April, 25 2022, 01:05pm EDT
Sunrise NYC Completes 253 Mile Bicycle Trek for Climate Action
This Earth Day, Sunrise Movement NYC biked over 250 miles from New York City to Albany, NY for Climate Can't Wait, a package of 12 climate priorities that must be passed by the New York
WASHINGTON
This Earth Day, Sunrise Movement NYC biked over 250 miles from New York City to Albany, NY for Climate Can't Wait, a package of 12 climate priorities that must be passed by the New York legislature, including the All Electric Buildings Act and Build Public Renewables Act. The trek culminated in a 1,000 person rally at the state capitol.
"New York is in the unique position to lead the nation in creating a healthy and abundant future in which all of us can thrive, not just the powerful billionaires and corporations," said Veekas Ashoka of Beacon, NY, one of the Sunrise NYC hub members who cycled from Manhattan to Albany for the protest. "The Climate Can't Wait bill package has given the Governor and Legislature the opportunity to create that hopeful future for us all. It's our job to demand that they take it."
"The fight doesn't end here. We will keep up the pressure on our elected officials to deliver on their legal and moral obligations to New Yorkers, and we will continue working to elect more climate champions who will fight for environmental justice and climate resiliency to our communities," Sunrise NYC hub member Alex Graves, added.
"Governor Kathy Hochul talks about being a climate leader, but she isn't acting with the urgency that New Yorkers need to protect our homes and communities. We need to build renewable energy, end fossil fuel subsidies, and create good jobs," said Alexa Jakob, Cooper Union student and Queens resident. "Without bold leadership from Governor Hochul, Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, the state we know and love today will look drastically different within our lifetimes. Passing these bills would start New York on a path to have a better, more equitable future."
"New York's Empire State Trail is a shining example of the kind of forward-thinking that our state should continue to have to become a leader in creating a carbon-free future," said Andrew Wells, environmental science teacher in Manhattan.
Even as climate legislation stalls at the national level, Sunrise hubs, like Sunrise NYC and Sunrise Westchester, are leading the fight against climate starting on the local level.
Capital Tonight: Environmental advocates push for more action by New York state on Earth Day
Fifty-two years since the first Earth Day, advocates made their way to Albany on their bikes Friday to push the Empire State to adopt more aggressive policies to address climate change.
Veekas Ashoka, a leader with New York's Sunrise Movement, told Capital Tonight that it is time for New York to follow up on the promises in the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act and take action to reduce emission and achieve a just transition.
The Sunrise Movement was one of the members of a Climate Can't Wait coalition that converged on Albany to demand action on 12 bills in the legislature. The package of bills includes the Climate and Community Investment Act and the Build Public Renewables Act. Ashoka argues that the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act "was always supposed to be only half of the equation" and that more regulation and funding is needed.
CBS Albany: "Climate Can't Wait" activists protest the state legislature's climate inaction
Dozens of climate activist groups are rallying in Albany Friday, calling on Governor Kathy Hochul and the state legislature to pass a series of bills they say are crucial to the local/global effort to fight climate change, global warming, and their ill effects.
News10: Climate Can't Wait: Activists push for 12 climate bills
Celebrating Earth Day, activists with Climate Cant Wait rallied together at West Capitol Park on Friday. They're asking legislators to pass a series of 12 climate justice also known as the Climate Cant Wait Package.
Gotham Gazette: During Earth Week, Advocates Press New York State and City Leaders to Go Bolder on Climate Policy
With the global climate crisis heading to the point of no return, dozens of climate activist groups are rallying ahead of Earth Day, April 22, calling on Governor Kathy Hochul and the state Legislature to pass a a raft of bills they say are crucial to the local and global effort to fight climate change, global warming, and their ill effects.
"New York has the unique opportunity to lead the nation in creating a healthy and abundant future in which all of us - not just the powerful billionaires and corporations - can thrive," said Veekas Ashoka, an organizer with Sunrise NYC, in a statement. "The Climate Can't Wait bill package has given the Governor and Legislature that opportunity to create that hopeful future for us all. It's our job to demand that they take it."
Harlem World Magazine: 1,000 New Yorkers From Harlem To The Hudson Rally In Albany, Demanding Climate Can't Wait
"I biked to Albany because I believe in the power of regular people to change the world through courageous choices, and the change we need is a healthy and abundant future for all of us New Yorkers. I'm joining the trek to do my part to blaze the trail toward that future, and I'm excited to meet hundreds of other trailblazers along the way," said Veekas Ashoka, Sunrise NYC, who cycled from Manhattan to Albany for the protest. "New York has the unique opportunity to lead the nation in creating a healthy and abundant future in which all of us--not just the powerful billionaires and corporations--can thrive. The Climate Can't Wait bill package has given the Governor and Legislature the opportunity to create that hopeful future for us all. It's our job to demand that they take it."
The Gothamist: Climate change activists are biking from NYC to Albany to demand action
About a dozen people embarked on a roughly 200-mile bike ride from New York City to Albany on Saturday morning to demand lawmakers take action against climate change.
The groups are pushing the state Legislature to pass a dozen bills that would move the state away from relying on fossil fuels.
