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WASHINGTON — Joe Biden wasn’t Vincent Vertuccio’s first choice as president. But Mr. Vertuccio, a Long Island high school student, has organized hundreds of young people, driven by one single issue, to help him choose himself: climate change.

On Saturday, the day after Earth Day, Mr. Vertuccio expects to be outside the White House at one of dozens of “Fight for Our Future” rallies scheduled in cities across the country to pressure the government to cut pollution that is warming the world dangerously. planet.

Organizers of the events bring together a broad coalition of youth activists, labor unions, civil rights groups and mainstream environmental organizations to encourage the president, Congress and state legislatures to take aggressive climate action.

They worry that time is running out – both for the atmosphere and fast warming up dangerous levels and legal action to reduce harm. Many supporters believe that after Memorial Day, Washington’s focus will shift to the November midterm elections, making it nearly impossible for lawmakers to negotiate important legislation.

Failure to act will undoubtedly have political ramifications for Mr. Biden and his party, and will jeopardize the support of record numbers of young voters coming out in 2020 to help Democrats secure control of the White House and Congress.

“Young people chose Joe Biden to take action,” said Mr Vertuccio. “If we don’t see climate action take place, I think it would be a huge betrayal of young people from the Democratic Party.”

In interviews with more than a dozen people lobbying, protesting and mobilizing support for climate legislation, many said they saw despair among their peers.

Mr. Biden, who came to the promising position urgent action On what he called the existential threat of climate change, he saw his ambitious plans pass through Parliament, but then watered and stuck in the Senate due to unified opposition alongside Republicans Senator Joe Manchin III, West Virginia Democrat, a strong swing vote in an evenly divided room. Meanwhile, the conservative majority in the US Supreme Court is preparing to rule a case This could sharply limit Mr. Biden’s plans to use executive power to enact new stringent rules on greenhouse pollution from power plants and automobiles.

And rising gas prices due to the war in Ukraine has prompted Mr. Biden to take damning steps for climate activists. HE IS released in record amounts He begged oil, oil and gas companies from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to speed up drilling and temporarily relaxed environmental rules Allowing gasoline mixed with ethanol to be sold during the summer months when it is normally prohibited due to concerns it contributes to smoke generation. he said he would drill more public landHe retracted a promise he made during his campaign. The fossil fuel industry, which was on the defensive over climate policy a year ago, is now getting bolder.

While all this was going on, the United Nations issued a statement. milestone report Time is running out for countries to move away from fossil fuels or face a climate catastrophe, warns top scientists from around the world.

Rob Sherrell, an oceanographer and professor at Rutgers University, said he has spoken to students about the threat posed by climate change since the 1980s, including rising seas, wildfires and extreme storms. “We are in serious danger and frankly I am very scared,” he said. “Our government has done almost nothing about this problem for decades.”

Dr. Sherrell plans to attend the Washington rally with her students, who are packing buses for the trip.

Dr. “There’s a lot of discomfort,” Sherrell said. “The students are exhausted and depressed.” He added that without legislation, Mr. Biden and the Democrats “would lose the support of the next two generations and what that means”.

Analysts agree. “There are real implications for the president,” said Abby Kiesa, deputy director of Tufts University’s Center for Information and Research on Citizenship Learning. In 2020, the center found that voters ages 18 to 29 played a critical role in Mr. Biden’s election, favoring him by 61 percent to 36 percent over President Trump.

Ms. Kiesa said that young voters overwhelmingly cite climate change as one of their top three issues. And those who prioritized it exhibited what he called “high civic preparedness” that was likely to take place in local and national organizations.

“These are young people who are clearly engaged,” he said.

Christy Goldfuss, senior vice president of energy and environmental policy at the Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank, said supporters of climate law felt “terrified, demoralized and tired”.

He said many are concerned that climate provisions in Mr Biden’s legislation, including the $550 billion clean energy tax credit and wind, solar and other clean energy to accelerate the transition to electric vehicles, will “die in the dark” as priorities such as: The war in Ukraine occupies the stage.

Goldfuss, one of the event’s organizers, said he feared that the fragile alliance between different groups supporting climate action—which was often split under Obama—could crumble again if the law is not passed.

“You’re going to have a number of youth organizers we work closely with who think the system is broken and should be blown up, they will no longer see an opportunity to work with either side,” he said.

Mr. Biden will speak in Seattle on Friday to highlight his administration’s efforts on climate beyond legislation. These include a major push to develop solar and offshore winds, new regulations to cut carbon dioxide from exhaust pipes and methane gas from oil and gas wells, and a ban on hydrofluorocarbons – chemicals that warm the earth – used in air conditioning and cooling. He will also sign an executive order on Friday that creates an inventory of mature and old-growth forests on federal land and outlines what the White House calls “climate-smart management and conservation strategies” for those forests.

“We really hope to hear that President Biden is ready to deliver on the promises he made,” said Betamia Coronel, organizer of the Popular Democracy advocacy group in New York.

Sierra Club president Ramon Cruz said activists disgruntled by the Biden administration misdirected their anger.

Fossil fuel companies and lawmakers who block the law “should be the targets of our frustration and anger, not people trying to do something,” said Mr Cruz.

The organizers of the Washington rally tightly choreographed the event in concert with the White House, queuing up speakers from the administration, including White House deputy national adviser Ali Zaidi, to take the blame away from Mr. Biden.

John Paul Mejia, 19, spokesperson for the Sunrise Movement, a climate advocacy organization, became involved in his hometown of Miami after experiencing Hurricane Irma and witnessing firsthand the challenges faced by poorer communities.

He called passing the climate law “my generation’s struggle” and spoke of “heartbreaking uncertainty about the people and places I love to be here tomorrow” as sea level rise, severe storms and floods threaten Miami.

“Young people have given this administration a bold mandate for action on climate,” Mr. Mejia said. He said he did not regret supporting Mr. Biden, but avoided it when asked if he would do so in 2024.

“I can’t say that President Biden acted with enough rigor and clarity to bear the weight of this moment,” he said. “I’ll have to decide that as I run.”

Christopher Flavelle contributing reporting.