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On the evening of Wednesday, June 18, Sunrise Movement DC joined the Chesapeake Climate Action Network (CCAN) in launching “Make Polluters Pay,” a campaign to demand that the companies driving the climate crisis pay for the damage they’ve done. Community members gathered at Washington City Church of the Brethren and virtually to take part in initial stages of the campaign.
“Every year, DC experiences hotter and hotter summers, more extreme storms, and increased flooding,” says Liana SC, a Sunrise DC organizer. “This is not a coincidence—it is the result of big oil’s active decision to value their profits over our wellbeing. Fossil fuel companies like Chevron, Shell, Exxon, and BP have been aware of the consequences of this choice for decades yet have continued to intentionally harm our communities.”
Washington D.C. is home to trade organizations, lobbying firms, the offices of extractive companies, and institutions with endowments invested in those companies. For the massive environmental harm that these organizations have done, “Make Polluters Pay” demands the government pass legislation forcing them to pay into a fund for restorative climate investments to address communities devastated by environmental racism and the climate crisis.
“I'm excited for the Make Polluters Pay campaign,” explains organizer Ryan Hughes, “because I feel like for so long we've been struggling to make really meaningful advancements in protecting our climate and environment, and this feels like something that finally addresses that. It finally feels like an opportunity to take some power back from the Trump administration.”
Similar “superfund” bills have passed recently in both Vermont and New York and are pending in several states including Maryland, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and California. Sunrise D.C. and CCAN are making use of this nationwide momentum to organize for a D.C. bill that would fund climate measures on a local level while forcing corporations raking in billions of dollars in profits to pay their fair share.
“As the No Kings protests around the country showed, people are not going to tolerate an oligarchy trying to take power away from the people,” says D.C. activist Jacqueline Saulnier. “Beating a dictator like Trump means we have to defeat industries like the fossil fuel companies that worked to put him in office. ‘Make Polluters Pay’ is about telling the companies profiting by warming our climate and destroying our democracy that they are no longer welcome in DC.”
Members of Sunrise D.C. and the broader community gathered on the 18th to participate in community building and grounding. They then joined members of the Sunrise Movement for a nationwide call launching sister campaigns all across the country. The call featured Sunrise Movement Executive Director Aru Shiney-Ajay, Chicago Teachers Union President Stacy Davis Gates, Fridays for Future NYC organizer Keanu Arpels-Josiah, Sunrise LA organizer Nico Gardiner Serna, and Representative Ro Khanna.
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