Jane Fonda Launches Climate-Focused Political Action Committee
Jane Fonda is taking her fight against climate change to the next level, on Wednesday announcing the formation of a Political Action Committee to defeat politicians aligned with the fossil fuel industry.
Ariel Hayes, former national political director of the Sierra Club, will serve as the Jane Fonda Climate PAC’s primary advisor. The committee will support climate champions and work to defeat the allies of the fossil fuel industry in both primary and general elections at the local, state and federal levels through grassroots organizing and investments in paid media campaigns.
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“The science is clear: We have to cut our fossil fuel emissions in half by 2030. We have eight years — that is just four election cycles — to save the planet,” Fonda said in a statement. “Greta Thunberg warned that our house is on fire. So, it’s time we fight fire with fire or, in this case, to fight dollars with dollars. Jane Fonda Climate PAC will have one goal: do whatever it takes to defeat the political allies of the fossil fuel industry, no matter which side of the aisle they’re on.”
The PAC is the next step in the longtime activist’s climate change mission, after having launched Fire Drill Fridays in fall 2019 for weekly protests centered around civil disobedience and a demand for Congress to pass the Green New Deal. Since then, she’s teamed with Greenpeace for in-person and virtual protests over the last two years with a call to end to new fossil fuels and transition to a renewable energy economy.
“For too long, politicians bankrolled by Big Oil have killed almost every proposed piece of meaningful climate legislation. While it’s easy — and correct — to place the blame on Republicans, we can’t ignore the role Democrats play in climate inaction. From abandoning the Green New Deal to shelving Build Back Better, Democrats and Republicans financed by the fossil fuel industry are standing in the way of combating the climate emergency,” said Hayes. “With only eight years left to save the planet, we have to bring the fight to any and all allies of the fossil fuel industry.”
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