Trump Interrupted

Singing protesters interrupt a White House presentation at COP23.

The Trump administration gathered a group of mostly fossil-fuel executives for a panel promoting coal, natural gas, and nuclear energy at the United Nations climate talks in Bonn, Germany over the weekend. The topic of discussion, ironically enough: the role of fossil fuels in mitigating climate change.

A group of musically inclined climate activists interrupted the event with a protest song to the tune of “God Bless the U.S.A.”

The protesters sang for around 10 minutes in front of a banner that read “We the people.” Members of SustainUS posted pictures of the demonstration on social media afterward.

It all ended on another raucous note when Amy Goodman of Democracy Now! asked the panel a simple yes or no question: Do you support President Trump’s decision to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris agreement? Most of the panelists tried to dodge the question, but when Lenka Kollar, director of business strategy for NuScale Power, said she didn’t support leaving the agreement, the crowd erupted in cheers.