On Jan. 20, three members of 鈥� an environmental activist organization 鈥� staged a series of interruptions at the New Hampshire Republican primaries to protest the climate policies of Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley.
The demonstrations, organized by the , included a series of verbal interruptions during a speech by Haley and the use of anti-fossil fuels signage during a meet-and-greet photoshoot. Both events have since amassed social media attention, with a of the meet-and-greet accumulating roughly 150,000 likes.
A video of the event, shows Sunrise members holding signs which read 鈥淗aley: Climate Criminal,鈥� criticizing Haley鈥檚 .
When asked about climate change in August鈥檚 presidential debate, Haley noted that she believes climate change is real and that Republicans care about 鈥渃lean air (and) clean water.鈥� Haley also stated that emissions from China and India are 鈥渨hat our problem is,鈥� the
Virginia He 鈥�27, who arrived earlier that week, was joined by other Brown Sunrise members Caitlyn Carpenter 鈥�26 and Trevor Wilkins 鈥�26.
On Jan. 22, the group staged an additional against Haley at a meet-and-greet. At the event, Wilkins shook Haley鈥檚 hand, then revealed a sign that read 鈥淔ossil Fuels Own Haley.鈥�
Carpenter said that though the interruption itself was brief, social media made it 鈥渟omething much larger,鈥� adding that it 鈥渟peaks a lot to the strength of young people.鈥�
The events were motivated by concerns about how the upcoming presidential election might affect climate policy, according to the three Brown Sunrise members.
It was important 鈥渢o get the climate crisis and climate emergency back into the presidential race rhetoric,鈥� Carpenter said. The future of 鈥渆nvironmental justice 鈥� is fundamentally what's on the line.鈥�
Sunrise members also staged similar interruptions at New Hampshire campaigns for former .
鈥淚t's really important that we get candidates that actually care about environmental issues and won't prolong or even worsen the problem in some cases,鈥� Wilkins said.
Although Sunrise has been Republican candidates, Brown Sunrise has not publicly endorsed a presidential candidate, according to Carpenter. 鈥淲e have been very careful 鈥� to not take political stances as of right now,鈥� she said.
The National Sunrise Movement is organizing a on Feb. 19 to call on President Joe Biden to declare a climate emergency.
鈥淲e can still be involved in electoral politics without actively supporting one candidate,鈥� He said. Environmentalism 鈥渟houldn鈥檛 be a Democrats-versus-Republicans issue,鈥� she added.
Brown Sunrise has also focused on climate policy change at the University level: He, Wilkins and Carpenter all highlighted Sunrise Brown鈥檚 DIRE campaign launched last March, which calls on the University to dissociate from the fossil fuel industry and increase its investment in the Providence community, The Herald previously reported.
鈥淲e need to change the status quo,鈥� He said. 鈥淣o progress in society has been made by just sitting around and doing nothing.鈥�
Sophia Wotman is a Senior Staff Writer covering the Affinity & Activism beat under University 国产偷拍. She is a sophomore from Long Island, New York studying Political Science and Music with an interest in women鈥檚 rights. She is a jazz trumpet player, and you鈥檒l often find her performing on campus and around Providence.
