Antinuclear

Protests and boos greeted a controversial U.S. side event promoting fossil fuels at the ongoing annual U.N. climate conference, COP24, on Monday morning in Poland. The event comes two days after the United States joined oil-rich nations in refusing to welcome a dire U.N. climate report released in October.

Trump administration officials and businesses leaders fleshed out U.S. support for an “energy mix” consisting of renewables and fossil fuels alike during Monday’s event.

Entitled “U.S. Innovative Technologies Spur Economic Dynamism,” the event offered a panel widely criticized by environmental advocates. The panel included Australia’s ambassador to the talks, Patrick Suckling.

While the annual U.N. climate conference held this year in Katowice is meant to address the world’s pressing climate crisis, the talks have largely been overshadowed by some nations’ show of support for fossil fuels, including the coal industry — which is dying in the United States.

That support ramped up on Monday during the U.S. panel, which presented fossil fuels as a critical component of the global economy while downplaying the environmental impact of such energy sources.