From a report provided by local activists:
A good crowd of folks participated in the Day Against Denial rally at Senator Wyden's office in Salem yesterday. The event was well-organized by the host group 350 Salem OR.
There was no one in Senator Wyden's office when we arrived, but we learned that his part-time staffperson would be in later in the day. We our rallied the rain until we were told to leave because the building and parking lot are private property. Some of the group went downtown to Senator Merkley's office. No one was there either, but the group slipped a message under his office door to thank him for his commitment to effective climate policy and let him know that we are counting on him to vote no on Trump's climate-change-denying, fossil-fuel-friendly Cabinet nominees Scott Pruitt (EPA), Rick Perry (Energy), Ryan Zinke (Interior) and Rex Tillerson (State).
Later in the day one of the 350 Salem OR Coordinators met with Fritz Graham, Senator Wyden’s Salem Field Representative and reported "Fritz knew we had been there, informed by the same guy who had asked us to leave. I delivered our 350 Salem OR statement and the letters written by others at the rally. Fritz was cordial, attentive, took some notes on our message, but in the end, would not say whether Senator Wyden will vote against these nominees. He told me that Senator Wyden is not a climate change denier, which I knew. But I also know he prides himself on bipartisanship and I told Fritz this is not the time for it; the other side is not playing fair. Win, lose or draw, some things are matters of morality and justice and this is one of those times."
We need to keep urging Senator Wyden to vote no and keep telling Senator Merkley we're counting on him to stand his ground. 350.org has a tally sheet for checking which senators have taken public positions on each nominee. The page includes a way to look up your Senators' phone numbers. So let's keep calling.
The Salem group has allies in Greenpeace, Food & Water Watch, Climate Truth, Oil Change International and orhers. If you want to learn more about 350 Salem OR, please contact us through the local website https://350salemor.org or email salem.climate.acivists@gmail.com.
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