Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), the Speaker of the House, is kind of getting it from all sides this week, between Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz’s (R) attempt to oust him from the role from the right, and Rep. AOC (D-NY) dragging him for failing to find a funding compromise between House Democrats and Republicans from the left.
This morning, during an occupation of over 150 Sunrise Movement activists at the embattled McCarthy’s office on Capitol Hill, 18 young people were arrested by Capitol police, according to Sunrise. The young people present at the action demanded McCarthy stop the impending government shutdown, which may begin as soon as this weekend, and “fund climate action” instead.
Amidst the action, today is a particularly busy day in DC, with an impeachment inquiry hearing underway against President Biden (which Congressposter Sen. John Fetterman, D-PA, celebrated in his own way). Despite the political theater dominating the headlines, Sunrise activists took the opportunity to hammer Sen. Kevin McCarthy on the urgency of stronger climate policy.
“We sent a clear message today that our generation is ready to do whatever it takes to stop the climate crisis, and that the GOP can try to shut down the government, they can try to run from the problems, they can let people continue dying in climate disasters around the country, but our generation will not stand for that and we are ready to take matters into our own hands,” Adah Crandall, 17, tells Teen Vogue from Capitol Hill.
“We are ready to do whatever it takes," says Crandall. "We are willing to get arrested in the hallways of Congress. We are ready to take over our schools. We are ready to get elected into office ourselves.” Those present at the action included 19-year-old Shiva Rajbhandari, a Sunrise member who currently serves on his local school board in Boise, Idaho.
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Sunrise first rose to prominence during the Trump administration through its occupation of federal officials’ offices like Nancy Pelosi’s to demand consideration for the Green New Deal; the last few weeks have proven their impact on national climate policy. Earlier this week, Crandall and fellow Sunrise activist Ariela Lara co-wrote an oped for Teen Vogue announcing Sunrise’s national Green New Deal for Schools campaign, with a bill to be reintroduced in Congress by Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY).
Last week was NYC Climate Week, with an estimated 70,000 people from all over joining New York’s March to End Fossil Fuels. The next day, over a hundred people were arrested for civil disobedience outside the Federal Reserve in downtown Manhattan. On September 20, President Biden announced the creation of an American Climate Corps (a concept long pushed by Sunrise), which seeks to create 20,000 jobs working on new climate infrastructure next year.
“Today really shows the people in power that the power our generation is building across the country is so much stronger than corrupt GOP policy,” Crandall tells Teen Vogue. “Any person who wants to get elected to a position of power in the coming years needs the support of Gen Z — and if they want the support of Gen Z, they need to be willing to fight for us and pass a Green New Deal.”
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