{"id":13335,"date":"2019-11-19T09:47:59","date_gmt":"2019-11-19T17:47:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=13335"},"modified":"2019-11-19T09:49:16","modified_gmt":"2019-11-19T17:49:16","slug":"time-is-up-campaigners-occupy-pelosis-office-launch-global-hunger-strike-for-climate-action","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2019\/11\/19\/time-is-up-campaigners-occupy-pelosis-office-launch-global-hunger-strike-for-climate-action\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Time Is Up’: Campaigners Occupy Pelosi’s Office, Launch Global Hunger Strike for Climate Action"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

November 18, 2019 by Common Dreams<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Meet with us or leave us to starve while you jet to your Thanksgiving feasts and cocktail parties in the glow of a burning world.”<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

by Julia Conley, staff writer<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Young climate action advocates began a hunger strike on Monday, occupying House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office and demanding a meeting with her. (Photo: @XRebelDC)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The global grassroots movement Extinction Rebellion Monday is targeting House Speaker Nancy Pelosi with a hunger strike and demanding that the Democratic leader embrace bold climate action as have progressive lawmakers around the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The group told Pelosi a week ago that members would begin a hunger strike Monday unless the California Democrat agreed to a one-hour, on-camera meeting to discuss Extinction Rebellion’s demands for concrete climate action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Twitter, the group announced that Pelosi’s time was up and that at least 20 young activists would occupy the speaker’s Washington, D.C. office<\/a> until she meets with them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Extinction Rebellion live-streamed the demonstration on social media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Giovanni Tamacas, an organizer of the hunger strike, read from a letter sent to Pelosi as the action began Monday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“We won’t be patronized by a meeting with your staff, or a meeting in the distant future, or a five minute conversation, or an impromptu talk,” the letter<\/a> reads. “Meet with us or leave us to starve while you jet to your Thanksgiving feasts and cocktail parties in the glow of a burning world. It is with a heavy heart that we will deny ourselves our basic needs. May our pain finally sound the alarm.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The group rebuked Pelosi for “turning a blind eye” to the rapidly warming climate, wildfires raging throughout her home state, melting glaciers, and millions of climate refugees <\/a>even as she says in speeches that “there is no time left to deny the reality of climate change.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite that rhetoric, Extinction Rebellion said, Pelosi has hamstrung attempts to push for wide-reaching climate legislation by creating a congressional committee that has no subpoena power or ability to draft bills.<\/a> Pelosi herself has not joined more than 100 members of Congress in co-sponsoring Green New Deal legislation<\/a>, which is supported by a majority of Americans,<\/a> including 86 percent of Democratic voters, according to recent polling. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“With all due respect, you have failed.”
\u2014Extinction Rebellion<\/strong>“Every day the evidence piles up at your desk, but you have yet to pass even symbolic legislation recognizing the climate crisis as a national emergency,” Extinction Rebellion wrote. “With all due respect, you have failed.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Extinction Rebellion’s demands<\/a>\u2014conveyed over the last several months at rallies where attendees have spent weeks occupying public spaces<\/a>, at nurse-ins<\/a> in London, and now with the hunger strike\u2014are that government leaders “tell the truth” about the climate by declaring a climate emergency; commit to passing legislation that would reduce carbon emissions to net zero by 2025; and establish a citizens’ assembly on climate justice to center the concerns of frontline communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Humanity is at a crossroads. We either unite to prevent climate and ecological collapse, or this nation and global society will fall to pieces,” wrote the group to Pelosi, echoing the warnings of Pentagon experts<\/a> as well as 11,000 scientists<\/a> around the world. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the strike at Pelosi’s office began Monday morning, organizers handed out vitamins and nutritional supplements to the campaigners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In New York, four students also began a hunger strike at Columbia University, demanding to know why the university has not joined a number of colleges, cities, and financial institutions in divesting from fossil fuels under pressure from activists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More than 300 people worldwide are taking part in the hunger strike, according to Extinction Rebellion. In England, 10 strikers assembled outside the Conservative Party headquarters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On social media, climate action advocates expressed support for the hunger strikers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Gratitude to all in Extinction Rebellion who are beginning their hunger strikes today,” organizers tweeted<\/a>. “Let’s hope it communicates the desperate need to act now on ecocide and the climate emergency to Speaker Pelosi and other legislators before it really is too late.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“It’s already too late for so many,” the group added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License. Feel free to republish and share widely.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

November 18, 2019 by Common Dreams “Meet with us or leave us to starve while you jet to your Thanksgiving feasts and cocktail parties in the glow of a burning world.” by Julia Conley, staff writer Young climate action advocates began a hunger strike on Monday, occupying House Speaker Nancy… Continue reading → <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13335"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13335"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13335\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13337,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13335\/revisions\/13337"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13335"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13335"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13335"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}