5 Young Activists On Hunger Strike Demand Democrats Not Cut Back On Climate In Bill
Five young activists have been fasting outside the White House for more than a week, using their hunger strike to demand that President Joe Biden keep his promises on climate change action.
âWeâve committed to not eating until you deliver on your climate commitments in the Build Back Better Act,â the Sunrise Movement activists â Kidus Girma, 26, Paul Campion, 24, Ema Govea, 18, Julia Paramo, 24, and Abby Leedy, 20 â wrote Tuesday in a letter to the White House, which was provided to HuffPost.
Leedy, who has been fasting alongside the others since Oct. 20, said that they feel ânot great,â with a lot of fatigue, stomach pain, and muscle and joint aches.
The five take their blood pressure three times a day, and Girma was hospitalized overnight Saturday for nausea, dizziness and blurred vision but then returned to the strike. Outside the White House, they sit in wheelchairs because they cannot walk alone for long without the risk of falling or fainting from weakness.
An unknown number of other people are also fasting in solidarity with the hunger strikers.
The climate change activists are demanding that Democrats help pass âthe full scopeâ of the bill, including measures to reduce emissions at least 50% by 2030, as Biden had pledged.
âMillions of people are going to die if they donât do this â people our age, in our lifetimes, in climate disasters, in floods, fires and hurricanes, of starvation,â Leedy told HuffPost by phone Wednesday.
âWe want Joe Biden and the Democrats to look us in the face, as real people going through the horrific experience of starving and withering away before their eyes, because thatâs whatâs on the line here, peopleâs bodies and peopleâs lives,â she added. âI donât think we knew how else to get their attention.â
In their letter, the five ask that the president âstand up to Joe Manchin,â the Democratic senator from West Virginia, who has been an obstacle to several of Bidenâs and progressive lawmakersâ more ambitious proposals.
Manchin, whose home state and personal wealth rely on the coal industry, effectively blocked the presidentâs clean electricity program from the package. The program would pay power companies to replace coal and gas plants with renewables and retrofit them with carbon-capture technology or pay fines.
The White House and Manchin did not immediately respond to HuffPostâs request for comment.
âI ran into @Sen_JoeManchin on his way out of a meeting with corporate donors yesterday. He just drove away while I screamed, I just want to live.â âAbby
Thank you @UniteThePoor for having us today in solidarity on day 8ď¸âŁ of #HungerStrikeForClimate.@POTUS, keep your promises. pic.twitter.com/1qfniu0Vzgâ Hunger Strike 4 Climate Justice (@HungerStr1ke) October 27, 2021
At a White House news conference Wednesday, press secretary Jen Psaki was asked for the presidentâs response to the hunger strikers, who believe the spending bill is being too watered down on climate.
âBiden admires the activism,â Psaki said of the strikers, and defended the bill as it stands amid negotiations as âthe biggest investment to addressing the climate crisis in U.S. history.â
Campion, one of the hunger strikers, responded on Twitter: âWe donât want your admiration. Show us the results.â
Leedy echoed the sentiment, saying that, though the bill as it stands may be historic, âit is not enough.â
They plan to continue fasting âuntil it is clear Biden has used all of his powers as president to get us to his climate promises, which is 50% cuts to emissions by 2030. That is when weâll stop.â
âAs a young person, I am desperate and I am furious,â Leedy said. âAnd I think a lot of young people feel that way.â
This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated.