Police in New York City arrested 45 climate protesters Monday morning for blocking several lanes of traffic on the FDR and West Side Highway throughout the early commute.
Protesters from the Sunrise Movement and Extinction Rebellion made their stand on the busy city thoroughfares calling for immediate action from the federal government and, in particular, President Joe Biden.
The groups want to keep Congress from cutting climate initiatives that were in the Democrats' Build Back Better plan, the very plan Biden traveled to New Jersey on Monday to promote.
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"Biden promised to cut emissions by half by 2030 and now the legislation that can make it happen, everything that is hanging on the future of life on the planet, is hanging on what's happening in Congress and that's been negotiated down," protester Ana Cordeiro said.
Talks between lawmakers have brought down the original $3.5 trillion price tag of the bill, which currently stands closer to $2 trillion as negotiations continue.
The Associated Press reported last week that Biden continues to fight for $500 billion in tax credits, grants and loans to fight climate change. Those credits include tax breaks for energy producers that reach emission-reduction goals.
Between to two protests, hundreds of supporters came out to get the attention of the president and lawmakers in Washington. Several dozen were chained to one another while a handful laid down in the middle of traffic.
The groups spread out on opposite sides of the island were able to successfully block entire directions of traffic for roughly an hour.
Police arrested 13 protesters on the FDR and another 32 demonstrators on the West Side Highway. Both protests were cleared out and most traffic had resumed by 11 a.m.
