STATEMENT ON TRUMP ADMINISTRATION
We don’t need to tell you what’s happening. In two months, the Trump Administration, the Heritage Foundation, oil companies, and other powerful lobbyists have dismantled decades of progress and are slamming shut the last window we had for a livable planet. They’re coming for all of our communities with brutish force. We are witnessing the silencing of scientists, academics, nonviolent activists, and nonprofits. The FBI is even criminalizing Habitat for Humanity. However, a cursory look into the history of political movements shows that these are exactly the types of actions that backfire and give movements their biggest wins. In the dark, have heart.
This is it. We’re not “almost” out of time. This is it. The latest models project 3 degrees of warming by 2060. Another new study predicts up to 4 billion deaths and a 50% loss of global GDP this century. These are endgame numbers. The UN will never save us. No government or political party or head of state will ever save us. They do not have that power, only we the people do.
What distinguishes Extinction Rebellion from our sister organizations is in our name: we’re a rebellion. We do not endorse candidates or engage in traditional campaigning. Our opponents are not single politicians or think tanks, but the vast system of private interests and a culture of destruction that spans countries and parties.
Authoritarian backlash was always coming. Like climate breakdown, social destabilization is merely happening sooner and worse than projected. As resources deplete, people fall for assholes building walls and creating divisions. But emergencies are also when people do the most to come together. This is exactly the type of moment XR was made for. We must see their aggression for what it is: a display of weakness, an opportunity to rally.
For those of us fighting for the survival of everything, this means escalation. It will mean longer prison sentences. But it will also be the start of something new. Those holding power will do more and more to stop us, everywhere. And we, in turn, will gain more support and achieve bigger and bigger wins.
We must first face the truth about the existential crisis we’re in, imagine a better way to organize ourselves socially, and make difficult decisions on a planet already deep into a process of transformation. The sooner and more clearly we see that, the better our chances to survive and thrive.
No one is coming to save us but us.
TAKE ACTION NOW
Whether you're new or returning, we need you. We will not be intimidated. As they push back, we will push forward, stronger and more determined. Stand with a community of rebels, learn, and take bold action together now.