Sitting in the sun across the street from the White House, 18-year-old Ema Govea holds a black and yellow sign saying she is on a hunger strike to demand action against climate change.
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She and four other activists from Sunrise Movement, an environmental advocacy group, began their protest on Wednesday. They say they will not eat until President Joe Biden follows through on his campaign promises to enact meaningful measures to cut greenhouse gas emissions and transition the US to a green economy.
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The hunger strikers want Biden to push for the full $3.5 trillion in his proposed social spending agenda that includes measures to cut carbon emissions and mitigate the effects of climate change.
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“It’s clear that he wants to be a climate leader. But at this point, it is all talk, no action,” she said.
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Earlier this week, several US agencies
released reports highlighting the adverse impact that climate change is expected to have on global stability and US national security.
But activists say there is a gap between the administration’s rhetoric and actions.
Kidus Girma, one of the hunger strikers, slammed the president for negotiating with Manchin and Sinema behind closed doors instead of calling them out publicly to back his agenda.
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Activists say this year has been a turning point in the predicted physical effects of climate change becoming a reality in the United States. Droughts, floods, enormous wildfires, deadly heat waves and hurricanes have struck the country in alarming frequency and intensity.
Julia Paramo, a 24-year-old activist, said her hometown of Dallas is still feeling the “trauma” of the unprecedented cold wave early in 2021 that caused widespread power outages across Texas leading to 210 deaths in the state.
“Us or Exxon,” Paramo had written on her forehead in a message against the fossil fuel industry. Like other hunger strikers, she was sitting in a wheelchair to conserve her own energy.
alJazeera
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