Mass march targets Biden for an ‘End to fossil fuels’

New York City

An estimated 50,000 to 75,000 people were in the streets of New York City Sept. 17 for a march and rally at the United Nations to bring attention to the global climate catastrophe. 

Sept. 17, 2023, New York City. WW PHOTO: Monica Moorehead

The main demand of the protest was that President Joe Biden “End Fossil Fuels,” the primary cause of this unprecedented global warming. Another important aspect of the protest was the overwhelming anti-capitalist and anti-U.S. military sentiment amongst the protesters, who were multigenerational. 

Sept. 17, 2023, New York City. WW PHOTO: Monica Moorehead

There was a strong presence of Indigenous nations leading the way in protecting and defending “Mother Earth.” Demonstrators linked important struggles to the climate crisis, like stopping the building of “Cop City,” which is destroying forests in Atlanta, and an end to police brutality. 

The protest was held a few days before the Climate Ambition Summit taking place Sept. 20 as part of the annual opening session of the U.N. General Assembly. A direct action is scheduled for Sept. 18 at Zuccotti Park, home to the Occupy Wall Street movement in 2011. 

Sept. 17, 2023, New York City. WW PHOTO: Marsha Goldberg

A number of organizations, such as Workers World Party, brought a message to the protest that only socialist revolution can save humanity from the profit-driven energy corporations and the Pentagon which created the climate crisis.