The Troy Record: New Yorkers Rally in Albany on Earth Day; demanding action on climate change
On Earth Day, 1,000 activists from the Climate Can't Wait coalition came from all corners of the state to Albany for an Earth Day protest of what they called the legislature's climate inaction.
Sunrise Movement is a movement to stop climate change and create millions of good jobs in the process.
LATEST NEWS
'Highly Inspiring' Court Ruling Affirms Nations' Legal Duty to Combat Climate Emergency
"While the United States and some other major polluters have chosen to ignore climate science, the rest of the international community is advancing protections," said one observer.
Jul 04, 2025
In a landmark advisory opinion published Thursday, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights—of which the United States, the world's second-biggest carbon polluter, is not a member—affirmed the right to a stable climate and underscored nations' duty to act to protect it and address the worsening planetary emergency.
"States must refrain from any conduct that reverses, slows down, or truncates the outcome of measures necessary to protect human rights in the face of the impacts of climate change," a summary of the 234-page ruling states. "Any rollback of climate or environmental policies that affect human rights must be exceptional, duly justified based on objective criteria, and comply with standards of necessity and proportionality."
"The court also held that... states must take all necessary measures to reduce the risks arising, on the one hand, from the degradation of the global climate system and, on the other, from exposure and vulnerability to the effects of such degradation," the summary adds.
"States must refrain from any conduct that reverses, slows down, or truncates the outcome of measures necessary to protect human rights in the face of the impacts of climate change."
The case was brought before the Costa-Rica based IACtHR by Chile and Colombia, both of which "face the daily challenge of dealing with the consequences of the climate emergency, including the proliferation of droughts, floods, landslides, and fires, among others."
"These phenomena highlight the need to respond urgently and based on the principles of equity, justice, cooperation, and sustainability, with a human rights-based approach," the court asserted.
IACtHR President Judge Nancy Hernández López said following the ruling that "states must not only refrain from causing significant environmental damage but have the positive obligation to take measures to guarantee the protection, restoration, and regeneration of ecosystems."
"Causing massive and irreversible environmental harm...alters the conditions for a healthy life on Earth to such an extent that it creates consequences of existential proportions," she added. "Therefore, it demands universal and effective legal responses."
The advisory opinion builds on two landmark decisions last year. In April 2024, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that the Swiss government violated senior citizens' human rights by refusing to abide by scientists' warnings to rapidly phase out fossil fuel production.
The following month, the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea found in an advisory opinion that greenhouse gas emissions are marine pollution under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and that signatories to the accord "have the specific obligation to adopt laws and regulations to prevent, reduce, and control" them.
The IACtHR advisory opinion is expected to boost climate and human rights lawsuits throughout the Americas, and to impact talks ahead of November's United Nations Climate Change Conference, or COP30, in Belém, Brazil.
Climate defenders around the world hailed Thursday's advisory opinion, with United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk calling it "a landmark step forward for the region—and beyond."
"As the impact of climate change becomes ever more visible across the world, the court is clear: People have a right to a stable climate and a healthy environment," Türk added. "States have a bedrock obligation under international law not to take steps that cause irreversible climate and environmental damage, and they have a duty to act urgently to take the necessary measures to protect the lives and rights of everyone—both those alive now and the interests of future generations."
Amnesty International head of strategic litigation Mandi Mudarikwa said, "Today, the Inter-American Court affirmed and clarified the obligations of states to respect, ensure, prevent, and cooperate in order to realize human rights in the context of the climate crisis."
"Crucially, the court recognized the autonomous right to a healthy climate for both individuals and communities, linked to the right to a healthy environment," Mudarikwa added. "The court also underscored the obligation of states to protect cross-border climate-displaced persons, including through the issuance of humanitarian visas and protection from deportation."
Delta Merner, lead scientist at the Science Hub for Climate Litigation at the Union of Concerned Scientists, said in a statement that "this opinion sets an important precedent affirming that governments have a legal duty to regulate corporate conduct that drives climate harm."
"Though the United States is not a party to the treaty governing the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, this opinion should be a clarion call for transnational fossil fuel companies that have deceived the public for decades about the risks of their products," Merner added. "The era of accountability is here."
Markus Gehring, a fellow and director of studies in law at Hughes Hall at the University of Cambridge in England, called the advisory opinion "highly inspiring" and "seminal."
Drew Caputo, vice president of litigation for lands, wildlife, and oceans at Earthjustice, said that "the Inter-American Court's ruling makes clear that climate change is an overriding threat to human rights in the world."
"Governments must act to cut carbon emissions drastically," Caputo stressed. "While the United States and some other major polluters have chosen to ignore climate science, the rest of the international community is advancing protections for all from the realities of climate harm."
Climate litigation is increasing globally in the wake of the 2015 Paris climate agreement. In the Americas, Indigenous peoples, children, and green groups are among those who have been seeking climate justice via litigation.
However, in the United States, instead of acknowledging the climate emergency, President Donald Trump has declared an "energy emergency" while pursuing a "drill, baby, drill" policy of fossil fuel extraction and expansion.
