The president of a leading environmental group asked her supporters on Friday to target Ivanka Trump in a last ditch effort to keep President Trump from backing out of the Paris climate change agreement.
“Ms. Trump claims to be a ‘moderating influence’ on her father and it’s been widely reported that she has argued for keeping the U.S. in the Paris agreement,” said Rhea Suh, president of the Natural Resources Defense Council, in an email to supporters. “With enough pressure, we just might be able to persuade her to push harder to persuade the president that sticking with Paris is the right move.”
The message was sent a day after it was reported by Axios that Ivanka, Trump’s elder daughter, will be meeting with a leading critic of the Paris deal, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt on Tuesday. The president will meet with his advisers and Cabinet officials later that week to decide whether to exit the agreement. Trump reportedly is leaning toward leaving the deal.
But before he can make that decision, Suh wants her donors and supporters to rush the White House’s phone system with an endless barrage of messages.
“But we still have time to persuade President Trump to not withdraw from the Paris agreement,” Suh said. “And we need your help to flood the White House phone lines, generating a massive outcry that will be difficult for the White House to ignore. It will only take a few minutes, but if enough people call, our impact could last for generations.”
The message included the phone number for the White House public comment line. “Call the White House Comment Line at 202-456-1111 and leave a message for Ivanka Trump.”
“Use these talking points for your call, and be sure to tell the operator you’re leaving a message for Ivanka Trump: Hi, my name is Your Name, and I’m calling with the hope that you’ll do everything in your power to convince your father not to abandon the Paris Climate Agreement; You call yourself a “moderating influence” on the White House. This is your chance to show it; Abandoning the Paris agreement would have disastrous consequences for our country and the planet; It would also have serious consequences for our relationships with other countries, making the U.S. a global pariah; Thank you.”
Suh said if the phone line is busy, supporters are directed to sign an online NRDC petition that the group will be sending to Ivanka next week.
“Just days ago, hundreds of thousands of people marched past the White House at the Peoples Climate March — and it’s critical that we speak out with just as much force now,” Suh said.
Suh’s group has been suing the president and his Cabinet heads over efforts to roll back Obama-era climate and environmental regulations. Just this week, it led a coalition of groups in suing Trump over his latest executive order on offshore oil and gas drilling.
