Protesters In Bloomfield Push Biden To Cut Off Fossil Fuel Industry

BLOOMFIELD, NJ — Dozens of activists and environmental advocates rallied in Bloomfield on Tuesday to demand that President Joe Biden declare a “climate emergency” and end federal support for the fossil fuel industry.

Gathering on one of the hottest days New Jersey has seen so far this summer, leaders and members from B’nai Keshet, First Congregational Church and Union Congregational Church – along with members of NJ’s 350.org chapter – protested outside the Armed Forces Career Center on Bloomfield Avenue.

The group of about 30 participants prayed, sang, held signs and handed out palm cards to passerby, urging them to call the White House to demand stronger climate action.

“We as members of faith communities in Essex County are proud to join with other people of conscience in calling on President Biden to use all the power at his disposal to move us toward climate safety and justice now,” said Rabbi Elliott Tepperman, the Rev. John Rogers and the Rev. Katrina Forman in a joint statement.

“We need the president to go further in supporting front-line communities and ending federal support for the fossil fuel industry that is endangering us all,” the clergy members added.

B’nai Keshet member Stephanie Greenwood, who leads a newly-formed local chapter of national Jewish climate action organization Dayenu, said the state of affairs is already at “emergency” levels.

“Heat waves, floods, air pollution and storms are already damaging our communities and are getting worse,” Greenwood said. “We need to find the political will to make a just transition away from fossil fuels – now.”

According to organizers, the protest was done in solidarity with a call to action from People Vs Fossil Fuels, a coalition of groups pushing for greater executive action on the climate crisis.

“The People Vs Fossil Fuels Coalition has long demanded that President Biden declare a climate emergency and stop approving fossil fuel projects including fossil fuel on federal lands and waters, fossil fuel infrastructure like pipelines and petrochemical plants, and fossil fuel exports,” the coalition states.

Advocates are demanding that Biden declare a climate emergency under the National Emergencies Act and immediately take the following steps:

• Ban crude oil exports
• Stop foreign fossil fuel investments
• Build renewable and resilient energy systems in communities hit hardest climate change

Other demands from the coalition include:

• End all new fossil fuel leasing on federal lands and waters
• Deny federal permits for all fossil fuel infrastructure
• Restrict gas exports to the extent allowed under the Natural Gas Act

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