It’s Earth Day! Tell Biden to declare a climate emergency already

Look, you know climate change is already wreaking havoc on our communities, economy, and future. Frontline and fenceline communities of color, low wage workers, and the global south are hit first and worst by the impacts.

But we also already have the solutions we need. President Biden has already promised to cut global warming pollution in half by 2030, and to “net zero” by 2050 – which is roughly in-line with what scientists tell us needs to be done. But until now, President Biden has always held off on the single biggest thing he can do as President: declare a climate emergency, and use the full force of his Administrative powers to end the era of fossil fuels.

This Earth Day, youth leaders from Sunrise Movement and other groups are renewing the call for Biden to declare a climate emergency. And news reports say that it’s already working with a chance he could make an announcement soon. But we’ve heard this rhetoric before, and we need Biden to do more than talk the talk. Sign here to support global youth leaders and call on President Biden to declare a climate emergency NOW, for Earth Day 2024.

Biden has been on a tear of environmental and conservation announcements this month – protecting historic amounts of land in the arctic, updating oil and gas leasing rules on more than 10% of all lands in the US, and investing $20 billion in clean energy. But even all that is not enough to achieve Biden’s climate commitments. So the youth-led Sunrise Movement is calling on President Biden to use his executive powers to declare a climate emergency, allowing the government to scale back fossil fuel projects and rapidly expand the buildup of clean energy alternatives nationwide.

It’s also a political issue: Only 21 percent of voters 18-29 approve of the administration’s efforts to tackle the climate crisis. According to the Sunrise Movement, more aggressive efforts need to be made to ensure climate-conscious young voters continue to vote for President Biden.

Earlier this year, when asked about the possibility of formally declaring a climate emergency, Biden told reporters that he had “practically” already done so.

But as Politico pointed out, “he has yet to actually make a declaration, which would give him a host of new powers to combat climate change as the country faces record-breaking heat and more frequent and intense floods, droughts and wildfires.”

President Biden must do everything in his power to slow climate change, starting by formally declaring that the federal government considers it an emergency. Add your name to the petition today if you agree.