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Environmentalists descend on Aderholt’s Cullman office

The country got its first glimpses on Monday of President Barack Obama’s advocacy group Organizing for Action’s climate change push.

“Gravity exists. The Earth is round. Climate change is happening. #ScienceSaysSo,” Obama tweeted to his 35.1 million Twitter followers.

That tweet and a slate of scheduled events and protests are just a few things OFA has lined up for what they have dubbed “Action August,” during which they will promote the president’s agenda across the country, especially with regard to climate change.

Organizing for Action launched their Alabama efforts today starting with Alabama’s 4th Congressional District representative Robert Aderholt, R-Haleyville.

In an argument caught on camera by the Cullman Times, OFA environmental activists and a local group called “Friends of Coal” debated the truth about global warming in front of Aderholt’s Cullman office.

“Everyone I know is sick,” one unidentified environmental activist said. When asked if she blamed coal she responded by saying, “I’m blaming it on everything.”

“What you’re talking about and promoting is not natural,” she continued. “Breaking the bones of mother earth is not natural.” She said she preferred wind power to fossil fuels.

Witnesses on site told Yellowhammer the small group had come to give Aderholt the Climate Change Denier “award,” but he was not in the office at the time of their visit.

Aderholt later responded, saying he sees the global warming push as an indication that the president has misplaced his priorities.

“President Obama’s political organization Organizing for Action’s mission is a perfect example of the disconnect between the Obama Administration’s policies and America’s sluggish, jobless recovery,” Aderholt said. “While Obama’s Organizing for Action is showing concern about the climate change debate, hardworking Alabamians and I are concerned with our nation’s dismal jobs climate.”

Aderholt expressed concerns that the Administration’s climate change push could have a devastating impact on the automobile industry, especially in Alabama, the nation’s third largest automobile manufacturer.

He also cited overburdensome environmental regulations and the President’s refusal to approve the Keystone Pipeline as other ways the Administration’s environmental policies are hurting the economy.

“The only climate we should be talking about today is this country’s stalled economic and jobs climate. It is time for groups like Organizing for Action to understand the continued impact of this President’s policies and that they directly produced the worst economic recovery in modern history.”

Yellowhammer state political reporter Adam Thomas contributed to this report


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