Six congressional staffers were arrested on Monday after a group of more than a dozen Democratic staffers organized a climate demonstration at the office of Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., who they argued has not done enough to address the impact of global warming.
At least seventeen Hill staffers hoisted signs that read "Climate Action Now, Chuck" and "Our Farms Are Flooding" while singing the song "Solidarity Forever" by Utah Phillips. Numerous aides also publicized the sit-in over Twitter. Among them were Aria Kovalovich, a staffer on the House Oversight and Reform Subcommittee on Environment, and Saul Levin, an adviser to Rep. Cori Bush, D-Mo.
Right now, we Hill staffers are peacefully protesting Dem leaders INSIDE. To my knowledge, this has never been done.
— Saul (@saaaauuull) July 25, 2022
We’ve also never seen climate catastrophe, so we’re meeting the moment. Follow along as we fight with everything we have to jumpstart climate negotiations. pic.twitter.com/PwuWVFQoED
Now getting arrested pic.twitter.com/9DU2zYhTer
— Andrew Marantz (@andrewmarantz) July 25, 2022
BREAKING: Congressional staff are staging a peaceful sit-in in @SenSchumer's office to protest our leaders' failure and inaction on climate policy and urge them to use every last negotiating tool to meet this moment.
— Aria Kovalovich (@ariakov) July 25, 2022
The time to act is NOW. Staffers, come through. 🖤🔥 pic.twitter.com/JHtAYDez4n
This week, 165 Hill employees signed onto an open letter demanding that President Biden and Schumer "take ambitious, assertive action before the end of July to address the climate crisis."
Wrong office. Just bumped into Schumer as he went into his Capitol leadership office (this is Hart) https://t.co/S9Kt4XYjtl
— Burgess Everett (@burgessev) July 25, 2022
"Every day that you do not act, the climate crisis spirals further out of control... In the coming days you must execute a multi-pronged approach at the executive and legislative levels to secure our future and cement your legacy," the letter read. "First, it is imperative that you immediately declare a climate emergency and end fossil fuel extraction on federal lands. Then, and most importantly, you must intervene in stalled Senate negotiations."
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165 Congressional staffers are speaking out against the lack of climate action from Democrats. Staffers are supposed to be invisible, but this is no longer business as usual.
— Elise Joshi (@EliseJoshi) July 25, 2022
We are in an emergency and it’s time their bosses treat the climate crisis like one. pic.twitter.com/pYmidNiBAc
Staffers received public support from House Democrats like Reps. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota and Ro Khanna of California, both of whom saw staffers arrested on Monday, according to Axios.
I'm not just supportive of the staff who protested for climate action today, including my own. I'm proud. Damn proud.https://t.co/Wt5utV3Gf6
— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) July 25, 2022
I stand in solidarity with all of the staffers, including those in my office, who peacefully protested for climate action today. Protecting our planet is not a radical idea. https://t.co/qjF20tyk5B
— Rep. Ro Khanna (@RepRoKhanna) July 25, 2022
Good on you, Saul.
— Marianne Williamson (@marwilliamson) July 26, 2022
The demonstration comes after climate negotiations between top Democrats and Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., a conservative Democrat notorious for torpedoing much of Biden's agenda, fell through. Manchin, who has made a personal fortune off of the coal investments, specifically said he could not support more spending on clean energy with inflation at 9.1%.
The move outraged both progressives, with global warming at the top of many Americans' minds amid the sweltering heat wave that is tearing across much of the South and Northeast.
President Biden has vowed to take decisive action on climate change despite Manchin's latest blow to his agenda, saying that "the opportunity to create jobs and build a clean energy future is too important to relent."
Many Democrats in Congress have urged Biden to declare a national emergency in response to the rising temperatures across the globe. The move would allow the president to ratchet up clean energy manufacturing and roll out more weatherized infrastructure.
RELATED: Joe Manchin has made $5.2M from his coal company — and gets big donations from fossil-fuel industry
