{"id":31801,"date":"2024-02-16T12:34:02","date_gmt":"2024-02-16T20:34:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=31801"},"modified":"2024-02-16T12:34:03","modified_gmt":"2024-02-16T20:34:03","slug":"lead-or-lose-young-people-arrested-at-bidens-campaign-headquarters-call-for-climate-action-and-a-ceasefire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2024\/02\/16\/lead-or-lose-young-people-arrested-at-bidens-campaign-headquarters-call-for-climate-action-and-a-ceasefire\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Lead or Lose!’ Young People Arrested at Biden’s Campaign Headquarters Call for Climate Action and a Ceasefire"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Keerti Gopal\/Inside Climate News<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"'LeadAfter they were removed from the building, Sunrise Movement members continued to demonstrate outside President Joe Biden\u2019s campaign headquarters in Wilmington, Del. on Feb. 12. (photo: Adah Crandall)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

15 february 24<\/strong> (RSN.org)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

The youth-led Sunrise Movement warns Biden that he\u2019ll lose the votes of the young people he needs to win the presidency without decisive action on global warming and Gaza.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Young climate activists from the Sunrise Movement entered President Joe Biden\u2019s campaign headquarters in Wilmington, Delaware on Monday, demanding that he declare a climate emergency, call for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza and end U.S. funding of Israel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Holding signs that said \u201cfund climate, not genocide,\u201d and a banner that read \u201cBiden: lead or lose,\u201d the activists argued that young people will not turn out to vote for Biden in November unless these demands are met. It\u2019s a pivot for a group that helped lead what became record<\/a> youth turnout to get Biden and other Democrats elected in 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Around 80 protesters gathered at Biden\u2019s campaign headquarters at 9:00 Monday morning. About two dozen then entered the building and blockaded the campaign office\u2019s doors in an attempt to speak with the campaign team about their demands, according to the Sunrise Movement\u2019s communications director, Stevie O\u2019Hanlon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After about an hour, the protesters were removed from the building and 21 were arrested. Other members of the group continued to demonstrate outside the building well into the afternoon and the arrested protesters were released from custody later that evening. The Biden campaign did not respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the action, members of Sunrise called out the Biden administration for what they characterize as a lack of consistency in upholding 2020 campaign promises to champion climate action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYoung people are pretty pissed at Joe Biden right now,\u201d O\u2019Hanlon said. \u201cJoe Biden can\u2019t fund renewable energy on Monday, on Tuesday fund a genocide and approve oil projects and then claim to be a climate president and expect the youth vote.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Sunrise Movement has previously supported some of the Biden administration\u2019s policies on climate: after the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, Sunrise founder and executive director Varshini Prakash\u2014who joined<\/a> Biden\u2019s climate task force\u2014called the act \u201cthe largest national climate bill in world history,\u201d although she also criticized<\/a> its concessions to the fossil fuel industry. Last month, Sunrise was among those celebrating<\/a> Biden\u2019s decision to halt the approval of liquified natural gas exports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the Biden administration has received<\/a> strong criticism from young voters\u2014including Sunrise\u2014about the record<\/a> rate at which it has approved fossil fuel projects, like the Willow oil drilling project in Alaska.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A report<\/a> released in November by the Center for Biological Diversity claims that by 2030, carbon emissions from the Biden administration\u2019s new fossil fuel projects may exceed any emissions reductions from its climate action policies, including the Inflation Reduction Act.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFund Climate, Not Genocide\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

