On Wednesday morning, APEC protests along Market Street focused on climate change. Demonstrators objected to the meeting of world leaders and corporate giants, from companies such as Amazon, Pfizer, Chevron, and Google.
The atmosphere at Market and Montgomery Streets was lively, but peaceful. At one point, protesters staged a mock “wedding” between Citibank CEO Jane Fraser and Exxon CEO Darren Woods. The officiant? The Devil himself.
Maureen Katz organizes with the climate block under the “No to APEC Coalition.”
“The world is burning. There’s enormous poverty and disease and destruction of the planet and all of the things that live on the planet. The greed for few heads of companies and heads of companies at the risk of destroying of the planet makes that they'll be no future generations”
Wynd Kaufmyn was protesting with a climate justice group called the Yellow Jackets.
“They’re having the wrong conversations. And they’re having it with the wrong people. They’re talking about trade agreements, they’re talking about how to maximize their profits. They’re not talking about the welfare of their employees, they’re not talking about worker rights, they’re not talking about how to protect the environment. We need to get them talking about the right conversations and with the right people in the room.”
Julie Twichell, who is protesting with the climate justice group, 1,000 Grandmothers for Future Generations, had this to say:
“These large corporations like Chevron that are creating a fossil fuel problem and the climate problem are meeting with government officials. And that’s what we are concerned about — what kind of agreements they’re coming to in terms of climate.”
Demonstrations against the APEC summit are scheduled to take place throughout the week.
