Amid soaring temperatures, hundreds of activists are staging boisterous blockades and solemn marches at banks and insurers that support fossil fuel projects.
They slather SPF 50+ on their toddlers’ legs under scorching sun before breaking out in song. They march joyously through the canyons of the Financial District while banging drums. The oldest among them lie down on the burning hot pavement and allow themselves to be dragged away by police.
Over the course of a blistering summer in New York, hundreds of activists have been assembling day after day to draw attention to the main thing that’s driving up global temperatures: the burning of coal, oil and gas, which produces heat-trapping gases and makes heat waves more intense and more frequent.
“Feel how hot it is,” said Leslie Stevens, 70, who joined a demonstration on Wednesday. “This is not a one-time thing. We’re going to burn ourselves collectively.”
The protest movement calls itself Summer of Heat on Wall Street, and its main target is Citigroup, which, according to a recent report by a coalition of environmental groups, is pouring the most money into new oil and gas projects worldwide.
Citi has set its own climate neutrality targets for 2050, but, like other big U.S. banks, Citi’s investment portfolio is at odds with global goals to limit global temperature increases, according to Ceres, an advocacy group that works with businesses on their climate plans.
The activists’ tactics have spanned a wide range, from low-octane, read-along events with toddlers to boisterous blockades and disciplined civil disobedience actions. Though big climate demonstrations had been fairly regular in New York City and elsewhere, they have taken a back seat to demonstrations against the war in Gaza.