At Monday\u2019s action, Sunrise activists drew connections between the need for more investment in climate action and the administration\u2019s continued support of Israel\u2019s bombardment of Gaza.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPresident Biden has proposed billions of dollars in unconditional military aid to destroy young people and destroy families on the other side of the world in Israel\u2019s genocidal war in Gaza,\u201d Sunrise member Shiva Rajbhandari, 19, said. \u201cAnd meanwhile, we have real needs here in the U.S., where that money could be spent protecting young people and putting families first, frontline communities first, as we face increasing storms, wildfires, droughts and climate disaster after climate disaster.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris have evaded questions about Israel\u2019s conduct of the war in Gaza and repeatedly<\/a> refused<\/a> to place conditions on aid to Israel, although Biden has called<\/a> Israel\u2019s military conduct \u201cover the top.\u201d The Biden administration says<\/a> it is working to broker a \u201csix-week pause\u201d in Gaza. The day after Monday\u2019s action, the Senate approved<\/a> $14 billion in military aid for Israel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe link between what\u2019s going on in Palestine and the climate crisis is really inextricable, in that they\u2019re both rooted in imperialism and colonization and oppression of people and families and young people,\u201d Rajbhandari said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The group posted a video on Instagram of arrested protesters in Wilmington sitting in a police van wearing Sunrise\u2019s signature black and yellow t-shirts, hands zip-tied behind their backs as they awaited transport to the station.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs our communities struggle under escalating climate disasters, Biden is forcing billions of dollars through Congress to help bomb children in Rafah,\u201d the video\u2019s caption read, referencing Israel\u2019s bombing the previous night of refugees at the Rafah border crossing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Will Young People Vote in 2024?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Members of Sunrise expressed a range of personal opinions about whether or not they\u2019ll turn up to the polls in November in a likely rematch against former President Donald Trump, a climate denier who pulled the nation out of the U.N.\u2019s Paris climate process and favors unbridled drilling for fossil fuels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rajbhandari, 19, said he\u2019s personally committed to casting his first vote in a presidential election this year, but noted that through his efforts to register voters in North Carolina, where he\u2019s a student, and his home state of Idaho, he\u2019s met many people who will not be voting unless they see significant changes from the current administration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s scary, but I can\u2019t blame them,\u201d Rajbhandari said. \u201cWhen I was registering folks to vote in 2020, it was like, \u2018this is how we\u2019re gonna save our country and the world,\u2019 and it feels like we really haven\u2019t done that. So it really feels like an empty promise has been made.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sunrise supported Biden in 2020 not out of enthusiasm about him as a candidate\u2014he wasn\u2019t the group\u2019s first choice\u2014but because he was the least bad option available, Rajbhandari explained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Though he was too young to vote then, Rajbhandari registered voters and knocked on doors for Biden in 2020. He said he now feels hurt that Biden has turned his back on the young people who helped get him elected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPresident Biden needs to pick a side, is he with us or is he with the oil and gas millionaires who have controlled the Democratic Party and our politics in general for a long time?\u201d Rajbhandari said. \u201cIt seems like he hasn\u2019t made up his mind, and as a young voter, for me, that\u2019s not exciting. In fact, it\u2019s infuriating and insulting and disgusting.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

O\u2019Hanlon, 28, said she\u2019s \u201cwaiting and seeing\u201d how the campaign unfolds before making a decision about voting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Citing polls that show Biden\u2019s dwindling popularity amongst young people, however, O\u2019Hanlon noted that it\u2019s not about whether or not members of Sunrise turn up to vote, but whether voters as a whole mobilize behind Biden.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A 2023 national poll<\/a> from the Institute of Politics at Harvard Kennedy School found that the number of 18-29 year-olds who \u201cdefinitely\u201d plan to vote for Biden has decreased from 57 percent in the fall of 2019 to 49 percent last fall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Elise Joshi of Gen Z for Change\u2014which retweeted Sunrise\u2019s posts about the Monday action\u2014said Biden\u2019s decision to pause LNG exports was the kind of thing young people want to see from the administration. Still, Joshi said that the administration\u2019s handling of Israel\u2019s war in Gaza is a hard-line for many young voters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe know that Gen Z is extremely passionate about climate justice,\u201d Joshi said. \u201cIt does not take away from the fact that we desperately need a ceasefire.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Monday\u2019s action at the campaign headquarters was a precursor to what will be a nationwide, coordinated day of action on President\u2019s Day. Sunrise Movement members across the country will stage at least 40 distinct local demonstrations and visit local democratic campaign offices to deliver the same demands and call on President Biden to declare a climate emergency.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Keerti Gopal\/Inside Climate News After they were removed from the building, Sunrise Movement members continued to demonstrate outside President Joe Biden\u2019s campaign headquarters in Wilmington, Del. on Feb. 12. (photo: Adah Crandall) 15 february 24 (RSN.org) The youth-led Sunrise Movement warns Biden that he\u2019ll lose the votes of the young… 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":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31801"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31801"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31801\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31802,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31801\/revisions\/31802"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31801"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31801"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31801"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}