John,

Yesterday, the Democratic Party’s leaders failed us. After Resolution Committee members passed a compromise measure Thursday that would have allowed for a climate debate, Democratic National Committee Chair Tom Perez used strong-armed tactics to kill it.¹

For months before this vote, thousands of young people from all across the country called on the Democratic National Committee to host a climate debate, to give us a chance to hear the candidates’ plans for our generation’s survival. The call for a climate debate had the support of the majority Democratic voters--the very people the DNC is supposed to represent.²

But in the end, the DNC voted to ignore our voices and refuse to hold a climate debate. They even reversed the compromise measure they had passed on Thursday.

These are the leaders who are supposed to tackle the climate crisis, and instead they are asleep at the wheel. We cannot stand by and let this continue.

That’s why on September 20th, we’re joining the global climate strike--and whether you’re in school, work, or neither, we need you to be a part of it. Sign up for our mass call on Wednesday at 8:30pm EST to learn more.

This wasn’t the win we were hoping for, but because of the hard work of thousands of you around the country, we cemented the climate crisis as a top issue in the 2020 election. That’s historic. Climate change dominated discussion at the DNC’s national meeting,³ 20 Presidential candidates came out in support of the climate debate, and CNN and MSNBC will both be holding historic Presidential forums on climate.

Tom Perez and the political establishment may not be moving yet, but we’re shifting the ground under their feet. We need to keep it up until the adults in the room like Tom Perez start treating this crisis like the emergency it is.

That’s why I’m writing to urge you to join me and millions of others around the globe on September 20th for the largest ever global climate strike. Whether you’re in school, work, or neither, we need everyone to join us.

By striking, we’ll send a message that we are no longer willing to go on with business as usual. Any political leader hoping for our support -- any Presidential candidate, member of Congress, or state or local representative -- needs to take action on this crisis right now by joining us in our fight for a Green New Deal.

This is your chance to be a part of something massive, and to broadcast our demand for a Green New Deal at a scale that our political leaders cannot ignore. Join our mass call this Wednesday at 8:30pm EST to learn more.

Varshini Prakash

P.S. We believe the September 20th strikes have the potential to catapult the youth climate movement to another level, but only if we get to work now. Can you chip in today so our organizing team can build out an ambitious plan to support the strikes with coaching, guides, and supplies?

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1. https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/zahrahirji/dnc-vote-presidential-climate-debate-resolution

2. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/climate-debate-poll_n_5d07ce8ae4b0ea7c4a4d84c6

3. https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/democratic-leadership-considers-climate-change-debate/story?id=65156677