SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Climate activists rally at Gov. Andrew Cuomo's office to demand he reject fossil fuel cash. (Photo: Sunrise Movement)
Climate Activists Turn Up the Heat on NY Gov. Cuomo With Sit-In
"You cannot claim to care about our future if you take money from the billionaires who are destroying our chance at one"
Aug 08, 2018
Dozens of young New Yorkers on Wednesday are occupying the Manhattan office of Gov. Andrew Cuomo to demand he reject fossil fuel money.
"We're here fighting for the people that we love and the places we call home," said one of the activists with the Sunrise Movement, the youth-led group behind the action.
Specifically, the group is asking Cuomo to sign the "No Fossil Fuel Money" pledge, a vow to "not take contributions from the oil, gas, and coal industry and instead prioritize the health of our families, climate, and democracy over fossil fuel industry profits."
The New York sit-in is part of the Sunrise Movement's Heat Week campaign--a slate of actions aimed at confronting "Big Oil's corruption of our democracy."
"We'll send a message loud and clear" to politicians, says a call-to-action, "take a stand and drop Big Oil, or we'll replace you with someone who will."
The message was also sent to California Gov. Jerry Brown, whose office was the target of a 7-hour sit-in by nearly three dozen people on Tuesday.
Referring to wildfires raging in the state, Bill McKibben hailed the action as "an effort to make sure this isn't our permanent future."
Sunrise Movement organizer Morissa Zuckerman said in a tweet: "real climate leaders don't accept millions of $$ from fossil fuel CEOs. They don't approve 20,000 new oil and gas wells. They don't allow CA to be the 6th largest oil producing state. This is #BrownsLastChance to act."
Urging him to seize that last chance, organizers were also pointing constituents to a letter to Brown, which declares, "The stakes of your choice could not be higher. We don't have to imagine a world ravaged by climate change. It's here."
The letter also urges the governor to "set a precedent for leaders worldwide by announcing a plan to move California off fossil fuels before you host the Global Climate Action Summit in San Francisco this September."
Other lawmakers can expect to feel the heat too--the actions continue through Aug. 11.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Dozens of young New Yorkers on Wednesday are occupying the Manhattan office of Gov. Andrew Cuomo to demand he reject fossil fuel money.
"We're here fighting for the people that we love and the places we call home," said one of the activists with the Sunrise Movement, the youth-led group behind the action.
Specifically, the group is asking Cuomo to sign the "No Fossil Fuel Money" pledge, a vow to "not take contributions from the oil, gas, and coal industry and instead prioritize the health of our families, climate, and democracy over fossil fuel industry profits."
The New York sit-in is part of the Sunrise Movement's Heat Week campaign--a slate of actions aimed at confronting "Big Oil's corruption of our democracy."
"We'll send a message loud and clear" to politicians, says a call-to-action, "take a stand and drop Big Oil, or we'll replace you with someone who will."
The message was also sent to California Gov. Jerry Brown, whose office was the target of a 7-hour sit-in by nearly three dozen people on Tuesday.
Referring to wildfires raging in the state, Bill McKibben hailed the action as "an effort to make sure this isn't our permanent future."
Sunrise Movement organizer Morissa Zuckerman said in a tweet: "real climate leaders don't accept millions of $$ from fossil fuel CEOs. They don't approve 20,000 new oil and gas wells. They don't allow CA to be the 6th largest oil producing state. This is #BrownsLastChance to act."
Urging him to seize that last chance, organizers were also pointing constituents to a letter to Brown, which declares, "The stakes of your choice could not be higher. We don't have to imagine a world ravaged by climate change. It's here."
The letter also urges the governor to "set a precedent for leaders worldwide by announcing a plan to move California off fossil fuels before you host the Global Climate Action Summit in San Francisco this September."
Other lawmakers can expect to feel the heat too--the actions continue through Aug. 11.
Dozens of young New Yorkers on Wednesday are occupying the Manhattan office of Gov. Andrew Cuomo to demand he reject fossil fuel money.
"We're here fighting for the people that we love and the places we call home," said one of the activists with the Sunrise Movement, the youth-led group behind the action.
Specifically, the group is asking Cuomo to sign the "No Fossil Fuel Money" pledge, a vow to "not take contributions from the oil, gas, and coal industry and instead prioritize the health of our families, climate, and democracy over fossil fuel industry profits."
The New York sit-in is part of the Sunrise Movement's Heat Week campaign--a slate of actions aimed at confronting "Big Oil's corruption of our democracy."
"We'll send a message loud and clear" to politicians, says a call-to-action, "take a stand and drop Big Oil, or we'll replace you with someone who will."
The message was also sent to California Gov. Jerry Brown, whose office was the target of a 7-hour sit-in by nearly three dozen people on Tuesday.
Referring to wildfires raging in the state, Bill McKibben hailed the action as "an effort to make sure this isn't our permanent future."
Sunrise Movement organizer Morissa Zuckerman said in a tweet: "real climate leaders don't accept millions of $$ from fossil fuel CEOs. They don't approve 20,000 new oil and gas wells. They don't allow CA to be the 6th largest oil producing state. This is #BrownsLastChance to act."
Urging him to seize that last chance, organizers were also pointing constituents to a letter to Brown, which declares, "The stakes of your choice could not be higher. We don't have to imagine a world ravaged by climate change. It's here."
The letter also urges the governor to "set a precedent for leaders worldwide by announcing a plan to move California off fossil fuels before you host the Global Climate Action Summit in San Francisco this September."
Other lawmakers can expect to feel the heat too--the actions continue through Aug. 11.
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.
To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good.
News & Opinion
Trending
Common Dreams, Inc. Founded 1997. Registered 501(c3) Non-Profit
Privacy Policy