Appearing at Mitch McConnell’s office marks the first time the youth climate advocates have used their tactics at a Republican office in Washington. | Alex Wong/Getty Images Energy & Environment Climate protesters storm McConnell's office

More than 100 young people stormed Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s office Monday urging him to back an aggressive campaign to confront climate change.

The protest comes as McConnell is planning a vote on the Green New Deal resolution in an effort to highlight Democratic divisions over the ambitious set of goals, but the youth activists say he should be held accountable for failing to put forward any strategy of his own to do anything about the issue.


“All we’re asking for is to have a god-----d chance at a livable future," said Varshini Prakash, co-founder of the Sunrise Movement, which organized Monday's demonstration.

The youth advocates at McConnell's office held signs that said, “Mitch, Look us in the eyes” and “Oil and Gas Money or Save Our Lives," among other messages.

Capitol Police began arresting demonstrators about 45 minutes after they arrived. Organizers said 42 people were arrested.

Appearing at McConnell’s office marks the first time the youth climate advocates have used their tactics at a Republican office in Washington. They’ve previously protested Democrats including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Energy and Commerce Chairman Frank Pallone (D-N.J.), among others.

McConnell's staff offered to see if someone would meet with the group.

“We need to show him Kentucky needs a Green New Deal,” said Destine Grigsby, a Louisville high school student who attended Monday's demonstration in Washington and protested outside McConnell’s state offices last week. “We need to show Mitch McConnell how powerful we are and that we’re not done here.”

McConnell has consistently opposed actions meant to address climate change. He hailed President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Paris climate accord as something that “could not have happened soon enough” and condemned carbon dioxide emissions rules for power plants as “an intrusive regulatory regime — built not on effective policy, but on far-left ideology.”

The Senate leader has promised to bring the Green New Deal resolution offered by Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) up for a vote as soon as this week.

Youth climate advocates. | Photo courtesy Anthony Adragna

He’s resisted a push earlier this month from Schumer to state his position on the scientific consensus that human activity is driving climate change. In March 2014, he cast doubt on the mainstream scientific view: “For everybody who thinks it's warming, I can find somebody who thinks it isn't," McConnell told the Cincinnati Enquirer editorial board.

In response to Monday's protest, a McConnell spokesman said, “As with all Kentuckians visiting DC, we welcomed them to the office today. It's worth noting that two weeks before, Senator McConnell had already announced that he will be bringing the Green New Deal up for a vote in the U.S. Senate. Also last week, Senator McConnell's State Director met with a group of students from the organization in the Louisville office to discuss the issue.”

The protest of McConnell comes just days after senior Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein dismissed demands from middle and high school students to support the Green New Deal during a tense gathering in San Francisco. Her reaction shows the internal skepticism among many Democrats in backing the ambitious plan to decarbonize the U.S. economy within a decade.

"You come in here and you say it has to be my way or the highway," Feinstein told the group. "I don't respond to that. I've gotten elected. I just ran. I was elected by almost a million vote plurality and I know what I'm doing. Maybe people should listen a little bit."