‘Our leaders have failed us’: Climate activists plan blockade at White House Correspondents’ Dinner

Alejandro Alvarez | aalvarez@wtоp.com

April 28, 2023, 4:41 AM



Activists with Climate Defiance shut down an event hosting John Podesta, senior adviser to President Joe Biden, in Washington, D.C. on April 25, 2023. (Courtesy Andrew Derek)

A newly formed group of climate activists plans to disrupt a high-profile D.C. tradition this weekend: The White House Correspondents’ Dinner.

Visitors to the Climate Defiance website are greeted with a full-page video featuring images of President Joe Biden interlaced with burning forests, storm-ravaged neighborhoods, cracked ice sheets, and churning oil rigs.

“Our calls have gone unanswered, our letters unopened, our cries unheard. Only widespread, nonviolent uprisings will save us,” the narrator declares. “We will not stop. We do not seek to move one player; we seek to change the game.”

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Climate Defiance is one of several groups adopting disruptive, confrontational and sometimes theatrical tactics to demand immediate action amid urgent calls from the world’s scientists to curb fossil fuel use.

Just in the last week in the D.C. region, protesters have marched en masse, stalled major roadways, and even tossed paint on artwork in an increasingly desperate plea for world leaders to prevent the worst damage from climate change.

Link to tweet

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Alejandro Alvarez
Alejandro Alvarez joined WTOP as a digital journalist and editor in June 2018. He is a reporter and photographer focusing on politics, political activism and international affairs.

aalvarez@wtоp.com
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