The Sunrise Movement, that I support, has been effective in drawing attention to the need for a Green New Deal. The sit-ins and arrests in Congressional offices last November resulted in Congress finally beginning to talk about climate change.

On Earth Day, April 22nd, 2019, the Green New Deal Tour came to Des Moines. 450 attended the event. Two of my friends from the First Nation-Farmer Climate Unity March, Lakasha and Trisha CaxSep GuWiga Etringer were on the program, talking about the importance of the Green New Deal being indigenous led. One of the next steps discussed that night was to work to #ChangeTheDebate, to agitate for a Democratic Presidential Debate focused solely on Climate Chaos. CNN has announced a climate only Democratic presidential debate will be held September 4, in New York City.

DETROIT — Thousands of environmental activists, calling for the Democratic Party to embrace far-reaching plans to curb climate change and address social injustice, gathered for a hard-to-miss rally in Detroit on Tuesday afternoon, hours before the first of two presidential primary debates here.

The rally was organized by a coalition of progressive groups called Frontline Detroit, and included the Sunrise Movement, the climate advocacy group seeking to harness the political power of young people to push for the Green New Deal. That proposal, which sets out a broad vision for significantly reducing planet-warming pollution by 2030 while also guaranteeing millions of new jobs, has become a litmus test in the Democratic primary race.

The demonstration was part of a months long effort by the Sunrise Movement and its allied organizations to pressure Democrats to more forcefully address climate change. That effort began soon after Democrats recaptured the House in last year’s midterm elections. The group orchestrated a sit-in at the office of Nancy Pelosi, who was set to become speaker, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who had just won a House seat in New York, joined in.

Why Climate Activists Packed the Streets Outside the Democratic Debate by Astead W. Herndon, New York Times, July 30, 2019

Locally, Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement (ICCI), is the Sunrise Movement hub in Iowa. Sunrise Staff will be moving to Iowa soon.

Sunrise Movement at ICCI (2019)

Sunrise Movement and ICCI meeting with Senator Joni Ernst’s Des Moines staff. (2018)

Sunrise Movement on Capitol Hill (2018)