American actress and political activist Jane Fonda urged the public to "take a bold, ambitious action" to transition the economy off of fossil fuels and onto clean and renewable energy. Fonda said in her website that she could no longer stand by and let the elected officials ignore and empower the industries that destroy the planet for profit.
The 81-year-old actress said she intended to demand in cutting all funding and permits for new fossil fuel development, together with its exportation, processing, and refinement. She added the production will not do any good if companies will continue in investing and developing prospects on non-renewable energy.
Fonda said human beings must proactively do something to end climate crisis and cited a report from United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change that huge parts of the planet will be "uninhabitable" if human beings don't do something that has never been done in human history in 11 years. Fonda acknowledged that she had to do something after reading "People, Power, and Profits: Progressive Capitalism for an Age of Discontent" by Joseph Stiglitz and "On Fire: The (Burning) Case for a Green New Deal" by Naomi Klein. The 81-year-old actress claimed she was 'inspired and emboldened by the incredible movement' spearheaded by Greta Thunberg and other young activists which made Fonda decide to establish #FireDrillFridays in U.S. Capitol.
Upon learning about Thunberg's personal battle with climate change, Fonda said she was determined to do something about the crisis which was "barreling straight at human beings like a train."
"We have to be sure that the crisis that is climate change remains front and center like a ticking time bomb," she said.
Fonda also noted Thunberg's call to the public and the lawmakers that human beings must "behave like our houses are on fire" in acknowledging that everybody is dealing with a true emergency.
She added that she moved to Washington, D.C. to be closer to the epicenter of the fight for the climate.
However, Fonda has been taken into custody, together with 16 people, during the climate change rally which she established after moving in Washington D.C according to news reports.
According to a statement released to People from United States Capitol Police Communications Director Eva Malecki, the protesters were taken in for "unlawfully demonstrating on the East Front of the U.S. Capitol."
Malecki added the protesters were charged with "crowding, obstructing or incommoding."
The Los Angeles Times claimed that Fonda's mission in moving to Washington, D.C. includes being more politically active, engaging in civil disobedience, and getting arrested every Friday.
She was filmed standing and chanting "What do we want? Climate justice," together with other protesters while holding the placards.
It's not Fonda's first climate protest, according to Washington Post. In 2016, she protested along with other activist groups to stop constructing the oil pipeline in a land claimed by Standing Rock Sioux Tribe in North Dakota. She has likewise protested in various places in the United States such as Los Angeles, Vancouver, and Seattle.