A group of climate activists plan to blockage the White House correspondents’ dinner on Saturday in protest of President Biden’s policies on the environment.
Climate Defiance has held a “series” of nonviolent protests leading up to the dinner at which they plan to protest the Biden administration approving multiple oil projects.
A video posted by the group on Saturday accuses Biden of committing “ecocide,” which the European Law Institute, an independent non-profit organization that studies European law, defines as the “devastation and destruction of the environment to the detriment of life.”
The video notes Biden’s approval last month of the Willow Project, which will allow ConocoPhillips to drill oil in northwestern Alaska, producing 180,000 barrels per day. It also mentions his approval of expanded liquid natural gas exports in Alaska earlier this month and November approval of building the country’s largest oil export terminal in Texas, adding 2 million barrels of oil per day.
The video shows a clip of Biden at a presidential debate in 2020 calling for “no ability for the oil industry to continue to drill, period,” on federal lands.
“We came of age amidst superstorms and fires and crumbling ice shelves. We trusted our President – but he sold us out to fossil fuel CEOs. So we will rise. We will build the future we deserve. And we will be unstoppable,” the group tweeted along with the video.
The group also tweeted that it is not “aiming” for its protesters to get arrested but have enough numbers that arrests are “impossible.”
Climate Defiance said on Friday that Biden is approving permits for fossil fuel leasing on federal lands at a faster rate than former President Trump, which are a “literal death sentence” for people. It also criticized media outlets for coverage of the issue, arguing that it is framing the issue poorly and gave “virtually zero coverage” to the Texas oil project.
“We can turn this all around. We can create a beautiful world. We can build the future we deserve. It’s not too late,” the group said.
White House Correspondents Association President Tamara Keith told ABC News that the association is aware of the planned protests and “security precautions are in place.”