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Protesters Have Their Day at California Climate Talks

SAN FRANCISCO — They erected a mini oil rig, locked arms through oil drums and sat down in the street. “Keep it in the ground,” their banners read. “No more fossil fuels,” they chanted.

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By
Somini Sengupta
, New York Times

SAN FRANCISCO — They erected a mini oil rig, locked arms through oil drums and sat down in the street. “Keep it in the ground,” their banners read. “No more fossil fuels,” they chanted.

The protests in front of the Global Climate Action Summit formed at the Moscone Center on Thursday morning as mayors, ministers, environmentalists and corporate executives poured in. By 9:30 a.m., only one entrance was open, and a long line spooled out at another entrance, tightly guarded by police.

The message of the protesters, who were mostly peaceful, was mainly directed at California Gov. Jerry Brown, calling on him to stop oil drilling in the state and protect residents who live close to oil facilities.

Cesar Aguirre, 24, a community organizer from Kern County in central California, said his neighbors suffered the health effects of oil wells and refineries. “They see the dirty air,” he said. “They know it’s getting hotter and hotter. They know what’s causing it.”

Brown, who spearheaded the conference, bristled at the suggestion he was too lenient on fossil fuel companies. “I would say without a doubt, California has the most aggressive green energy plans in the Western Hemisphere,” he told a group of reporters inside. “We’re doing a hell of a lot.”

Conference attendees circled the block trying to find ways to get inside the convention center. Some shrugged at the inconvenience. Others commended the protesters for putting pressure on the leaders inside.

“The message that I hope comes across is that you have citizens who care about climate change,” said Katie Walsh of CDP, a nongovernmental group that helps companies and others measure their carbon impact.

Another delegate, Deborah Knuckey, who described herself as an activist, called the protest “counterproductive.”

The Associated Press and local television stations estimated the crowd at several hundred people.

Brown this month signed a law prohibiting the construction of new pipelines to bring in offshore oil and gas, in a move aimed at blocking efforts by the Trump administration to open most federal waters to offshore oil and gas drilling.

Brown wasn’t the only target, though.

At one point, inside the conference, protesters interrupted remarks by Michael Bloomberg, the former New York City mayor, shouting “the air is not for sale,” according to a report by Bloomberg News.

“Only in America could you have environmentalists protesting an environmental conference,” he said.

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