SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Activists with the global Extinction Rebellion movement superglued themselves to doorways in the U.S. Capitol Building on July 23, 2019. (Photo: Extinction Rebellion/Twitter)
'Congress Needs to Wake Up': Demanding Lawmakers Declare Climate Emergency, Extinction Rebellion Activists Superglue Themselves to Capitol
"Sorry for the inconvenience, but we're not going back to business as usual until we declare a climate emergency and get climate justice for everyone, everywhere."
Jul 24, 2019
In an effort to disrupt business as usual in Congress and demand immediate climate action amid striking evidence that the crisis is here and now, activists with the global Extinction Rebellion movement superglued themselves to doorways in the halls of the U.S. Capitol Building Tuesday night urging lawmakers to declare a climate emergency.
"Congress needs to wake up and stop ignoring the climate crisis."
--Extinction RebellionDemonstrators chanted "We're out of time!" and "This is not a drill!" as members of Congress, reporters, and law enforcement officials struggled to maneuver around the human blockades.
One Extinction Rebellion campaigner said the goal of the civil disobedience--which led to 13 arrests--was to prevent lawmakers "from being able to go about their day as if this isn't a crisis."
\u201cHere's the moment @ExtinctionR superglued themselves to block an underground tunnel between House offices. It took about 2 hours for Capitol police to scrounge up enough acetone to get them loose.\u201d— Alejandro Alvarez (@Alejandro Alvarez) 1563923905
\u201cProtesters with Extinction Rebellion are supergluing themselves to walls on the House side to demand Congress declare climate change an emergency\u201d— a\u00edda ch\u00e1vez (@a\u00edda ch\u00e1vez) 1563920203
\u201cSorry for the inconvenience, but we\u2019re not going back to business as usual until we declare a #ClimateEmergency and get #ClimateJustice for everyone, everywhere \ud83c\udf31\u270a\ud83c\udffe\ud83c\udf0a\u201d— Extinction Rebellion Washington DC (@Extinction Rebellion Washington DC) 1563921004
\u201cActivists have superglued themselves to the tunnel connecting the House to the Capitol because Congress needs to wake up and stop ignoring the climate crisis. @FrankPallone and @SpeakerPelosi - declare climate emergency now! #ClimateEmergency #ActNow #RebelForLife @ExtinctionR\u201d— Extinction Rebellion Washington DC (@Extinction Rebellion Washington DC) 1563920373
In a statement on Tuesday, Extinction Rebellion called on Congress to pass the climate emergency declaration introduced earlier this month by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.), and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).
"The U.S. Congress is not treating the climate emergency legislation with the urgency it deserves," the group said. "The existential threat that climate change poses to our economy and to the health of all Americans should make this resolution Congress' top priority. Extinction Rebellion activists are calling on both chambers to recognize the truth of the emergency we are in and to pass the resolution as a first step to acknowledging the severity of the crisis."
Sarah Soko, a 22-year-old activist who took part in Tuesday's demonstration, toldThe Guardian that passing the emergency resolution is "the simplest thing: it's just to recognize the science and to declare it an emergency and that we need to do something."
"I'm doing this today because the Congress is dragging their feet on declaring a climate emergency," said Soko. "So we're here to try and make this more urgent."
Join Us: News for people demanding a better world
Common Dreams is powered by optimists who believe in the power of informed and engaged citizens to ignite and enact change to make the world a better place. We're hundreds of thousands strong, but every single supporter makes the difference. Your contribution supports this bold media model—free, independent, and dedicated to reporting the facts every day. Stand with us in the fight for economic equality, social justice, human rights, and a more sustainable future. As a people-powered nonprofit news outlet, we cover the issues the corporate media never will. |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
In an effort to disrupt business as usual in Congress and demand immediate climate action amid striking evidence that the crisis is here and now, activists with the global Extinction Rebellion movement superglued themselves to doorways in the halls of the U.S. Capitol Building Tuesday night urging lawmakers to declare a climate emergency.
"Congress needs to wake up and stop ignoring the climate crisis."
--Extinction RebellionDemonstrators chanted "We're out of time!" and "This is not a drill!" as members of Congress, reporters, and law enforcement officials struggled to maneuver around the human blockades.
One Extinction Rebellion campaigner said the goal of the civil disobedience--which led to 13 arrests--was to prevent lawmakers "from being able to go about their day as if this isn't a crisis."
