on nov. 17, with just over two months left until president-elect donald trump takes office, more than 150 climate activists and environmentalists rallied outside the environmental protection agency (epa) headquarters in washington, d.c., with a mission: get biden to do what he can to protect the environment, before he exits the white house.

the d.c. climate rally “every day counts,” was hosted in collaboration with more than 30 climate advocacy groups. attendees held signs such as “stop oil now,” “green new deal now,” and “off fossil fuels,” while chanting “yolo joe” and “climate justice now.” speakers urged president joe biden to enforce stricter climate regulations and pardon climate activists — and to do it now.

acting at an inflection point

keanu arpels-josiah, a youth organizer with fridays for future nyc, the group founded by greta thunberg in 2018, urged the crowd to demand actions like designating federal lands as off-limits for drilling, canceling new oil and gas projects, and reallocating mass transit funding from the ira and bipartisan infrastructure law. 

hours after the 2024 presidential election was called for donald trump, the biden administration announced limitations to oil drilling in alaska’s arctic national wildlife refuge. although the leasing of land in the refuge for oil is mandated under a 2017 law, signed by then-president trump, biden’s outgoing government moved to lease the bare minimum amount of land before the deadline of the end of the year.

but protestors at sunday’s rally remained anxious about the signals from the incoming administration.

arpels-josiah criticized trump’s nomination of chris wright, an oil and gas executive, to lead the department of energy, calling him a “fossil fuel ceo.” he also condemned trump’s choice for epa administrator, former new york republican representative lee zeldin, describing him as a “deregulatory champion” whose plans would “tear apart” the future of the planet.  

“that ain’t right,” arpels-josiah said. “that’s not the future we deserve.”

in a post on x, wright has defended his appointment to lead the department of energy, claiming he would “better human lives” by ensuring energy is “affordable, reliable, and secure.” in a video posted on linkedin, wright denied climate change: “there is no climate crisis and we’re not in the midst of an energy transition either.” 

zeldin, trump’s pick for epa administrator, pledged in a post on x to restore “energy dominance” while ensuring access to clean air and water. he also criticized biden for canceling the keystone xl pipeline, a proposed extension of an oil pipeline system running between canada and the united states.

trump, through his agenda47 and the republican national committee platforms, has pledged to undo biden’s climate policies. his plans include withdrawing from the paris climate accords again, restarting oil production in recently restricted areas, and pulling away funding from the inflation reduction act. 

charting the path forward

keya chatterjee, executive director of the us climate action network, also spoke at the rally. she warned attendees against participating in “anticipatory obedience,” which she described as abandoning the fight against climate change out of fear that a second trump administration will roll back regulations. 

“we are not going to anticipate in fear and not do things,” chatterjee said. “we’re going to live big and we’re going to do big.” 

among the rally participants, mechanical engineer nick tatnall, 29, said trump’s appointments reflect his self-serving interests. tatnall’s own passion for the environment was sparked by visiting national parks, and he expressed concerns that a second trump administration will weaken regulations and expand drilling on public lands.

“i just hope the next four years are not as bad as we think they will be,” he said.

julia barnes, 30, a podcast producer, said she had hoped vice president kamala harris would win the election but was not surprised by trump’s victory. barnes criticized trump’s track record on the environment. 

“climate is incredibly low on his agenda,” she said, adding that her biggest fear is seeing no progress on climate issues for another four years.

organizers said that through the event more than 470 people signed up to participate in training, movement-building efforts, and continued organizing over the next 60 days, with plans to sustain their actions through trump’s inauguration.