Declare Emergency is an environmentalist activist organization that organizes protests, often blocking roadways for protest-related arrests. The organization has criticized President Joe Biden for “insufficient” environmentalist policies and has used its protests to bring attention to its demands for him to declare a state of emergency and use executive powers to end the use of conventional energy. ¹

Declare Emergency cites David King, former United Kingdom Chief Scientist, saying that the world has three to four years to address climate change. It encourages its volunteers to protest the use of conventional energy to the point of being arrested, arguing that it is the moral way to promote environmentalism. ² Following activists’ arrests at protests, Declare Emergency publishes statements from its volunteers stating that their actions were necessary as they claim there are as of 2023 only “three years” left to prevent climate catastrophe as a result of conventional energy use. ^{3 4}

Background

Declare Emergency is a project under Action Network, a 501(c)(4) advocacy organization that sells fundraising and organizing resources to left-of-center activist organizations. ^{5 6} It is also a member of the A22 Network, which consists of environmentalist groups across eleven countries that lobby their governments to declare a “climate emergency.” The network is said to be primarily funded by Climate Emergency Fund. ^{7 8}

Declare Emergency hosts protest to call on President Joe Biden to declare a state of emergency regarding the climate and to use executive powers to ban the extraction of conventional energy sources. Its protests are designed to result in “mass arrests” of its protestors as it argues it would make its activism more significant. It also argues that allowing the use of conventional energy to continue will result in climate catastrophe that would allegedly disturb the “status quo,” which it explains is its motivations when it blocks roads as protest. ⁹

In April 2023, Declare Emergency activists threw paint on the display case of Edgar Degas’ “Little Dancer” sculpture at the National Gallery of Art Museum in Washington, D.C., intentionally vandalizing it to draw attention to the organization’s environmentalist activism. The organization released a statement saying the statue of a happy child does not reflect the organization’s narrative of a future full of suffering that will occur if conventional energy use is not ended immediately. ¹⁰

Activities

In October 2022, Declare Emergency protestors gathered from across the country to block Interstate 495 in Silver Spring, Maryland. The protest was regarding the development of the Line Five pipeline which would run from Canada through Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan. ¹¹ In December 2022, six Declare Emergency members of the protest were sentenced to 60 days in jail by a Montgomery County, Maryland judge and only had to serve between 4 and 10 days of their 60-day sentence. Each member was also given a $500 fine and were sentenced to one year probation. ¹²

In April 2023, Declare Emergency held a protest blocking George Washington Memorial Parkway outside Washington, D.C. following Earth Week. It stated that the protest was necessary because it claims there should be more environmentalist policies in place as it argued there were “three years” left to do so. The activists called on President Joe Biden to declare a state of emergency in regard to the climate, enabling him to have maximum authority to enact environmentalist policies. ¹³

1. “Declare Emergency.” DECLARE EMERGENCY. Accessed May 8, 2023. https://www.declareemergency.org/
2. “Declare Emergency.” DECLARE EMERGENCY. Accessed May 8, 2023. https://www.declareemergency.org/.
3. “Declare Emergency Trial Results in Seven Day Suspended Jail Time.” DECLARE EMERGENCY, March 2, 2023. https://www.declareemergency.org/press/dmehsfxuomi9lyh3xk4swt45jzg2ax-ca2nh.
4. Emergency, Declare. “Traffic Blocked on the GW Parkway.” DECLARE EMERGENCY, May 2, 2023. https://www.declareemergency.org/press/traffic-blocked-on-the-gw-parkway.
5. “Action Network Plans – Action Network.” Action Network -, August 24, 2022. https://actionnetwork.org/get-started.
6. “Donate.” DECLARE EMERGENCY. Accessed May 8, 2023. https://www.declareemergency.org/donate.
7. “Paint Tossed onto Degas’s Little Dancer Statue Due to Insufficient Action on the Climate Emergency.” DECLARE EMERGENCY, April 27, 2023. https://www.declareemergency.org/press/paint-tossed-onto-degass-little-dancer-statue.
8. Kaminsky, Gabe. “Hollywood and Left-Wing Foundations behind Climate Charity Quietly Bankrolling Extremist Protest Groups.” Washington Examiner, May 3, 2023. https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/climate-emergency-fund-extremist-protest-groups-hollywood-biden.
9. “FAQ.” DECLARE EMERGENCY. Accessed May 8, 2023. https://www.declareemergency.org/faq.
10. “Paint Tossed onto Degas’s Little Dancer Statue Due to Insufficient Action on the Climate Emergency.” DECLARE EMERGENCY, April 27, 2023. https://www.declareemergency.org/press/paint-tossed-onto-degass-little-dancer-statue.
11. “Declare Emergency Blocks the Inner Loop of the Capitol Beltway in Maryland – Again!” DECLARE EMERGENCY, February 2, 2023. https://www.declareemergency.org/press/declare-emergency-blocks-the-inner-loop-of-the-capitol-beltway-in-maryland-again.
12. “Six Declare Emergency Supporters Sentenced to Jail December 13 2022.” DECLARE EMERGENCY, February 2, 2023. https://www.declareemergency.org/press/press-release-2022-12-14.
13. “Traffic Blocked on the GW Parkway.” DECLARE EMERGENCY, May 2, 2023. https://www.declareemergency.org/press/traffic-blocked-on-the-gw-parkway.