Actors and activists Sam Waterston and Jane Fonda were among those arrested outside the U.S. Capitol Friday as part of the #FireDrillFriday campaign demanding a Green New Deal and end to fossil fuel extraction.
For Fonda, it marked the second week in a row she has been arrested as part of the campaign she launched last week, while Waterston—Fonda's co-star in Grace and Frankie and The Newsroom—had his first-ever arrest. The climate crisis, he said, is "worth it."
Sam Waterston and @LadyLaNasa on their first time getting arrested - “Climate change is worth it!” #FireDrillFriday pic.twitter.com/zyQXyl9Udv
— Greenpeace USA (@greenpeaceusa) October 18, 2019
“People say the Green New Deal is radical - what is radical is climate disruption!” - Actor and activist, Sam Waterston pic.twitter.com/k46ERNPXph
— Greenpeace USA (@greenpeaceusa) October 18, 2019
thank you for this leadership! https://t.co/65SiKvFAmU
— Bill McKibben (@billmckibben) October 18, 2019
As Fonda laid out in a letter posted on the Fire Drill Fridays website, the campaign draws its inspiration from the youth climate strikers including Greta Thunberg "as well as Reverend Barber's Moral Mondays and Randall Robinson's often daily anti-apartheid protests."
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“We cannot wait for a #greennewdeal - we have to demand it.” @charlieyj12 #firedrillfriday pic.twitter.com/PzBCJl9EVq
— Fire Drill Fridays (@FireDrillFriday) October 18, 2019
Fonda—who's taken part in decades of activism—said she plans on living in the nation's capitol for the next four months "to be closer to the epicenter of the fight for our climate." She plans on leading demonstrations every Friday and, she told CNN's Christiane Amanpour, getting arrested every week.
"I'm going to get arrested every Friday." @Janefonda tells @camanpour about her weekly climate protests, called “Fire Drill Fridays," and what triggered her to take action on the climate crisis. https://t.co/MMixiNORuA pic.twitter.com/752MusmbXt
— CNN (@CNN) October 14, 2019
Author and 350.org co-founder Bill McKibben called the campaign "a real movement boost."
In addition to its demands for a GND and 100 percent renewable energy, the campaign calls for respect of Indigenous land and sovereignty, environmental justice, protection and restoration of biodiversity, and the implementation of sustainable agriculture.
Also part of the campaign are weekly teach-ins led by experts on Thursdays. This week's teach-in featured Green New Deal co-author Rhiana Gunn-Wright talking with Waterston and Fonda about why the legislation is critical to address the climate crisis, while next week's will feature oceans advocate and actor Ted Danson and Greenpeace USA's Oceans Director John Hocevar.