We need to follow the road map the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has laid out to keep us below 1.5 degrees C of heating and preserve a healthy, thriving planet. President Biden has the power to reject new oil and gas infrastructure, including new methane gas terminals. The dangerous backslide of, the largest oil and gas project on public lands, must come to an end if we stand any chance.
The president can also make significant contributions to protecting our oceans, our best ally in the fight against climate change, by signing the Global Oceans Treaty at theGeneral Assembly this fall. He should additionally support a strong Global Plastics Treaty that caps production on plastics, which are made from oil and gas and are polluting our planet.
On Sept. 17, thousands of activists will be heading to New York for the"March to End Fossil Fuels" to demand that leaders like President Biden phase-out fossil fuels and start an equitable and just transition to renewable energy. This will be part of the largest global climate mobilization to demand the end of fossil fuels since the COVID-19 pandemic. It's time to once again take to the streets and demand that our leaders meet the scale of the crisis, especially in the face of mounting disasters like Idalia. We are in charge of our future, and we won't rest until our leaders act.The views expressed in this article are the writer's own.