What a week – did it work to shut down climate chaos?

by Drewin Action, allies, Homeon September 22, 2023September 22, 2023

From September 12-20, we took action in the streets of New York again and again and again to shut down climate chaos and demand President Biden, Wall Street Banks, and other rich and powerful leaders take action to end the era of fossil fuels fast, fair, and forever.

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But a fundamental question that’s always worth asking at the end of these mass mobilizations is: did it work? Did the people we were protesting, disrupting, and calling out & in actually take action? As usual, there isn’t one simple answer, but I think we’re making progress.

Pro – the case for progress

The press coverage was amazing. Check out this story in Vox wrapping up both the march, and the waves of direct action before and after for a good overview. And scroll back through our social media (especially twitter) to see tons and tons more.
The Biden Administration was blocked from speaking at the climate ambition summit, in a clear sign that the United Nations is holding them to the correct standards and accountability for not ending fossil fuels. US leaders like CA Governor Newsom, who recently sued the oil industry over climate deception, did speak – so again, the right people are being held accountable and the right people are being heard.
President Biden made several big announcements: Creating a Civilian Climate Corps, protecting land in the Arctic from fossil fuel extraction, and more. This shows that we’re clearly getting to the Administration, and they’re responding with policies that are good, even if they’re not good enough, or what we’ve asked for.

Con – the case against progress

Marches aren’t policy, and protest doesn’t move money or materials from fossil fuels to clean energy. In fact, if we’re protesting and taking disruptive action to shut down people and targets, it’s a sign that we’re NOT getting what we want.
Biden didn’t even attend the UN Climate Ambition Summit, though he did speak to the UN General Assembly and address climate change as part of his speech.
Biden didn’t declare a climate emergency, he didn’t take a stand against fossil fuels that are killing the planet, and he didn’t veto the fossil-fascist pentagon bill passed by the House; Likewise the Federal Reserve did not promise to crack down on fossil fuel lending by big banks, and the big banks (predictably, in the absence of federal regulation) did not promise to divest from fossil fuels voluntarily. All of which were demands we made loudly and clearly during the week.

So, where does that leave us? Not just where we started – something big happened last week as evidenced by the media coverage, the more than half a million people who took action around the world, and the reactions from world leaders including President Biden. We’re in what revolutionary non-violence scholars call a “moment of the whirlwind” when mass action and civil resistance draw in huge numbers of new supporters, and a paradigm shift in policy, politics, and action becomes possible.

So thank you to everyone who took action over the last few weeks to get us here and push the movement forward to the point where we’re balanced on top of a big fulcrum. Whether you signed a petition, marched in the streets, or took non-violent direct action to shut down a bank, the Federal Reserve, or another target — You got us here, together. And now, we need to keep pushing, to make sure the mass mobilization tips over the fulcrum, and becomes an unstoppable movement for change. We’ve already won some big victories. Now, we need to keep pushing to make sure Biden and other leaders follow through on ALL the demands.

If you haven’t already, you can sign on here to support the demands of the march and our week of action – or you can chip in here to help us cover the costs of all of last week’s mobilizations and actions, and to keep us fighting and organizing for the next one. Most importantly, stay tuned for more actions to take – online and in the streets – in the days and weeks ahead. Change is coming soon, we’ve made sure of that already. Let’s make sure it’s the change we want and need to see for our climate and common home.

6 Comments

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STU LACH
September 23, 2023 @ 2:51 pm

The only way we’ll ever shut down the Fossils is when we stop buying their product.
Donald Leisman
September 23, 2023 @ 3:06 am

Thanks for all you are doing to reduce fossil fuels!!
Debra ugalde
September 23, 2023 @ 2:39 am

Awesome !! Now what about strategic boycotts against Shell, Chevron and Mobil- either one at a time or all at once. When we boycott the big ones- we should turn to the smaller independent cheaper stations and try to make a difference