Activists condemn Republican Senate leader for ‘lining your pockets while we die in floods’ and demand climate action

Hundreds of youth climate activists marched on Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell’s Washington office and 42 of them were arrested by police, according to organizers.

The protesters – who planned for the arrests – were led with their hands behind their backs to a police bus as supporters chanted: “Which side are you on now? Which side are you on?” They filled the Republican leader’s office and the hallway outside, with constituents from his home state of Kentucky telling stories about poverty and their fears of the human cost of climate change.

The group, the Sunrise Movement, which included high schoolers, demanded to talk to McConnell about the Green New Deal (GND), a proposal introduced by Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Senator Ed Markey. The GND would radically reduce greenhouse gases and try to lessen social inequity. Republicans have condemned it, and some Democrats have said it is not feasible in the 10-year timeframe proposed.