Sign In or Create an Account.

By continuing, you agree to the Terms of Service and acknowledge our Privacy Policy

Politics

New York’s Climate Protest Was a Good-Natured Assault on Biden

Scenes from the March to End Fossil Fuels

Emily Pontecorvo •
09/18/2023
The New York climate march.
Heatmap Illustration/Getty Images

Tens of thousands of people flooded the streets of Midtown Manhattan on Sunday in one of the biggest climate demonstrations of the Biden presidency.

For such a large and diverse protest, the message was remarkably unified: End fossil fuels. It was also not just directed at oil companies, banks, and big corporations. Protestors overwhelmingly directed their fury and frustration at President Biden.

“Thousands of people today are marching in New York City with a clear-eyed demand for President Biden and all of our world leaders,” said Jean Su, energy justice director for the Center for Biological Diversity, in a speech before the march.

“I am here today to demand that President Biden end the era of fossil fuels once and for all,” said Sharon Lavigne, an environmental justice advocate from Cancer Alley in Louisiana.

“We are so clearly in a fucking climate emergency — why won’t President Biden declare it?” asked NASA climate scientist Peter Kalmus. “I feel so gaslit that it's insane.”

The protest comes at the end of a brutal summer, which featured Canadian wildfire smoke choking the East Coast, devastating flooding in Vermont, the deadliest wildfire in modern American history in Maui, more than 10,000 dead in Libya from flooding that razed an entire city, not to mention record-breaking heat.

But the protest also comes just a month after President Biden celebrated the one-year anniversary of his historic climate law, the Inflation Reduction Act, which is undoubtedly the biggest package of clean energy programs the U.S. has ever passed. It was scarcely mentioned in speeches, and I didn’t see a single sign or banner acknowledging the accomplishment.

Instead, protestors highlighted the major fossil fuel projects that the Biden administration has green-lit in the last year. There were signs condemning the president for approving the Mountain Valley Pipeline, which will carry natural gas from the Marcellus Shale in West Virginia to southern Virginia. Others demanded Biden cancel the Willow Project, a massive oil project on federal land in Alaska that the administration approved in March. Two banners depicted Biden literally greenwashing pipelines and oil derricks.

Anti-Biden sign.Heatmap

Anti-Biden sign Heatmap

With the 2024 election season kicking off and Biden likely to face a climate-denying opponent, Emma Buretta, a 17-year old activist with Fridays for Future, warned the president that he would need to earn the youth vote. “I’m speaking today on behalf of youth who are voting for the first time in the 2024 election,” she told the crowd. “You cannot win this election without the youth vote. It is not possible. And there’s only one way to earn our votes: End fossil fuels.”

Anti-Biden sign.Heatmap

In the crowd were environmental justice groups from New Mexico, Louisiana, California, and Michigan. There were indigenous leaders from Iowa to the Brazilian Amazon. Bill McKibben marched with Third Act, his climate action group galvanizing retirees. Celebs including Susan Sarandon, Kevin Bacon, and Ethan Hawke were among the masses.

Anti-Biden signHeatmap

Anti-Biden signHeatmap

Journalists often lump the climate movement into a single word for brevity’s sake, like “climate activists,” “youth activists,” or “environmental justice advocates.” But at the protest, the full diversity of people angry about the climate crisis was on display. There were doctors, scientists, and teachers marching alongside students, children, faith leaders, and grandmothers. There was a karate club, a choir, and the “Bread and Puppet Theater” from Vermont — the most Vermont activist group imaginable. (Some maneuvered towering marionettes, while others passed out samples of sourdough rye from silver platters.)

Below are a few more snapshots from the day that illustrate the spirit, humor, and ingenuity of the marchers. (I deeply regret not capturing my favorite sign from the event, which said, “Decarbonize your mind.”)

Protest signHeatmap

Protest signHeatmap

Protest signHeatmap

This pediatrician prescribes 100% clean energy.

Protesters as stoves and heat pumpsHeatmap

Rewiring America, a nonprofit advocating for the electrification of buildings and vehicles, showed up to talk to people about heat pumps and induction stoves.

