Why I Was Arrested for Protesting Citigroup's Funding of Climate Chaos

Editor's note: The following is a speech read by Sandra Steingraber before being arrested outside Citigroup’s New York City headquarters on June 12, 2024.

My name is Sandra Steingraber. I have a PhD in biology, and I’ve worked as a scientist my whole adult life.

Here are two things biologists are worried about.

The first thing is happening in the ocean. When fossil fuels are burned and CO2 fills the atmosphere, some of it falls into the sea.

When carbon dioxide touches water, it turns into carbonic acid: H2CO3.

Acid makes calcium carbonate (CaCO3) dissolve. Seashells are made of calcium carbonate. So fossil fuels are turning our oceans into pits of acid, and animals made of shells are starting to dissolve.

I did not become a biologist to write eulogies for the species I study.

All together, the babies of animals with shells are called zooplankton.

Zooplankton are the basis of the marine food chain.

If you dissolve their parents, zooplankton disappear—along with the fish who eat them.

One half of the world’s human population depends on fish for protein. The pH of the oceans is now on track to crash the world’s fish stocks. As a biologist I worry about that.

Now let’s go on land and look at bees. Bumblebees also have babies, and they need to stay cool. So adult bees beat their wings like a thousand little ceiling fans to cool the bee nursery. But they can’t keep up due to more intense heatwaves. Baby bees are dying. Populations are crashing.

Bees help plants have sex. Bees turn flowers into fruits, nuts, vegetables. One-third of the food we eat is made for us by bees. And they do it for free. It’s called an ecosystem service.

If we lose the bees, crops fail. This is how the ecological crisis becomes a human rights crisis. Biologists are worried about this

I have studied climate change since 1982. I’ve testified. I’ve sent letters to the White House. I’ve met with the science adviser. I went to the Paris climate talks. But CO2 levels just reached a new high, and Citigroup is financing the arsonists.

Citi has poured $396 billion dollars into the fossil fuel industry just since 2016.

So, I am here today to say to Citi that if you won’t listen to the data of scientists, you will need to listen to the bodies of scientists blocking your doors. Today my body is a data point. And all together, all these data points on this blockade line make a trend. The trend is that when extinction rates accelerate, scientists get louder.

My message to Citi CEO Jane Fraser: I did not become a biologist to write eulogies for the species I study. I am morally obligated to use my knowledge to defend life against extinction and oppose those who finance it.