 John, Hey, I’m Varshini, a co-founder and executive director of Sunrise. By now you’ve probably seen the headlines about the IPCC report that came out earlier this week. Now that we’ve had time to process it, I wanted to reach out to share some thoughts. Our politicians shouldn’t need the IPCC to tell them how bad things are. But this report must be a wake up call for Biden and Congress that the watered-down climate policies they’ve proposed are not nearly enough to end this crisis. They call our generation unreasonable when we ask for what we need, but in reality, they’re the unreasonable ones — for ignoring what’s happening right now to the people, land, water, and air in their very own districts. They’re the ones who have put politics over the future of our civilization. Inaction is not an option. Waiting for a convenient political moment is not an option. That’s what got us here, and it’s what will enable things to get even worse. It’s time for those in power, starting with President Biden and every Democratic member of Congress, to get serious about fighting climate change. Now. In the coming months, Biden and Congress have the chance to pass historic legislation that could begin the decade of the Green New Deal. If he really wants to be a world leader on climate, Biden will heed our call to pass the boldest reconciliation bill possible. But until he does, he can expect us to show up every day to hold him accountable and make our demands heard. The IPCC report is clear: The stakes are high and we’re running out of time. It’s a code red for humanity. Anything less than delivering the full scope of climate action is ignoring the science, ignoring the IPCC report, and ignoring those of us who are experiencing the impacts of this crisis every single day. This isn’t over, John. We’ll fight like hell to make sure every politician who refuses to use their power to stop this crisis has to answer to us. In solidarity, |