US Climate Strike Coalition announces plan for 'Earth Day Live'

As the coronavirus pandemic upends life in the United States and makes public rallies and protests impossible, the Youth Climate Strike Coalition is announcing Earth Day Live, a three-day innovative and interactive live stream to address another global crisis threatening humanity: the climate emergency.

People may sign up to participate at www.earthdaylive2020.org .

“The fights against the coronavirus and the climate crisis go hand-in-hand,” said Nadia Nazar, Co-Executive Director and Art Director of Zero Hour. “As we work to flatten the curve of this pandemic, we must strive toward the longer term goal of building a society that is better equipped to confront another global threat: the climate emergency. Earth Day Live is a chance for humanity to come together and begin to collectively reimagine the society, economy, and political system we need to confront the challenges ahead of us.”

Earth Day Live is a three-day live stream and online mobilization that aims to engage people across the U.S. in collective action to protect their climate and communities. From April 22 to April 24, the live stream will include training, performances and appearances to keep people engaged, informed and inspired. Speakers will include celebrities, politicians, musicians, activists, scientists and youth leaders on the front lines of climate justice.

“Our goal is to recreate the feeling of attending an in person mass mobilization, but in the virtual world,” said Naina Agrawal-Hardin, Organizer at Sunrise Movement. “That means dynamic speakers, the chance to meet people you don’t know, an opportunity for direct action — and yes, we still want you to make a protest sign. Social distancing doesn’t mean that we can’t still engage in collective action.”

Each day of the 72 hours of programming will have a theme:

April 22 is “Strike,” a chance to hear from and support POC and Indigenous leaders and frontline activists who are fighting for climate action, confronting the fossil fuel industry, and building the solutions needed to address the crisis. As a day centered on storytelling and community, we are leaning into healing and togetherness to provide comfort and inspiration during this time of unknowns.

April 23 is “Divest,” a day led by the Stop the Money Pipeline Coalition, focuses on ending the financing of fossil fuels and building a new economic system that works for people and the planet, especially given the current economic state. During these 24 hours, organizers will support thousands of people to switch out of dirty banks, cut up credit cards that help fund fossil fuels, and apply direct pressure on the institutions funding the climate crisis.

April 24 is “Vote,” a nationwide political action and youth voter registration day. We need leaders who will address this existential threat, and for this to happen, we need people to show up at the polls this year. We will be holding a digital, relational voter registration challenge — seeing which region of the country can register the most voters. We’ll also be calling on elected officials to support our demands through a variety of tactics.

As the 24th is the first day of Ramadan, organizers will be working with the Muslim community to make sure events are accessible for those who are observing and use it as an opportunity to educate people on the holiday.

Each day, the national live stream will integrate elements of local and grassroots organizing to bring people even closer together. The audience will be pointed to a map to join live streams put on by local organizers across the country, including virtual panel discussions, teach-ins, and town halls. Throughout each of the day’s live streams, there will be several coordinated digital actions for everyone to participate, including flooding the phone line of representatives and targeting individuals and companies with tweet storms.