Washington, D.C. — The U.S. Presidential election has been officially called for Donald Trump.

This result is profoundly dangerous: we are living in an absolutely critical time in our fight for climate justice, and for the next four years, this country — already the top emitting and oil producing country in the world — will have as its president someone who screams ‘DRILL BABY DRILL.’ 

The Trump administration’s white supremacist agenda continues to blatantly target Black, Indigenous, and communities of color: from ramming pipelines through Indigenous lands, to gutting bedrock environmental laws, to signaling support to white supremacist militia and far right/neo-fascist organizations. 

Now is the time to hold one another in compassion and love and protect our communities. It’s time for people of privilege to rise to support and protect Black, Indigenous, immigrant, Trans, and communities of color on the frontlines of Trump’s hateful attacks. 

We know that there are huge implications for a world that needs to grapple with wars, genocides, and the disastrous effects of climate change. We also know that other nations, and even individual U.S. states, can step up in important ways and show leadership.

The path ahead is murky — but we know that despite this result, so many of us in the U.S., and so many of our partners around the world, are committed to a livable world. 

We will not concede our shared vision for social, economic, and climate justice. We will simply fight for it like never before, drawing on the examples of so many communities that have defied the odds and risen up to defend their people against authoritarian regimes. We’ll keep using every tool at our disposal — lawsuits, peaceful protest, direct action, and building power from the ground up — to push back against harmful policies and build the country we need. We will do that knowing that we are now moving into an even more dangerous environment for organizing where frontline, marginalized, and communities of color will be the most at-risk.

We also know that Trump is not yet in office, so we have a small but critical window to demand that Biden act in these critical final weeks of his administration. We call on Biden to declare a climate emergency, to strengthen U.S. climate commitments and international relationships, starting at COP29 next week, and to shut down all new oil and gas projects on public lands and waters. He has made big climate promises, and this is his last chance to live up to them. 

We are and have always been a people-powered movement. The world we seek has always been ours to build. Let us hold each other in love and compassion, and then let us join together and build it. 

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