\u201cHere's the moment @ExtinctionR superglued themselves to block an underground tunnel between House offices. It took about 2 hours for Capitol police to scrounge up enough acetone to get them loose.\u201d— Alejandro Alvarez (@Alejandro Alvarez) 1563923905
\u201cProtesters with Extinction Rebellion are supergluing themselves to walls on the House side to demand Congress declare climate change an emergency\u201d— a\u00edda ch\u00e1vez (@a\u00edda ch\u00e1vez) 1563920203
\u201cSorry for the inconvenience, but we\u2019re not going back to business as usual until we declare a #ClimateEmergency and get #ClimateJustice for everyone, everywhere \ud83c\udf31\u270a\ud83c\udffe\ud83c\udf0a\u201d— Extinction Rebellion Washington DC (@Extinction Rebellion Washington DC) 1563921004
\u201cActivists have superglued themselves to the tunnel connecting the House to the Capitol because Congress needs to wake up and stop ignoring the climate crisis. @FrankPallone and @SpeakerPelosi - declare climate emergency now! #ClimateEmergency #ActNow #RebelForLife @ExtinctionR\u201d— Extinction Rebellion Washington DC (@Extinction Rebellion Washington DC) 1563920373
In a statement on Tuesday, Extinction Rebellion called on Congress to pass the climate emergency declaration introduced earlier this month by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.), and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).
"The U.S. Congress is not treating the climate emergency legislation with the urgency it deserves," the group said. "The existential threat that climate change poses to our economy and to the health of all Americans should make this resolution Congress' top priority. Extinction Rebellion activists are calling on both chambers to recognize the truth of the emergency we are in and to pass the resolution as a first step to acknowledging the severity of the crisis."
Sarah Soko, a 22-year-old activist who took part in Tuesday's demonstration, toldThe Guardian that passing the emergency resolution is "the simplest thing: it's just to recognize the science and to declare it an emergency and that we need to do something."
"I'm doing this today because the Congress is dragging their feet on declaring a climate emergency," said Soko. "So we're here to try and make this more urgent."
In an effort to disrupt business as usual in Congress and demand immediate climate action amid striking evidence that the crisis is here and now, activists with the global Extinction Rebellion movement superglued themselves to doorways in the halls of the U.S. Capitol Building Tuesday night urging lawmakers to declare a climate emergency.
"Congress needs to wake up and stop ignoring the climate crisis."
--Extinction RebellionDemonstrators chanted "We're out of time!" and "This is not a drill!" as members of Congress, reporters, and law enforcement officials struggled to maneuver around the human blockades.
One Extinction Rebellion campaigner said the goal of the civil disobedience--which led to 13 arrests--was to prevent lawmakers "from being able to go about their day as if this isn't a crisis."
\u201cHere's the moment @ExtinctionR superglued themselves to block an underground tunnel between House offices. It took about 2 hours for Capitol police to scrounge up enough acetone to get them loose.\u201d— Alejandro Alvarez (@Alejandro Alvarez) 1563923905
\u201cProtesters with Extinction Rebellion are supergluing themselves to walls on the House side to demand Congress declare climate change an emergency\u201d— a\u00edda ch\u00e1vez (@a\u00edda ch\u00e1vez) 1563920203
\u201cSorry for the inconvenience, but we\u2019re not going back to business as usual until we declare a #ClimateEmergency and get #ClimateJustice for everyone, everywhere \ud83c\udf31\u270a\ud83c\udffe\ud83c\udf0a\u201d— Extinction Rebellion Washington DC (@Extinction Rebellion Washington DC) 1563921004
\u201cActivists have superglued themselves to the tunnel connecting the House to the Capitol because Congress needs to wake up and stop ignoring the climate crisis. @FrankPallone and @SpeakerPelosi - declare climate emergency now! #ClimateEmergency #ActNow #RebelForLife @ExtinctionR\u201d— Extinction Rebellion Washington DC (@Extinction Rebellion Washington DC) 1563920373
In a statement on Tuesday, Extinction Rebellion called on Congress to pass the climate emergency declaration introduced earlier this month by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.), and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).
"The U.S. Congress is not treating the climate emergency legislation with the urgency it deserves," the group said. "The existential threat that climate change poses to our economy and to the health of all Americans should make this resolution Congress' top priority. Extinction Rebellion activists are calling on both chambers to recognize the truth of the emergency we are in and to pass the resolution as a first step to acknowledging the severity of the crisis."
Sarah Soko, a 22-year-old activist who took part in Tuesday's demonstration, toldThe Guardian that passing the emergency resolution is "the simplest thing: it's just to recognize the science and to declare it an emergency and that we need to do something."
"I'm doing this today because the Congress is dragging their feet on declaring a climate emergency," said Soko. "So we're here to try and make this more urgent."
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.