42 Student Protestors Were Arrested In Washington D.C. — And They're Not Done Fighting

By Christianna Silva


More than 100 young climate activists rallied in front of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s office on Monday over his opposition to the Green New Deal, resulting in almost 50 young people being arrested on Capitol Hill, according to CNN.


The Green New Deal is a 10-year climate change initiative, sponsored by Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Sen. Ed Markey of Massachusetts, that has been gaining steam among progressives since last November. The objectives of the reform include transitioning the nation to 100 percent renewable energy in the second decade, upgrading infrastructure to prepare it energy-efficient and creating new green jobs to replace coal industry jobs. According to Home Leader Nancy Pelosi, climate change is, “the existential threat of our time.”


Earlier this month, Senator McConnell reported that he would bring the deal to the floor for a vote earlier than anticipated, which could force weak Democrats to publicly resist the progressive legislation since several Democrats have expressed doubt on the plan's efficacy. For his own part, McConnell has been a staunch denier of climate change – in 2014, he said, “for everybody who thinks [the planet is] warming, I can find somebody who thinks it isn't.”


Lily Gardner, a 15-year-old student, told MTV News that she joined the protest Monday because she grew up in Eastern Kentucky, which she describes as “coal country.” According to the Union of Concerned Scientists, that industry is a direct supporter to climate change, which is largely caused by an abundance of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, due to burning fossil fuels like coal, oil, and gas. “I think that While I was younger it was really easy to point to coal as ... A purveyor of hope, and as a substitute it was much more like a purveyor of pain,” she added.” None of the advantages seem to outweigh all the bills and the carnage on our land.”


Lily, a member of the nonpartisan youth environmental advocacy categorize Sunrise Movement, traveled to Washington, D.C. Categorize in attempt to create climate change a priority in the U.S. And stop fossil fuel corporations from making political donations. She views the Green New Deal as “the possibility for a future [in which] kids are not going to feel like they require to move out of the place that they call their residence, to have a future and to even just survive. ”


This demonstration comes shortly right after students from the Sunrise Movement met with


California Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who has shown relatively little support of the Green New Deal, and pleaded her to reconsider. The categorize posted a video of their encounter, in which Feinstein told a 16-year-old, “Well, you didn’t vote for me,” and added, “I know what I’m doing. And you also know, maybe people should listen a little bit bit.”


Backlash to the video was swift, and Feinstein later issued a statement in response: “Unfortunately, it was a brief meeting although I want the children to know they were heard loud and clear. I've Been and remain devoted to doing everything I can to enact real, meaningful climate change legislation.”


Destine Grigsby, a 17-year-old from Louisville Kentucky plus a member of the Sunrise Movement, says she thinks Feinstein's insistence on option legislation is simply not good enough.


“We need extreme changes,” Destine told MTV News. “Not only to be able to a livable future although to be able to see a good future and one that we want, not just one that we take.”


Last week, she joined other young Kentuckians in paying a visit to McConnell’s Louisville office last week nevertheless were turned away. Destine told MTV News that the Green New Deal is “the only solution to climate change.”


For Monday’s protest, members of the Sunrise Movement wore black and yellow shirts announcing their support for the Green New Deal and aimed to deliver a petition with 100,000 signatures from like-minded people across the nation. “It’s the only way that we’re going to remake our economy in a way that we’re actually going to be able to see a livable future,” Destine told MTV News shortly before she and a number of of her peers gathered indoors McConnell’s office and in the hallway.


"We also wanted to ask if we may deliver some stories to him if we might ... Tell him why we're here and how we support the Green New Deal," she added.


The senator rejected to meet with the protestors on Monday, although McConnell's communications director Robert Steurer told CNN, "As with all Kentuckians visiting D.C., We welcomed them to the office today."


Shortly right following the students gave speeches, Capitol Police issued warnings and started arresting protestors for unlawfully demonstrating and obstructing the building, Capitol Police Spokesperson Eva Malecki confirmed to CNN. After the arrests of 42 people, The crowd then gathered on the Capitol lawn and continued protesting and chanting.


Despite the arrests, it doesn’t appear that the Sunrise Movement activists will stop demanding action from their elected officials as soon as soon. Climate change is the greatest threat to humanity today, according to a report released by the United Nations’ scientific panel on climate change. The report noted that by the year 2040, the world will face dire conditions due to global warming.