It didn’t take long for two unidentified female activists to interrupt Energy Secretary Rick Perry’s speech at a government-sponsored energy conference in Washington, D.C. Tuesday.

Two women twice stood up during Perry’s speech at the Energy Information Administration’s conference in downtown D.C. to call the former Texas governor a “climate denier,” according to conference attendees.

“Why are you a climate science denier?” the protesters asked.

.@SecretaryPerry has been interrupted twice at #EIAConf by people calling him a climate denier — Rebecca Kern (@rebeccamkern) June 27, 2017

Perry responded to the protesters by saying it’s “ok for us to ask questions” about science and data. Members of the audience also told the activists to sit down and let Perry finish speaking, according to conference attendees.

“This may take a little longer than what I expected” @SecretaryPerry says after shouted at by two climate protesters during #EIAConf — Brian Scheid (@BrianJScheid) June 27, 2017

“I think it is ok for us to ask questions…to be skeptical about information”saya @SecretaryPerry prompting protester #2 for #EIAConf! — Catrina Rorke (@crorke) June 27, 2017

Perry responded to the interruptions by asking “you’re not one of those 100 percenters are you?” Perry also talked about how Texas became the number one producer of wind power during his time as governor.

Protesters were likely going after Perry for saying on CNBC he didn’t think carbon dioxide was the “primary control knob” for the climate. Perry instead said the “the ocean waters and this environment we live in” play a bigger role, though he did concede that human activity has some effect.

“The idea the science is somehow settled, and if you don’t believe it’s settled you’re somehow or another a Neanderthal, that is so inappropriate from my perspective,” Perry told CNBC in June. “If you’re going to be a wise intellectual person, being a skeptic about some of these issues is quite alright.”

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