They were in good company with this woman protesting gas-powered leaf blowers.

Anti-Leafblower protesterHeatmap

Anti-Exxon signHeatmap

I asked why free ice cream. He said why not?

Dozens of protesters held a banner of the famous “ warming stripes,” spanning the intersection of 6th Avenue.

Warming stripes protestHeatmap

Protest signHeatmap

Child protesterHeatmap

Greenpeace built a smoking skull to highlight how Bitcoin’s immense energy needs are propping up fossil fuel power plants.

Anti-Bitcoin floatHeatmap

Protest signHeatmap

“That’s just, like, your opinion, man.”

Protest signHeatmap

Protest signHeatmap

Simple, straightforward, no artistry necessary.

Emily Pontecorvo profile image

Emily Pontecorvo

Emily is a founding staff writer at Heatmap. Previously she was a staff writer at the nonprofit climate journalism outlet Grist, where she covered all aspects of decarbonization, from clean energy to electrified buildings to carbon dioxide removal.

You’re out of free articles.

Celebrate the Fourth of July with us and save 20% off an annual subscription, now just $99 $79/year with code: FIREWORKS
To continue reading
Create a free account or sign in to unlock more free articles.
Continue with Google
or
Please enter an email address
Continue
By continuing, you agree to the Terms of Service and acknowledge our Privacy Policy
Or try a month of unlimited access to Heatmap for free
Daily Briefing

Congress Never Meant to Design This

The Supreme Court keeps changing the terms of the deal between the legislative branch and the executive.

Robinson Meyer
06/30/2026
Congress Never Meant to Design This
Illustration by Simon Abranowicz

The Supreme Court ended its 2025–2026 term today, issuing a flurry of rulings on its most controversial cases. Most significantly, it rejected President Trump’s attempt to overturn birthright citizenship, preserving the 14th Amendment as it has been read for more than a century. It also struck down restrictions on how much political parties can spend in coordination with candidates — a change that could shape political strategies in November’s midterm election.

But I suspect that the year’s most important ruling for energy and climate policy came … yesterday. In a 6-3 ruling, the court’s conservative majority allowed President Trump to fire the commissioners of independent agencies without cause. Although the case concerned the Federal Trade Commission, it will matter for every independent agency that governs energy and climate policy.

Keep reading...Show less
Green
Climate

My Extremely Hot European Vacation

I decided to go to Italy in June with my husband, my 9-month-old daughter, and my 69-year-old father. What could go wrong?

Jeva Lange
06/30/2026
My Extremely Hot European Vacation
Illustration by Simon Abranowicz

The start of a vacation really begins 10 days before departure, when your arrival date first appears on your weather app. Like the turning over of a tarot card, it is this initial forecast that hints at the potential character of your trip — whether your beach vacation might be ruined by rain, or if spring break will fall this year during an unanticipated cold spell.

For our recent trip to Bologna, Italy, my family and I seemed to have pulled one of the worst cards in the deck: Our weather apps suggested early on that the high would be near 100 degrees Fahrenheit on the weekend of our arrival.

Keep reading...Show less
Yellow
Politics

Indiana’s Governor Is on the Energy Warpath

Republican Mike Braun loves data centers but hates electricity price increases.

Matthew Zeitlin
06/30/2026
Mike Braun.
Heatmap Illustration/Getty Images, Library of Congress

Elected officials — especially in executive positions like governor, mayor, or, say, president — tend to support economic development writ large, looking to bring jobs to their constituents and expand the tax base. By that same token, they also tend to be quite sensitive to rising costs — especially utility bills, for which voters tend to hold state governments accountable, per Heatmap polling.

That puts governors — especially Republican governors, who are often more friendly to business and more likely to buy into arguments proffered by the White House about national security and economic competitiveness — in a tricky position as both the data center buildout and opposition to it gain momentum across the United States. No one embodies the dilemma more than Indiana’s Governor Mike Braun, who has positioned himself as a champion of data centers while also going on the rhetorical warpath against the utility AES Indiana and the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission.

Keep reading...Show less
Blue