About three dozen young activists staged a protest Friday morning in the office of Democratic Rep. Frank Pallone of New Jersey, the likely incoming chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee, demanding stronger action to combat climate change.
The Sunrise Movement rallied in Pallone’s Washington, D.C., office and engaged in a brief conversation with the congressman after conducting a similar sit-in Tuesday in the office of Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi of California, the expected next House speaker.
“We need some sort of rapid, massive, wartime mobilization that is actually going to decarbonize our economy,” Varshini Prakash, a co-founder of the Sunrise Movement, told the Washington Examiner outside Pallone’s office.
The Sunrise Movement has allied itself with Rep.-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, a star progressive who campaigned on a platform of eliminating the use of fossil fuels for electricity. Ocasio-Cortez joined the protesters on Tuesday, but was not present Friday, demanding Democrats pursue an aggressive “Green New Deal” agenda.
“We support Cortez’ plan because it is the only one that actually addresses the scope and scale of the climate crisis in line with what the science demands,” Prakash said.
WE’RE BACK! @FrankPallone thinks @Ocasio2018’s committee for a #GreenNewDeal is not ‘necessary’, but we know it’s a matter of survival. We’re here to demand he back a #GreenNewDeal and take #NoFossilFuelMoney or step aside. Join us to demand Dems step up: https://t.co/A2AW4Vuqlu pic.twitter.com/H1iphX3bJo
— Sunrise Movement ? (@sunrisemvmt) November 16, 2018
The protests showcase the progressive pressure facing Democrats as they prepare to assume control of the House in January and the split among members of the party on how to handle climate change in a divided Congress.
Many young, progressive candidates campaigned on “100 percent” renewable energy platforms and want to see comprehensive climate bills voted on before 2020. But other, more moderate, Democrats say the party should work with Republicans on smaller clean energy solutions where there is bipartisan agreement.
Backed by the Sunrise Movement, Ocasio-Cortez is promoting a resolution that would give a select climate committee, that Pelosi wants to revive, new power to draft a climate bill by 2020, which would require 100 percent of electricity to come from renewable sources. The previous iteration of the climate committee, which Republicans disbanded upon taking power of the House in 2011, did not have the power to draft legislation.
Pallone and other Democratic committee heads oppose the creation of a new climate committee, preferring to address the issue through normal channels.
Pallone, in a statement to the Washington Examiner last week, said he wants to emphasize oversight of the Trump administration in the new Congress, aiming to hold it “accountable for dangerous policies that make climate change worse.”
He said Friday that he welcomed the young protesters and would aim to work with them to mitigate climate change.
“I support bold, aggressive action on climate change and I’m proud of the young people pushing for the urgent change we desperately need,” Pallone said in a Twitter post. “Glad to have had the chance to speak with them this morning.”
Prakash said the Sunrise Movement planned more protests for this coming Tuesday in Democratic congressional districts across the country.
“We will continue to push because we don’t think this is just a progressive issue,” she said. “All Democrats should be supporting it, if they really claim to care about climate change.”
