Climate activists gathered in Washington, D.C., on Thursday to dump wheelbarrows full of cow poop near the White House in protest of President Biden’s climate plan, which they say is “bullshit” and does not go far enough to protect the environment.
Videos posted on Twitter from the Earth Day demonstration featured a group of at least a dozen demonstrators pushing pink wheelbarrows downtown toward the White House, where Biden is hosting a two-day virtual climate summit with dozens of world leaders.
The demonstrators then dumped the manure onto the street, along with signs and banners reading, “Stop the bullshit,” and “Declare climate emergency now!”
Photos showed the piles of dung lingering in the street even after demonstrators dispersed.
In remarks from the White House’s climate summit, Biden called for collective action in confronting “the existential crisis of our time.”
The administration earlier Thursday unveiled Biden’s plan to reduce U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by 50 to 52 percent of 2005 levels by the year 2030.
The much-anticipated interim target, known as a nationally determined contribution, comes as part of Biden’s goal to reach net-zero emissions by 2050.
The plan is being made as part of the 2015 Paris Agreement, and will be formally submitted to the United Nations.
The Biden administration has hoped that its target will encourage other countries globally to make stronger investments in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and combating climate change.
“No nation can solve this crisis on our own,” Biden said at the start of the summit Thursday. “All of us, particularly those of us who represent the world’s largest economies, we have to step up.”
However, some progressives and climate activists are calling on Biden to do more, arguing that the U.S. should aim for a reduction of at least 70 percent.
Jean Su, the energy justice director at the Center for Biological Diversity, said in a statement in response to the announcement, “A pledge to cut emissions 50% by 2030 simply isn’t big enough to meet the massive scale of the climate emergency.”
Meanwhile, Republicans argue that emissions cuts could lead the U.S. to become less competitive in the global economy, especially if countries such as China do not also agree to similar climate commitments.