Sunrise Movement Members Travel Thousands of Miles to Talk to Sinema at the Boston Marathon, Demanding the full $3.5T Climate and Jobs Package

Following the news that Senator Kyrsten Sinema wants to cut $100 billion dollars in climate funding for the climate and jobs package, members of Sunrise Tempe flew to Boston to protest Sinema at the Boston Marathon where she was scheduled to participate. Her constituents demanded that she pass the full $3.5 trillion reconciliation package to meet the scale of the climate crisis.

"Instead of listening to her constituents in the state of Arizona, Sunrise Movement Tempe members were forced to travel thousands of miles to demand that their representative pass a fully funded climate and jobs package. It's completely unacceptable that a sitting member of Congress refuses to engage with her constituents. What is the point of being in office if you're not fighting for members of your community?" said Varshini Prakash, Executive Director of Sunrise Movement. "Senator Sinema is out of touch with her constituents and with what's happening across the globe on climate. Cuts to this climate and jobs package mean that Arizonans will continue to die as a result of inadequate climate funding. We need climate action now."

"Arizonans are facing record drought, extreme heat, and intense wildfires that are burning our homes and killing people. We can't ignore them and neither should Senator Sinema. That's why when we heard Senator Sinema was registered for the Boston Marathon, we traveled across the country to speak to her, demanding that she pass the climate and jobs package. $3.5 trillion was the compromise. She's literally been running from us and she must know that we need bold climate action now, not cuts to life saving climate investments," said Casey Clowes, Sunrise Tempe co-coordinator.

This action in Boston, Massachusetts, comes at a time when Sinema has continued to ignore her constituents, progressive organizations, and the press both in Arizona and nationally. Previously, Sunrise Tempe has held protests at Sinema's office and at her private corporate fundraiser, demanding that she take the climate crisis seriously and pass the climate and jobs package. These visits were ignored.

Through heightened protests and direct actions, Sunrise is demanding that Biden pass a full climate and jobs package before COP26, or risk greater climate catastrophes, failure and lack of legitimacy on the world stage. Mass protests around climate and the full passage of Biden's climate and jobs agenda began this month with protests in D.C. by People's Watch, and are continuing this week with People v. Fossil Fuels. These demonstrations evidence the broad support for climate action at the scale of the climate crisis.