Nine climate protesters arrested in congressional office building - The Washington Post

Nine climate protesters arrested in congressional office building - The Washington Post

Nine protesters with the advocacy group Climate Defiance were arrested Wednesday after disrupting a meeting in a House office building, the group and police said.

“After multiple warnings, the individuals did not comply with USCP’s requests to stop demonstrating and leave the building,” a Capitol Police spokesperson wrote in an email.

They could not arrest our ideas. So they arrested our bodies.— Climate Defiance (@ClimateDefiance)

We did not wish to be arrested but we had no choice. The earth is hotter than it has been in all recorded history. Ice shelves are collapsing. People are dying. Time is up.

Thank you Rep @RoKhanna for the solidarity. pic.twitter.com/xwdWwzRnbM July 19, 2023

The demonstrators targeted a meeting in the Rayburn House Office Building of the House Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition where Mary Frances Repko, the deputy national climate adviser, was also present, said Michael Greenberg, the founder of Climate Defiance. The advocacy group, which opposes fossil fuels, has disrupted meetings, speeches and events with Democratic leaders to bring attention to the climate crisis.

“President Biden cannot be a climate champion while continuing to approve brand-new fossil fuel projects,” Greenberg said, mentioning the Willow project in Alaska and the Mountain Valley Pipeline in West Virginia and Virginia. “We are in a climate emergency.”

A representative for the House Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition did not immediately respond to requests for comment. In a statement, White House spokesman Abdullah Hasan defended Biden’s actions on climate, which include the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, a climate, energy and health-care package.

“President Biden secured the biggest climate protection bill ever, continues to block House Republicans from repealing it, and remains committed to preserving and strengthening his historic climate legacy, which is driving a clean energy manufacturing boom and putting the United States back on track to achieve its emissions reductions goals,” Hasan wrote.