Sunrise RI protests Senator Whitehouse’s lack of support for the Green New Deal outside his annual clambake fundraiser
“We are tired of Senator Whitehouse,” said Yesenia Puebla of Sunrise. “We have asked him 10 times to support the Green New Deal and sign the No Fossil Fuel Money Pledge. He said ‘no’ every single time. It’s clear he is prioritizing corporations over his constituents. We need him to take immediate action because it’s clear that this is a
August 19, 2019, 12:43 pm
By Uprise RI Staff
“We are tired of Senator Whitehouse,” said Yesenia Puebla of Sunrise. “We have asked him 10 times to support the Green New Deal and sign the No Fossil Fuel Money Pledge. He said ‘no’ every single time. It’s clear he is prioritizing corporations over his constituents. We need him to take immediate action because it’s clear that this is a climate emergency.”
Sunrise Providence and South County Sunrise combined forces outside United States Senator Sheldon Whitehouse‘s 10th annual family Clambake fundraiser to “make it clear to every attendee and the Senator himself that we do not tolerate his inaction on [the climate crisis] and his continued cooperation with the very same corporations who are leading the charge towards climate catastrophe.”
“We’re here, yet again, to pressure Senator Whitehouse to sign [onto] the Green New Deal,” said Yesenia Puebla of Sunrise. “We’re tired of his excuses, we’re tired of his cowardice, we’re tired of being ignored.
“We are in a time of crisis. The BBC has reported that we only have 18 months to take political action in order to combat catastrophic climate events. What more information, what more encouragement, does Senator Whitehouse need to sign the Green New Deal?
“We’ve been trying to get Senator Whitehouse to listen to us, his constituents, and instead he’s here at this clambake, and it’s super-exclusive, and it’s clear that he doesn’t want to listen to us, that he’s not gonna budge, and so we’re here to disrupt the event, because we need him to know, we need everyone that’s attending this event to know, that is not our ally, that he has not been supportive and that he clearly does not care about this climate crisis because this is clearly an emergency.
“We are tired of Senator Whitehouse,” continued Puebla. “We have asked him 10 times to support the Green New Deal and sign the No Fossil Fuel Money Pledge. He said ‘no’ every single time. It’s clear he is prioritizing corporations over his constituents. We need him to take immediate action because it’s clear that this is a climate emergency.
“Here are some additional slimy facts about Senator Whitehouse. Whitehouse has taken $38,500 from National Grid, the company who will build a liquefied natural gas plant in South Providence that will have negative health impacts on communities of color. Whitehouse, who is supposedly the climate champion, originally supported the creation of
power plant in Burrillville that would burn diesel fuel and fracked gas, spewing harmful toxins across the region and destroying a critical wetland forest. He only remained neutral after he got pushback from communities.
“Is that who we should call a climate champion?” asked Puebla in conclusion
Whitehouse never responded to, acknowledged or met with the protesters.
As I headed back to my car, I passed the Whitehouse event, in progress. I was told that I was not allowed to take any pictures, that it was a private event, and that journalists were not allowed to attend the clambake as I left.
Also present at the protest were critics of Whitehouse’s support for the ever increasing defense industry:
Flyers were handed out to motorists entering the event. 
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