On July 21, the last day of the Republican National Convention, activists across the nation rallied at the offices of Republican politicians and corporations sponsoring the RNC to denounce the racism, xenophobia, and misogyny expressed by Donald Trump. In Columbus the focus was primarily on Trump’s disdain for green energy.

“No more coal. No more oil. Keep your carbon in the soil!” shouted a dozen young protesters outside the Columbus office of Senator Rob Portman. “Don’t give in to racist fear. Immigrants are welcome here!”

 “We’re trying to make people aware of the dangerous rhetoric that Donald Trump, Senator Portman, and the rest of the Republican Party have put into their platform: attacking the environment and not moving in the direction of clean energy,” said David Miller, organizer for NextGen Climate. “Donald Trump complains about the EPA and has talked disparagingly about the movement for clean energy. Gutting the EPA is a very dangerous position to take.”

Other groups supporting the initiative include CREDO, People's Action, and MoveOn.org. They plan to register voters at over 60 college campuses before November.

“In this election, millennials have the potential to be the largest voting bloc in the country for the first time. But that’s only if they turn out to vote,” Miller said. “We’re the generation that’s going to be most affected by these policies. Polls have shown that millennial voters are very supportive of clean energy initiatives, and we hope to capture that enthusiasm and bring it to the polls in November.”

Donald Trump should be opposed for his anti-environmental position, as well as for his racism, misogyny, and xenophobia. And it’s a good thing for young people to be engaged in the political process. But the rhetoric and voter registration piece of this initiative give it the flavor of an astroturf coalition intended primarily to support Hillary Clinton and the Democratic Party.