March in NYC Sept. 17 to Call on President Biden to Accelerate Climate Action!
Published on August, 53 2023
by Nancy Price
Earth Democracy Issue Committee
September 2023
A massive march and rally to #ENDFOSSILFUELS will be held in New York City to spur President Biden to take action.
Sunday, September 17
Gather at 56th Street and Broadway between 12 and 1 pm. The march will be from approximately 1:00-4:30 pm.
All the information you need is here.
- For travel and logistics, FAQs, and to endorse as an organization, go to www.endfossilfuels.us.
- For a long list of hubs go to www.endfossilfuels.us/getinvolved. A hub is 10 or more people, and can be based on location, interest, or identity: for example, faith hub, youth hub, profession, specific school, college or universty, workplace, congregation, neighborhood. Find the hub that interests you, join an existing hub and get in touch with hub captain.
- If you cannot go to New York, work with your branch and community groups to plan an event.
- Order different Earth Democracy banners at wilpfus.org/story/support-materials and make your own signs.
Climate Marches Past and Present
The last march of this scale was held on Sunday, September 21, 2014, when 350,000 people assembled in New York City for the People’s Climate March. This was just before the UN Climate Summit of World Leaders on September 23 and before the UN Conference of Parties Climate Summit held in Paris the following year (2015), where 196 countries agreed to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 50% by 2030. Read other commitments of the Paris Agreement, a binding international treaty, here.
We are seeing the effects of not reaching this goal: devastating fires and extreme weather events, droughts, melting glaciers and ice caps, food shortages and malnutrition, migration and conflict. All of these and so much more will continue and increase if we do not act.
America is the largest producer of oil and gas in the world. The #EndFossilFuels March comes a few days before the September 20 United Nations Climate Ambition Summit organized by the General Secretary. Secretary Guterres is unequivocal about the goals of this Summit (see below). The UN has announced that the Summit is an opportunity for “First Movers and Doers” – from government, business, finance, local authorities and civil society – to tell us how they are responding to the Secretary-General's call to “accelerate” climate action.
What President Biden Can Do
President Biden is in an unparalleled position to lead the world toward cleaner, less polluting energy options and eliminate the dependence on dangerous fossil fuels. If Pres. Biden takes action, he will protect our health, boost our economy, and tackle the climate crisis head-on.
#EndFossilFuels, organizational and individual endorsers, and march participants call on Pres. Biden to:
- Stop Federal approval for new fossil fuel projects and REPEAL permits for “climate bombs” like the ConocoPhillips massive, decades-long oil drilling Willow Project on Alaska’s North Slope and the 300 mile natural gas Mountain Valley Pipeline running north to south through Western Virginia.
- Phase out fossil fuel drilling on our public lands and waters.
- Declare a climate emergency to halt fossil fuel exports and investments abroad, and turbocharge the build-out of more just resilient distributed energy (like rooftop and community solar).
- Provide a just transition to a renewable energy future that generates millions of jobs while supporting workers’ and community rights, job security, and employment equity.
| Our renewable energy future must not repeat the violence of the extractive past. Justice must ground the transition of fossil fuels to redress the climate, colonialist, racist, socioeconomic, and ecological injustices of the fossil fuel era. |
September 20 Climate Ambition Summit
Secretary General Guterres is holding a Climate Ambition Summit at the United Nations to challenge world leaders to commit to an “Acceleration Agenda” in advance of COP28.
Secretary General Guterres has said: “It’s time to move the needle!” He has also said this will be a “no-nonsense summit. No exceptions. No compromises. There will be no room for back-sliders, greenwashers, blame-shifters or repackaging of announcements of previous years.”
“Nothing less than tangible and credible climate action would do,” Guterres adds, and dispensing with diplomatic niceties, he made it clear that the price of entry for every nation was “non-negotiable credible, serious and new climate action and nature-based solutions that will move the needle forward and respond to the urgency of the climate crisis.”
The UN chief said the event would be convened alongside a General Assembly opening-week summit already in the calendar, designed to accelerate action at the halfway point towards the ambitious Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) scheduled to be implemented by 2030.
The design and outcomes of the Summit will be delivered on three distinct but interrelated acceleration tracks – ambition, credibility and implementation. Outcomes of the Climate Ambition Summit and the Sustainable Development Goals meetings will be reported in the October eNews.
