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sunrise movement
National Climate Group Endorses 'Working-Class Champion' Zohran Mamdani for NYC Mayor
"Zohran embodies the kind of bold, people-powered leadership that Sunrise was built to fight for," said the head of the national Sunrise Movement.
Apr 29, 2025
In a first for the national branch of the youth climate group, the Sunrise Movement announced Tuesday that they have endorsed state Assemblymember and democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani in the New York City mayoral race, citing his "bold vision" for confronting the climate emergency and his campaign's focus on making the city more affordable for working people.
The national Sunrise Movement has not previously offered a mayoral endorsement, according to a spokesperson for the group. Their support for Mamdani follows an earlier endorsement of him by Sunrise Movement NYC in March.
"Zohran embodies the kind of bold, people-powered leadership that Sunrise was built to fight for," said Aru Shiney-Ajay, executive director of the Sunrise Movement, on Tuesday. "He's shown us what it looks like to take on the fossil fuel industry, offer a transformative vision for climate policy, and stand unapologetically with working-class communities. This is the leadership New York City—and our whole movement—needs to meet the climate crisis head-on."
Michael Magazine, elected partnerships lead of Sunrise NYC added that "Zohran is a true climate, youth, and working-class champion."
While affordability, not climate, has been the central focus of Mamdani's campaign, the candidate recently toldThe Nation that "climate and quality of life are not two separate concerns. They are, in fact, one and the same."
His campaign proposes a plan called Green Schools for a Healthier New York City, which pledges to rehab hundreds of public school buildings with renewable energy infrastructure and HVAC upgrades, remake hundreds of asphalt schoolyards into green spaces, and create at least 15,000 union jobs for people who build, maintain, and run New York City schools. It also proposes using 50 schools to serve as resilience hubs, a year-round resource for community members who can use the space during extreme weather events for shelter and to receive aid.
Mamdani has also made free, fast city buses a core plank of his campaign.
Mamdani, who began the race with relatively little name recognition, has risen in polls to the number two spot. He has garnered endorsements from New York City's largest public employee union AFSCME District Council 37, the NYC chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America, Jewish Voice for Peace Action, and the Muslim Democratic Club of New York City, to name a few.
Many organizations backing Mamdani have endorsed a slate of candidates because of New York City's rank choice voting system, which allows voters to select multiple candidates on their ballot as opposed to one.
In their release on Tuesday, the national Sunrise Movement did not opt to endorse a slate, but noted that Sunrise Movement NYC is "urging voters to rank a full progressive slate—and to reject Andrew Cuomo—in the upcoming election."
The recommendation not to rank mayoral candidate and former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who has consistently polled at number one, aligns with the aims of the "DREAM" campaign (which stands for Don't Rank Eric or Andrew for Mayor). The DREAM campaign, which is also targeting candidate and current Mayor Eric Adams, is backed by United Auto Workers Region 9A, another Mamdani endorser, and the political action committee New Yorkers for A Better New York Today.
The group is urging voter unity around keeping Cuomo and Adams off ballots, and hoping that their campaign will cut into Cuomo's formidable lead, and further destabilize Adams' position in the race.
Mamdani has become a viable contender in the race in part because of an impressive ground game. Last week, the campaign announced that volunteers have so far knocked on over 220,000 doors across the city.
According to the Sunrise Movement, Sunrise Movement NYC is mobilizing "neighborhood teams" to canvass and turn out voters for Mamdani.
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Green Groups Organizing 'All Out on Earth Day' Protests Against Trump Authoritarianism
"Trump is dismantling critical environmental safeguards, putting lives at risk, and leaving working people to suffer the devastating consequences," said one campaigner.
Apr 14, 2025
A coalition of green groups on Monday promoted plans for nationwide "All Out on Earth Day" rallies "to confront rising authoritarianism and defend our environment, democracy, and future" against the Trump administration's gutting of government agencies and programs tasked with environmental protection and combating the climate emergency.
Organizers of the protests—which are set to take place from April 18-30—are coalescing opposition to President Donald Trump's attacks on the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and other agencies, which include efforts to rescind or severely curtail regulations aimed at protecting the public from pollution, oil spills, and other environmental and climate harms.
"This Earth Day, we fight for everything: for our communities, our democracy, and the future our children deserve."
The Green New Deal Network, one of the event's organizers, decried Trump's "massive rollbacks" to the EPA and noted that funds "for critical programs have been frozen and federal workers have been unjustly fired" as Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, takes a wrecking ball to government agencies.
"This Earth Day, we fight for everything: for our communities, our democracy, and the future our children deserve," Green New Deal Network national director Kaniela Ing said in a statement.
"Trump, Musk, and their billionaire allies are waging an all-out assault on the agencies that keep our air clean, our water safe, and our families healthy," Ing continued. "They're gutting the programs and projects we fought hard to win—programs that bring down energy costs and create good-paying jobs in towns across America, especially in red states."
