More than 100 gathered at Lexington’s Triangle Park to protest a cancelled appearance by Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt Wednesday.

Pruitt had been scheduled to speak to the Kentucky Association of Manufacturers’ conference and trade show at the Lexington Center but stayed in Washington, D.C., as President Donald Trump mulls withdrawing from the Paris climate agreement, which former President Barack Obama entered in September and includes more than 200 countries.

The EPA administrator has called the Paris accord “a bad deal” for the U.S. and called for a withdrawal in April, according to The Washington Post.

Pruitt’s absence didn’t deter environmentalists from marching around the convention center, waving signs and chanting slogans in support of the environment.
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The protest was organized by the Sierra Club and other groups like Kentuckians for the Commonwealth and the Kentucky Student Environmental Coalition. 

The groups represented at the protest were the Sierra Club; Kentuckians for the Commonwealth; the Kentucky Student Environmental Coalition; Kentucky Interfaith Power & Light; Indivisible KY; Kentucky Jobs with Justice; the Kentucky Alliance against Racist and Political Oppression; and Rubbertown Emergency Action Task Force.

Emma Anderson, a soon-to-be senior at Centre College, says the environmental about face has her fellow students speaking up.

"If I did my job like he does his job, I'd be fired," she says, before the Triangle Park protest gets underway. While the pre-EPA days may seem like ancient history to those her age, Anderson says she has no interest in revisiting them. 
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"Things were not great and we don't want to return to that," she warns.

University of Kentucky officials have pledged to reduce carbon emissions on campus by 25 percent by 2025.

The announcement by President Eli Capilouto last month credited student organizations, who have pressured the administration to do more to address climate change for several years.

“We have been building a strong model for sustainability on this campus for more than a decade,” Capilouto said. “Now, with the leadership of our students, faculty and staff — particularly the President’s Sustainability Advisory Committee — we are ready to take this next, important step forward.”

The student organization Greenthumb first started pushing the administration to do more in 2012. Greenthumb is part of the Kentucky Student Environmental Coalition, a statewide network of environmental groups at 22 campuses.

“It has been really awesome to see the hard work of past and current student members of Greenthumb pay off,” said Greenthumb coordinator Taylor Renfro. “It’s important to know that as students we have a voice. I hope that this inspires other students and student organizations to keep working towards their goals of higher standards for their university.”