John,

We write to you as Florida, Georgia and South Carolina reel from Hurricane Idalia. 

Thousands of homes have been damaged. Families describe their houses as “shredded walls and roofs.” Roads have become murky, waist-high rivers. Dozens of people have had to be rescued from perilous waters. What’s been described as a “brief, weak tornado” flipped a car on a highway outside of Charleston. 

We’ll state the obvious: this is the climate crisis. 

This is what the world looks like when it’s in the hands of fossil fuel billionaires – never ending climate disasters, systems of corruption and mass profit at the sacrifice of our communities. And it’s a perfect example of why we need a Green New Deal.

The only way we can stop the crisis at the pace science and justice demand — decarbonizing the US economy as close to zero as possible by 2030 to have even a 50% chance of reaching zero emissions globally by 2050 — is to begin a national mobilization investing trillions of dollars to create millions of good paying, union jobs and advancing racial and economic justice. 

However, the reality is that with a Republican controlled House of Representatives, we may not win the Green New Deal today. BUT, President Biden CAN declare a national Climate Emergency — call on President Biden to declare a climate emergency NOW. 

SIGN PETITION 

Already, after every storm and crisis like Hurricane Idalia, people in our communities have been the ones to step up and get to work rebuilding our homes and our livelihoods. We need the government’s full force behind us to rebuild and meet the climate targets we need to survive.

In declaring a climate emergency under the National Emergencies Act, President Biden could use the full force of his executive powers to usher in a wartime mobilization to confront the climate crisis. 

We could redirect funding towards building clean energy systems and resilient infrastructure. We could even get our generation to work stopping the climate crisis through a Civilian Climate Corps.

Join thousands of others in calling on President Biden to declare a climate emergency today. If we fail to act, the human and economic costs are only going to get more and more catastrophic.

Stay safe,
Sunrise Mvmt