Hours after President Trump announced that the U.S. will withdraw from the Paris climate agreement, Senator Edward J. Markey held a town hall meeting that drew more than 200 people at the Paramount Center downtown.
Before introducing Markey, Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh made clear his displeasure with Trump’s decision.
“This is an important time for our country, city, and state,” said Walsh. “Our values are under attack.”
Although the country may be out of the environmental agreement, Boston will do its part to stem the progression of climate change, he said.
“Boston is back in the agreement,” said Walsh. “ . . . We must do more to protect our environment.”
Markey, a longtime supporter of clean energy policies, delivered a pointed critique of Trump’s decision.
“Today is a low point in American history,” said Markey, who cited various scientific studies validating climate change.
Markey contrasted President Trump to President John F. Kennedy, who famously said America should aim to go to the moon, and face other challenges, “not because they are easy, but because they are hard.”
“When the world looked at the U.S. to be a world technological leader, [Trump] said it was too hard,” Markey said, echoing JFK’s famous quote.
Markey referred to Trump as a “reverse JFK.”
The state’s junior Democratic senator highlighted growth in the state’s clean energy sector. There are approximately 100,000 workers now employed in the sector, and some 10,000 jobs created annually, he said.
“We are not going to be dependent on the addiction to oil,” Markey said.
During a question and answer period, Seth Warner, 19, a Sierra Club member, asked Markey for his thoughts on a bill in the state legislature that would require Massachusetts to follow the environmental goals of the Paris agreement.
“I like that idea,” Markey said. “It would be a powerful message for the world to hear.”
Others peppered Markey with questions on a number of other high-profile issues, from environmental protection standards, to health care and immigration.
Asked about establishing a single-payer health care system, Markey said that battle would have to wait for another day.
“As much as it may be our long-term goal, right now we are in the middle of a historical political war with climate change in healthcare,” he said. “We are not passing single-payer healthcare this year. We can cosponsor it, but that’s for another day.”
Ronel Remy, 50, a Haitian immigrant from Brockton, told Markey that he and others from Haiti fear being sent back to their impoverished homeland.
After the 2010 earthquake that devastated Haiti, the Obama administration granted people from Haiti “temporary protected status,” a designation that allows people who cannot return to their homeland because of a natural disaster to stay and work in the United States.
“Now the administration wants us to go back,” said Remy. “We are the poorest country in this hemisphere... now I really don’t know what to do.”
As he spoke, State Senator Linda Dorcena Forry, a Haitian-American, entered the theatre.
Markey, who had accompanied Dorcena Forry on a trip to Haiti, invited the Dorchester Democrat to join him on stage.
Addressing Remy’s concerns, Dorcena Forry spoke of possible reparations for Haiti.
Markey, she said, has long advocated for Haiti, citing his role in providing agricultural assistance to the island nation.
“He is doing incredible work,” Dorcena Forry said.
Jacob Geanous can be reached at jacob.geanous@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @Jacob_Geanous.