Via Shutterstock

Via Shutterstock

Georgetown and other D.C.-area students are marching to Myron Ebell’s downtown office today to protest his appointment to President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team. The well-known climate change skeptic was named the head of the EPA Transition Committee, provoking an outcry from environmental advocates.

Business Insider has described Ebell as the top most-respected climate change skeptic, and he was featured on “wanted” posters pasted around Paris during the climate talks last year. Ebell has been a vocal opponent of the Clean Power Plan , which aims to reduce carbon pollution from power plants. He currently directs environmental and energy policy at the libertarian Competitive Enterprise Institute, an advocacy group with coal industry ties.

The gathering began at 2 p.m. on the Georgetown campus, and organizers expect at least 500 students to join the march, which begins at 3 p.m., to Ebell’s downtown office. American University and George Washington student protesters have confirmed they will take part. They plan to stay there until 6 p.m.

Georgetown International Relations professor Andrew Bennett penned an op-ed on the appointment of Myron Ebell last week and began galvanizing students.

“Trump, if he is to serve our country well, should remove Ebell and other climate change deniers and fossil fuel lobbists from his transition team and he should nominate only qualified experts and managers—of which there are many from previous Republican administrations,” Andrew Bennett wrote.

“He’s not like a radical guy and neither am I, we’re very practical people,” said Jack Bennett, one of the organizers and a senior at Georgetown, about his father. “This is something that’s practical but requires action.”

Jack Bennett said his father has not protested anything in 35 years, but decided to organize the march because of the urgency of the situation.

“Myron Ebell doesn’t even believe in climate change, which is one of the most dire issues of our time. It’s an issue that can’t be rolled back after a Trump administration,” Jack Bennett said. “We need the public to be paying attention and to keep him accountable. Trump has said that he will make america great again and keep it safe, and this is part of that.”

The group is putting together an environmental care package to be delivered to Ebell containing eco-friendly light bulbs, instructions detailing how to convert a home to solar energy, and various publications acknowledging climate change.

“It’s to show that we’re not out there just to yell at him but that we really do want to engage in dialogue,” organizer Justin McCartney, a sophomore at Georgetown explained.

Jack Bennett said the basket is also to demonstrate how much power individuals have over making environmentally-friendly choices in their daily lives.

“We’re looking at the idea of environment as a common sense issue and something that doesn’t have to be partisan,” said McCartney. “The march is not necessarily a political statement, it’s more of a common good cause.”

Organizers are hoping to create a national campus movement. McCartney said they’d love to see spin-off demonstrations on campuses across the country, and have been creating action plans and how-to guides and trying to create a buzz on social media. Harvard University is holding a sister protest today.

“It’s important to have a unified voice to force the hand of the president-elect’s transition team to take action on the issue that all of us care very deeply about and that we feel would have a very significant impact on this country’s future,” McCartney said. “If we make enough noise, we can make our voices heard.”

Jack Bennett said the situation was grave and urged concerned citizens to take action.

“Climate activists shouldn’t give up faith in this difficult time,” Jack Bennett said. “Don’t despair but organize. This is not the time for apathetic retreat but more powerful action than ever before.”