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"This thinly analyzed decision threatens the lifeblood of the American Southwest," said one environmental attorney.
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As reported recently by the Oil and Gas Journal, the plan "involves expanding the Wildcat Loadout Facility, a key transfer point for moving Uinta basin crude oil to rail lines that transport it to refineries along the Gulf Coast."
The goal of the plan is to transfer an additional 70,000 barrels of oil per day from the Wildcat Loadout Facility, which is located in Utah, down to the Gulf Coast refineries via a route that runs along the Colorado River. Controversially, the Trump administration is also plowing ahead with the project by invoking emergency powers to address energy shortages despite the fact that the United States for the last couple of years has been producing record levels of domestic oil.
Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) and Rep. Joe Neguse (D-Colo.) issued a joint statement condemning the Trump administration's push to approve the project while rushing through environmental impact reviews.
"The Bureau of Land Management's decision to fast-track the Wildcat Loadout expansion—a project that would transport an additional 70,000 barrels of crude oil on train tracks along the Colorado River—using emergency procedures is profoundly flawed," the Colorado Democrats said. "These procedures give the agency just 14 days to complete an environmental review—with no opportunity for public input or administrative appeal—despite the project's clear risks to Colorado. There is no credible energy emergency to justify bypassing public involvement and environmental safeguards. The United States is currently producing more oil and gas than any country in the world."
On Thursday, the Bureau of Land Management announced the completion of its accelerated environmental review of the project, drawing condemnation from climate advocates.
Wendy Park, a senior attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity, described the administration's rush to approve the project as "pure hubris," especially given its "refusal to hear community concerns about oil spill risks." She added that "this fast-tracked review breezed past vital protections for clean air, public safety and endangered species."
Landon Newell, staff attorney for the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, accused the Trump administration of manufacturing an energy emergency to justify plans that could have a dire impact on local habitats.
"This thinly analyzed decision threatens the lifeblood of the American Southwest by authorizing the transport of more than 1 billion gallons annually of additional oil on railcars traveling alongside the Colorado River," he said. "Any derailment and oil spill would have a devastating impact on the Colorado River and the communities and ecosystems that rely upon it."
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The employees were put on leave after they signed a letter saying the Trump EPA's actions "endanger public health and erode scientific progress."
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The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has put 144 employees on leave after they signed a letter criticizing the Trump administration's "harmful" policies.
EPA press secretary Brigit Hirsch accused the employees of "undermining, sabotaging, and undercutting the administration's agenda." But the union that represents these employees is calling it an act of illegal "retaliation."
The "declaration of dissent", published by Stand Up for Science Monday, had been signed by 620 people as of Thursday. Addressed to EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, the letter accused the administration of "recklessly undermining" the agency's mission under his watch. It accused the administration of "ignoring scientific consensus to benefit polluters."
"This administration's actions directly contradict EPA's own scientific assessments on human health risks, most notably regarding asbestos, mercury, and greenhouse gases," the letter said.
Since Trump retook office, the administration has eviscerated policies meant to contain pollution, slashing funding for green energy production and electric vehicles while championing increased fossil fuel drilling and consumption. It has also rolled back the enforcement of limits on cancer-causing "forever chemicals" in water.
The signatories also pointed to the Trump EPA's "undermining of public trust" by using official channels to trumpet "misinformation and overtly partisan rhetoric."
They called out EPA press releases, which have referred to climate science as a "religion," EPA grants as "green slush funds," and "clean coal" as "beautiful." The letter also suggested the EPA had violated the Hatch Act by promoting political initiatives like Trump's tariffs and the Republican budget reconciliation bill.
"Make no mistake: your actions endanger public health and erode scientific progress—not only in America—but around the world," the letter said.
The employees also accused the administration of "promoting a culture of fear." They cited comments by top Trump officials, such as Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought, who has said he wanted to put EPA employees "in trauma" and make them unable "to go to work because they are increasingly viewed as the villains."
While some signatories signed their names, many others chose to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation. That retaliation came Thursday, when—according to The New York Times—144 employees received an email putting them on leave for the next two weeks "pending an administrative investigation."
The decision was widely criticized as a violation of the employees' First Amendment rights.
Tim Whitehouse, the executive director of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, which has previously represented EPA and other employees, said federal employees are allowed to publicly criticize the administration they work for.
"The letter of dissent did really nothing to undermine or sabotage the agenda of the administration," Whitehouse told The Washington Post. "We believe strongly that the EPA should protect the First Amendment rights of their employees."
Bill Wolfe, a former environmental policy professional with Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, said that the letter "was a classic form of whistleblowing that is protected by federal whistleblower laws and the 1st Amendment, as upheld by federal courts."
Justin Chen, the union representative for EPA employees under the American Federation of Government Employees, told the Times that the agency's actions were "clearly an act of retaliation" and said the union would "protect our members to the full extent of the law."
Despite the punishment, one of the signatories anonymously told The Post that they had no regrets.
"I took the risk knowing what was up," the employee wrote. "I'll say it before, and now it rings even more true … if this is the EPA they want me to work for, then I don't want to work for the EPA."
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