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Tens of thousands of people lined the streets of New York City to demand that President Joe Biden put an end to the use of fossil fuels in the United States, warning that there's no future on a "dead planet."
The March to End Fossil Fuels on Sunday was headlined by Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who joined protesters' calls to cease federal approval of new oil and gas projects, phase out fossil fuel drilling on public lands, and declare a federal climate emergency.
Ocasio-Cortez, a New York Democrat, garnered loud applause from the massive crowd when she referred to climate action as "an electoral and a popular force that cannot be ignored. This is the biggest issue of our time."
The marchers' demands have been endorsed by more than 500 organizations, 400 scientists, and numerous celebrities including Mark Ruffalo, Kevin Bacon and Jameela Jamil. It was unclear as of Sunday exactly how many people participated in the event but multiple media reports say "tens of thousands" of people joined the march and rally.
The New York protest is one of more than 600 events that are part of the Global Fight to End Fossil Fuels, according to the End Fossil Fuel's website. More than 500,000 people participated in demonstrations demanding world leaders cease the use of fossil fuels, including actions in Europe, Asia, Africa, South America and Antarctica, the website states.
NYC Climate March 2023
Sunday's march is just says before United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres will host the Climate Ambition Summit in New York City. Guterres during Wednesday's meeting will issue a new standard for nations to phase out fossil fuels and commit to no new oil, gas and coal. The White House said previously that Biden does not plan to attend.
White House spokesperson Angelo Fernandez Hernandez told Newsweek in a statement Sunday night that the president has treated climate change as an emergency blamed Republicans for trying to undermine efforts to curb pollution.
"President Biden has treated climate change as an emergency – the existential threat of our time – since day one," the statement reads. "That's why he signed into law the most ambitious climate bill in history, conserved more land and water in his first year than any President since JFK, rejoined the Paris Agreement, attracted $240 billion in private sector investment in clean energy manufacturing, and used his emergency authorities to invoke the Defense Production Act to supercharge domestic clean energy manufacturing."
Hernandez noted that last week Biden secured commitments from G20 leaders to "take additional steps" to meet the goals set in the Paris Agreement. Next week, the White House spokesperson said the Biden Administration plans to announce additional actions to combat the climate crisis and "advance environmental justice."
"Meanwhile, Republicans in Congress are actively trying to repeal his historic bill and unwind regulations that reduce emissions and curb pollution, which would exacerbate the climate crisis and threaten the health and wellbeing of every American," Hernandez said in the statement to Newsweek.
The march comes amid a summer marred by numerous extreme weather events that experts say were intensified by climate change, including record-breaking heat waves across the globe, the deadly wildfire in Maui and catastrophic flooding in Libya.
While speaking to marchers at the rally, Peter Kalmus, a climate scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab, painted a dire picture of humanity's future and warned of mass extinction.
"I've got two kids in high school," he said. "I am terrified for their future. I'm terrified for my own future. Things are burning and flooding. The smoke is getting worse. The heat waves are getting worse."
Kalmus earned loud cheers from the crowd when he took aim at Biden, calling out the president for not officially declaring climate change an emergency.
"Every little bit of fossil fuel we burn makes the planet a little hotter and makes it all worse," he told marchers. "We are so clearly in a f****** climate emergency. Why won't President Biden declare it? I feel so gaslit that it's insane."
The NASA scientist said there is "no way out of this" and urged U.S. lawmakers to "turn the tide" away from fossil fuels.
"This is the only planet in the universe that we know that has life and we are on the brink of the sixth mass extinction," Kalmus warned. "We are on the brink of losing absolutely everything. There's no politics on a dead planet. There's no economy on a dead planet. There is no democracy on a dead planet."
Several protesters who spoke with Newsweek on Sunday said they also feared for the future of the planet and humanity.
Lisa Marshall, the advocacy and organizing director for New Yorkers for Clean Power (NYCP), said she wants to do her part to ensure the earth is still "habitable" for her children.
"I'm a mom of three," she said. "I'm here on a beautiful day, not because I want to be but because my kids are counting on me to do everything I can to preserve the climate for them."
Marshall joined the thousands of calls for Biden to phase out fossil fuels, saying Americans need "leadership to do their part."
"I think the main goal for today is to express the urgency to President Biden to stop approving new fossil fuel extraction, it has to stop at the top," she told Newsweek. "Individual actions are fine, but we can't shop our way out of the climate crisis. We need to fulfill our commitments to the Paris Agreement. And we need to not approve any more fossil fuel extraction projects."
Thomas Hirasun, a climate activist from Ithaca, told Newsweek that lawmakers need to act before it's too late.
"The point of the march is the urgency of this," he said. "We have to do something right now."
Update 9/17/2023, 8:30 p.m. ET: This article was updated with comment from White House spokesperson Angelo Fernandez Hernandez.
About the writer
Maura Zurick is the Newsweek Weekend Night Editor based in Cleveland, Ohio. Her focus is reporting on U.S. national news ... Read more