Two time Oscar winner Jane Fonda is once again trail-blazing with her legendary political activism. She’s moved to Washington, DC for the next four months to help stage civil disobedience rallies at the Capitol.
The subject is Climate Change, and Jane is not fooling around. The first event will be today at 11am on the Southeast Lawn of the Capitol. The events are called “Fire Drill Fridays.” Fonda is calling on all celebrities and members of communities most affected to join her every Friday through mid-January.
Fonda will turn 82 this December, and she never stops, never backs down, and for four decades has been on the forefront of social activism. This takes courage, because mostly we hear a lot of talk and no action on the subject of Climate Change, and dozens of other subjects as well.
from today’s press release:
Inspired by the growing movement of young climate strikers, Fonda decided to move to the nation’s capital for four months to take up their baton. The effort aims to spur action to avert what the United Nation’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) calls irreversible climate disaster if atmospheric CO2 warms the planet by another 1.5 to 2 degrees Centigrade in the next 11 years.
“Change is coming by design or by disaster. A Green New Deal that transitions off fossil fuels provides the design. They say it’s not realistic, that it’s Socialism. That’s what they said about Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal, and we got Social Security and a middle class,” said Fonda.
Speakers at today’s event include:
Keya Chatterjee, Executive Director, US Climate Action Network
Jerome Foster, high school senior and climate striker, Washington, DC
Naomi Klein, activist, filmmaker, award-winning author and Gloria Steinem Chair in Media, Culture and Feminist Studies at Rutgers University
Annie Leonard, Executive Director, Greenpeace USA
Dr. Sarah Steingraber, biologist and award-winning author
Kerene N. Tayloe, Esq., Director of Federal Legislative Affairs, WE ACT for Environmental Justice
From the agenda:
VOTE for the climate in every election up and down the ballot. Vote for candidates who are in favor of a Green New Deal and a bold and responsible transition from fossil fuels to clean renewable energy.
SPEAK to candidates or elected officials. Tell them that climate can’t wait. Call them, sign petitions and go to their town halls. Write letters to the editor of your local paper. Put your money where your mouth is: divest from fossil fuel companies and invest in a sustainable future.
ACT: Join an organization working for real climate solutions. March, protest and recruit your friends to join. Listen and show up for communities most impacted by climate change and, if you can, put your body on the line.
DEMANDS
A Green New Deal
· Transform our economy to 100% clean, renewable energy by 2030 and phase out all fossil fuel extraction through a just and equitable transition, creating millions of good jobs
· A halt to all leasing and permitting for fossil fuel extraction, processing and infrastructure projects immediately in order to avoid a lock-in of increased emissions as we work together for a responsible transition to clean, renewable energy.
Respect of Indigenous Land and Sovereignty
· Honor the treaties protecting Indigenous lands, waters, and sovereignty by the immediate halt of all construction, leasing and permitting for resource extraction, processing and infrastructure projects affecting or on Indigenous lands
· Recognize the Rights of Nature into law to protect our sacred ecosystems and align human law with natural law to ban resource extraction in defense of our environment and people
Environmental Justice
· A transition that invests in prosperity for communities on the frontlines of poverty and pollution
· Welcoming those displaced by the cumulative effects of the climate crisis, economic inequality, violence, and lack of opportunity
Protection and Restoration of Biodiversity
· Protection and restoration of at least 30% of the world’s lands and oceans including a halt to all deforestation by 2030
Implementation of Sustainable Agriculture
· Investment in farmers and regenerative agriculture and an end to subsidies for industria
