No More Excuses: Greenpeace Co-Executive Director Will Risk Arrest for Voting Rights

Today, Greenpeace USA co-Executive Director, Ebony Twilley Martin is risking arrest, alongside over 100 leaders calling on President Biden to use the full power of the presidency to bring lawmakers together and ensure the passage of the Freedom to Vote Act and The John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act.

We know we need to have a healthy democracy so that we can have a healthy planet. We only have a handful of years left to reduce the power of fossil fuel companies polluting our communities and democratic systems before rocketing past climate thresholds and finding ourselves at a catastrophic point of no return -- unless we first fix our broken democracy. But a handful of extremist politicians are busy putting up barriers to silence our voices based on what we look like or where we live. The reforms in the Freedom to Vote Act will get big money out of politics, restore voting rights, offer new protections for voters, end gerrymandering so that electoral districts are fairly drawn, and hold government officials accountable with new ethics standards. This will help return power to the people.

November 17rd will mark the fifth time that groups gathered in front of the White House to call on the Biden-Harris administration to take immediate action for voting rights. The No More Excuses: Voting Rights Now! series of civil disobedience actions has escalated tremendously since our coalition of organizations first gathered in August. Five brave souls were arrested on October 5th, growing to 25 on October 19th and then 60 on November 3rd. Today, we will have well over 100 activists once again risking arrest to show we will not back down until federal voting rights legislation is passed into law.

Ebony Twilley Martin, Greenpeace USA Co-Executive Director said:

"Our democracy should be our best tool for advancing climate solutions, but it has been hijacked by fossil fuel interests. Millions of people, especially Black and Brown people, are blocked from participating because of restrictions on voting rights and the corroding influence of corporate money in politics. The right to vote is under attack like we have not seen since the days of Jim Crow. Millions of Americans - especially ones that look like me -- women and people of color - are at risk of having our voices silenced in our democracy.

"The same fossil fuel billionaires who are polluting our air and water, are also polluting our politics by spending millions to push their toxic agendas, elect their allies, and keep anyone who disagrees with them blocked from the polls. Black and Brown communities, working families, and the health of the planet, suffer the worst consequences.

"We need President Biden to use the full power of the presidency to bring lawmakers together and ensure the passage of the Freedom to Vote Act and The John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act before it's too late. The stakes are too high for our country and planet."

Ebony Twilley Martin will be available for interviews.
Photos will be available here.