“We’re called together because Greenfaith, an organization of diverse religious traditions around the world advocating against climate change, had a week-long protest in Washington DC last week, led by indigenous people, asking President Biden and the administration to stop continuing to put resources into fossil fuels and start to invest it into green energy,” said Angela Howard McParland from Justice Resource Manager at Sisters of Mercy of the Americas outside Bay View Academy in East Providence on Monday morning. “Some of our own Sisters of Mercy were arrested for civil disobedience during this event along with hundreds of others.”

This week Greenfaith is asking people to act locally, organizing any event, however small, to “make the point that people of faith want to say enough climate change, enough with resources being poured into dirty energy, and we want the resources of our government invested in clean, renewable energy, environmental justice and moving towards actually doing our part to eradicate climate change,” continued McParland.

“I’d like call on President Biden,” said Sister Mary Pendergast, “And also, locally, Senator Jack Reed, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, Congressman David Cicilline and Congressman Jim Langevin to please do more for the future of our country, our students, and their potential children.

“We are in Climate Emergency Code Red. It’s time to act. We have no more time to fool around.”

17 people, including members of and allies to the Sisters of Mercy, as well as teenage Bayview Academy students with homemade signs then marched to the street and held signs, waving at vehicles and spreading the message about the need for climate action.

The action was held to also demand strong action on the part of the United States at the upcoming COP 26 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow from October 31 to November 12.