The U.S. Youth Climate Strike, an organization inspired by climate change poster child Greta Thunberg, announced on Tuesday they are endorsing Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT).

The group has joined 17-year-old Swedish teen Thunberg’s Fridays for Future movement, which encourages children to ditch school on Friday to participate in “climate strikes” across the country. It issued a statement on its endorsement of Bernie Sanders:

As Americans are being murdered because of apathy to climate change, the organization believes Americans must elect a president who is unwavering in their pursuit of true climate justice. We cannot afford to wait any longer, deliberating on incremental policy and compromises. We must elect a president who is not afraid to disrupt existing establishments. Sanders has a history of standing up to corrupt politicians and billionaires and implementing radical legislation. He has also already gained the support of millions of Americans of color. Sanders understands it will not take just one person to end the decades of crime levied against lower income and POC communities by Wall Street, big business, and politicians, acknowledging that the real battle is being fought within disenfranchised communities.U.S. Youth Climate Strike does not believe the power of electoral politics is sufficient to address the climate crisis, nor does it believe the current American political system should hold ultimate sway in climate action. However, it does believe that the most immediate solution consists of electing a candidate that will not hesitate to secure a Green New Deal. While the climate movement moves its attention to people-based, permanent solutions to climate change, youth can continue to organize for a president they believe will be a step forward in securing climate justice. We understand that Sanders will not fix the climate crisis, nor is he somehow the founder of the climate movement, but U.S. Youth Climate Strike backs Sanders because it believes in the president’s power to fundamentally transform the way politicians address the most pressing issue of our generation. The decisions Americans make in their elected officials will undoubtedly affect the next year in climate policy and regulation.

“Bernie is the climate candidate because he takes the most bold stance and listens to communities at the same time,” U.S. Youth Climate Strike co-founder and partnerships director Isra Hirsi said. “He’s the only one I trust to hold fossil fuel executives accountable and fight for a Green New Deal. He understands we are running out of time and I know he will do everything in his power to stop this crisis.”

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