Environmental Groups and Labor Merge for Climate Rally in Lafayette Park

April 24, 2022 by Kate Michael
Environmental Groups and Labor Merge for Climate Rally in Lafayette Park
Participants at Climate Rally in Washington, D.C. April 23, 2022. (Photo by Kate Michael)

WASHINGTON — Taina Lipwak came with elaborate canvas artwork that she attached to the fence around Lafayette’s statue. She wanted the crowd to see it, but she hoped President Biden might see it too. 

“This is the center of government in the United States,” she told The Well News. “The president is right there; the Congress is down the street. We need to be here to say… something has to change.”

Lipwak and hundreds of the others gathered in Lafayette Square across from the White House on Saturday afternoon to attend a concert and climate rally organized by the Sierra Club. 

Similar rallies were taking place across the country. 

“You know thousands of people are mobilizing in cities across the country today. And we are energized, we are determined, and we will succeed,” Ramón Cruz, Sierra Club president said from the stage. 

“Biden and Congress cannot wait any longer. They have a once in a generation chance to meaningfully tackle the climate crisis, raising prices, energy insecurity, and injustice… Who’s ready to tell Biden and Congress to get the job done?”

The growing crowd, which rallied into the late afternoon, demanded bold action on climate, jobs, and justice. 

“It’s important to me to be here today because the planet is on fire,” Lipwak said. “Humans are basically destroying the ecosystem to the point where it’s not going to be sustainable for human populations to be living. Sea levels are rising… and I’m adamant.”

But while environmental groups appeared to make up a large part of the rally’s attendance, speakers largely came from the labor movement, with leadership from the AFL-CIO and Service Employees International among the first to speak to the assembly. 

“It’s not just a climate issue, it’s a labor issue, too, and we’ve always known that,” Gerry Hudson, secretary-treasurer of SEIU said.

“Labor issues and climate issues are two sides of the same coin,” Liz Shuler, president of the AFL-CIO agreed. “We have to do more than react and rebuild. We have to get ahead of the crisis… So let’s build a future where labor and environmental standards go hand in hand.”

She then called on Congress to pass the building a better America agenda “with investments in clean energy made in America.”

For Lipwak, who has practiced what she called “civil disobedience” through weekly protests centered around climate action, the main concern is money that’s funding the carbon extraction industry. 

“The corporate money is big,” she said. “We need people acting and people coming together and deciding it’s not good enough to wreck the planet for.  We’ve already wrecked it a lot, but it’s only going to get worse.”

Kate can be reached at [email protected]

 

A+
a-
  • climate change
  • environment
  • Sierra Club
  • In The News

    Health

    Voting

    Climate

    March 20, 2024
    by Dan McCue
    White House Unveils Sweeping Rules to Speed Switch to Cleaner Cars

    WASHINGTON — The Biden-Harris administration on Wednesday rolled out an ambitious new regulatory regime aimed at bolstering the standards of... Read More

    WASHINGTON — The Biden-Harris administration on Wednesday rolled out an ambitious new regulatory regime aimed at bolstering the standards of electric and hybrid vehicles by placing new restrictions on tailpipe emissions. According to administration officials, who briefed reporters on the new rules during a conference call... Read More

    March 15, 2024
    by Tom Ramstack
    Senate Told Growing Wildfire Threat Needs New Strategies

    WASHINGTON — The number of wildfires driven by climate change has grown but the U.S. effort to control them has... Read More

    WASHINGTON — The number of wildfires driven by climate change has grown but the U.S. effort to control them has not, according to emergency response officials at a Senate hearing Thursday. At least not fast enough to prevent disasters like the fire that ravaged Maui in... Read More

    Storm Carrying Massive 'Gorilla Hail' Hits Parts of Kansas and Missouri

    ST. LOUIS (AP) — Massive chunks of hail pelted parts of Kansas and Missouri on Wednesday night, bringing traffic to... Read More

    ST. LOUIS (AP) — Massive chunks of hail pelted parts of Kansas and Missouri on Wednesday night, bringing traffic to a standstill along Interstate 70, as storms unleashed possible tornadoes and meteorologists urged residents to stay indoors. There were three unconfirmed reports of tornadoes in Wabaunsee... Read More

    Climate, a Major Separator for Biden and Trump, Is a Dividing Line in Many Other Races

    RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The race for the White House isn’t the only one with big stakes for climate policy.... Read More

    RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The race for the White House isn’t the only one with big stakes for climate policy. In campaigns for Congress and for governor around the country, candidates are talking about how green the grid should be, too. Voters are increasingly feeling the impacts... Read More

    The First-Ever European Climate Risk Assessment Finds a Continent Unprepared for Growing Extremes

    Europe is facing growing climate risks and is unprepared for them, the European Environment Agency said in its first-ever risk... Read More

    Europe is facing growing climate risks and is unprepared for them, the European Environment Agency said in its first-ever risk assessment for the bloc Monday. The agency said Europe is prone to more frequent and more punishing weather extremes — including increasing wildfires, drought, more unusual... Read More

    Fewer Fish and More Algae? Scientists Seek to Understand Impacts of Historic Lack of Great Lakes Ice

    RACINE, Wis. (AP) — Michigan Tech University biologists have been observing a remote Lake Superior island's fragile wolf population every... Read More

    RACINE, Wis. (AP) — Michigan Tech University biologists have been observing a remote Lake Superior island's fragile wolf population every winter since 1958, but they had to cut this season's planned seven-week survey short after just two weeks. The ski plane they study the wolves from... Read More

    News From The Well
    scroll top