"So, we need to make sure the pressure continues and our protests aren't just a flash in the pan," Ing added. "When we stand together—workers, environmentalists, everyday folks—we can not only stop them, but we can build the world we deserve."
All Out on Earth Day participants include Sunrise Movement, Climate Power, Third Act, Popular Democracy, Climate Defenders, the Democratic National Committee Council on Environment and Climate, Unitarian Universalists, NAACP, Dayenu, Evergreen, United to End Polluter Handouts Coalition, Climate Hawks Vote, and the Center of Biological Diversity (CBD).
Last month, CBD sued five Cabinet-level agencies in a bid to ensure that DOGE teams tasked with finding ways to cut costs—including via workforce reductions—fully comply with federal transparency law. This, after DOGE advised the termination of thousands of probationary staffers at the EPA, Department of the Interior, and other agencies.
Although a federal judge last month ordered the Trump administration to reinstate thousands of government workers fired from half a dozen agencies based on the "lie" that their performance warranted termination, the right-wing U.S. Supreme Court subsequently sided with the White House, finding that plaintiffs in the case lacked the legal standing to sue.
Bill McKibben, co-founder of 350.org and founder of the elder-led Third Act, harkened back to the historic first Earth Day in 1970.
"Fifty-five years ago, a massive turnout on the first Earth Day forced a corrupt Republican administration to pass the Clean Air Act and the Clean Water Act, and create the EPA," he said on Monday, referring to the presidency of Richard Nixon. "Let's do it again!"
Aru Shiney-Ajay, executive director of the youth-led Sunrise Movement, highlighted the need for action now, noting that Trump "is giving oil and gas billionaires the green light to wreck our planet and put millions of lives at risk, all so they can pad their bottom line."
"Just three months into the Trump presidency, the damage has already been catastrophic," she added. "Trump is dismantling critical environmental safeguards, putting lives at risk, and leaving working people to suffer the devastating consequences. "This Earth Day, we stand united in defiance of their greed and fight for a future that prioritizes people and the planet over profits."
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'They Will Have to Come Through Us': Sunrise Protests Trump Attacks With Education Department Study-In
"Trump and Musk want to defund public schools so they can give their fellow billionaires a bigger tax break," warned one organizer. "We won't let them rob us of a good education."
Mar 21, 2025
Students and allies rallied outside the Washington, D.C. headquarters of the U.S. Department of Education on Friday for a "study-in" protest against President Donald Trump's plan to shut down the federal agency—a longtime policy goal of right-wing groups including the organization behind the infamous Project 2025—and other administration attacks on their future.
Protesters set up school desks with signs reading "Trump, Stop Stealing From Kids" and "Kids Deserve Good Schools" on a sidewalk outside the agency's main office. Sunrise Movement, the youth-led climate campaign that led the demonstration, vowed to "defend our schools, our futures, and our democracy" from attacks by Trump and Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency.
"If Trump and Musk want to destroy the futures of millions of students across the country, they will have to come through us," Sunrise Movement said on Instagram ahead of the protest.
On Thursday, Trump signed an executive order directing billionaire businesswoman-turned-Education Secretary Linda McMahon to "take all necessary steps to facilitate the closure of the Department of Education and return education authority to the states." Trump's order followed the Department of Education's announcement earlier this month that it would fire half of its workforce.
The executive order delighted conservatives, who have long targeted the agency tasked with protecting civil rights and equal access in schools, administering federal student aid programs, funding billions of dollars in scholastic loans and grants, and more. The Heritage Foundation, which led Project 2025—often described as a blueprint for a far-right takeover of the federal government—applauded the directive.
However, according to Sunrise Movement:
Abolishing the Department of Education would have severe impacts on students, teachers, and parents. Schools will face larger class sizes, fewer teachers, and severe underfunding, making it even harder for students to get the education they deserve. Pell Grants would be eliminated, putting higher education out of reach for millions. Programs that support students with disabilities, English learners, and low-income families—as well as funding for school safety, mental health services, and building repairs—will be slashed.
"Trump and Musk want to defund public schools so they can give their fellow billionaires a bigger tax break," 19-year-old Sunrise Movement schools organizing manager Adah Crandall of Washington, D.C. said Friday.
"We won't let them rob us of a good education," Crandall vowed, adding that she won't let "Musk and his goons" destroy her generation's future.
Wanya Allen, a student at Seminole State College of Florida and Sunrise Movement's Philadelphia community lead, said: "The Department of Education is a human right. We are responsible as the youth to take the torch from our ancestors to continue the fight."
"The Pell Grant that allowed me to attend college is only made possible by the Department of Education," Allen added. "Trump and his billionaire Cabinet are stealing from everyday people like me and our opportunities to access education."
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