News Release
Fossil Free Media
In an escalated effort of non-violent civil disobedience, after sending two letters in the last two weeks demanding President Biden and Senator Chuck Schumer take climate action, young Hill staffers have begun a peaceful sit-in in Schumer’s office. This is a historic, first-of-its-kind action in which Hill staff is putting aside their anonymity and asking for Biden and Schumer to take bold leadership on climate action.
“We, staffers of the U.S. Congress, are peacefully sitting in on Senator Schumer’s office to demand Dems pass climate justice policy this year.
We are putting our bodies on the line because we have no other choice. We see the impacts of the climate crisis in our home communities and the constituencies we serve and we refuse to be complicit in the enormous suffering and devastation around the world that will result from not passing climate justice policy this year,” said the staff .“The Black, Indigenous, and communities of the global majority who voted Biden and Schumer into office are also those most affected by the climate crisis. They will suffer the most from this inaction.”
Our country is nearing the end of a two-year window that represents a once-in-a-generation opportunity to pass transformative climate policy, we will not remain silent while we watch environmental catastrophe unfold before our eyes. Greenland lost enough ice over three days to put Machin’s home state of West Virginia under a foot of water. These climate disasters will have long-lasting impact even when we are gone.
Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has gone to some failed lengths to secure Senator Joe Manchin’s support for compromised climate policy, offering pipelines and other problematic trades to secure his vote — essentially trying to negote away our future. President Biden has the executive power to take action today and to pressure Manchin to do the right thing. It is imperative that he do everything in his power to pass climate justice policy this year. President Biden must also declare a climate emergency and end fossil fuel extraction on federal lands.
“As political strategists, policy writers, and communication experts, we know that for the sake of our survival Biden must show Senator Manchin what his life and job will look like if he does not support the comprehensive climate policy we so desperately need before the end of July,” said the staff. “Biden has an exigent responsibility to reduce suffering all over the world, and the power to do so, but time is running out. This is a pivotal moment in the history of the world. We’ve done our part. We implore Biden to do his.”
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Fossil Free Media is a nonprofit media lab that supports the movement to end fossil fuels and address the climate emergency through creative communications.
