 Dear John, Fifty years ago, twenty million Americans poured into the streets for the first Earth Day with a radical statement: we only have one planet and we can’t render it uninhabitable. Fifty years ago was the time for incremental action on climate change. We have not taken the necessary actions since. Now, fifty years later, with time running out, the only option we have left is drastic action. That is why Sunrise Movement, along with many other coalition partners, structured our year around mass mobilizations like the original Earth Day. Two months ago, most of our work was oriented toward that goal. But a lot changed in two months. Mass gatherings of any kind — celebratory or radical — have been rendered dangerous and impossible because of the COVID-19 pandemic. As we have watched the responses to this coronavirus — some failed and some successful — we cannot help but see the direct similarities between the chaos caused by this pandemic and the climate crisis. Read more thoughts on those similarities in this Medium post. Today, across the nation, Sunrise hubs took action to bring attention to this problem once again. Although they’d planned to take part in mass, in-person demonstrations, coronavirus halted those plans. Instead of giving up, these resilient hubs pivoted to action appropriate for the moment. Over 50 hubs organized action today, including Sacramento, South Bend, NYC, Boston, New Orleans, and more. It can’t and won’t stop there. The spirit of Earth Day has to live beyond today. That’s why we’ve spent the last month rolling out the massive training program that is Sunrise School. If you’ve been looking for the inspiration to get involved, let this 50th anniversary of the first Earth Day— and the work that still needs to be done— be that inspiration. Let's make sure that in the next 50 years, there will be an Earth Day worth celebrating. Mattias Lehman, Digital Director |