lose all the progress we have made. We must stand up against dangerous, unconstitutional undermining of our environmental protections to keep our land, air, and water safe for generations to come.”

Tlaib said “Republicans have already begun their long list of handouts for Big Oil executives to get richer while the rest of us get sicker,”

“They are sending the message to frontline communities all across our country, including right here in Detroit, that corporate polluters’ profits are more important than your health,” Tlaib added. “We have the right to breathe clean air.”

Santiago-Romero added: “The President’s administration is failing the American people. We are being robbed of our much-needed resources to address climate change and our aging infrastructure.”

The effort was held at the Detroit Hispanic Development Corporation co-hosted by the Environmental Defense Fund Action, Great Lakes Business Network, Michigan Climate Action Network, Michigan League of Conservation Voters, Moms Clean Air Force, and West Michigan Environmental Action Council.