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WASHINGTON — Environmental activists, distraught by the government’s slow strides on climate change, gathered outside the White House on Saturday afternoon to urge President Biden and Congress to swiftly pass a climate bill that has been stalled in the Senate since December.

The demonstration at the White House was one of dozens of “Fight for Our Future” rallies held across the country to pressure the government to reduce the pollution that has dangerously warmed the planet, and was limited to one-week events to coincide with Earth Day.

“We came here because back-to-back tornadoes are hitting us in North Carolina and we have no issues,” said Willett Simpkins, 68, a retired nursing home care manager from Wallace, NC. every year. It’s time they stopped talking about it and did something about it.”

Hundreds of people gathered under the pale green trees in Lafayette Park to shout, “Climate action! Climate action!” Many have worked for environmental organizations, but there were voters among them who wanted Mr. Biden to know that not enacting climate legislation could cost him their votes.

Soaring gas prices due to the war in Ukraine prompted Mr. Biden to take goddamn action against climate activists. HE IS released in record amounts He bought oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve and begged oil and gas companies to speed up drilling. Mr. Biden said he would do it on the orders of a federal judge. drill more public landdespite a campaign promise to stop new oil and gas extraction.

Gracie Chaney, 27, a PhD candidate in physics at the University of Maryland, said these actions felt like betrayal. “I’m pretty disappointed,” she said. “There were a lot of words he didn’t play. It feels like we’re going back to the 19th century or something.”

The events unfold at a time when scientists say the window is rapidly narrowing to avoid turning the planet into an irreversible future of more deadly storms, wildfires, flooding, drought, food shortages and mass migration.

Mr. Biden has pledged to halve greenhouse gases by 2050; This is a target fit for what scientists say is necessary from the United States to prevent such catastrophes. The United States has historically produced most of the pollution that causes climate change. The country is currently the world’s second largest polluter Chinese.

But unless Democrats with a very thin majority in Congress enact major climate laws in the next few months, many analysts say the window to achieving that goal will close. Republicans are in favor of gaining control of at least one house of Congress in the midterm elections this fall, and their determined opposition to climate action could punctuate any hope of new legislation any time soon.

Scientists are declaring with increasing urgency that nations must act now to prevent a sad future. A great scientific report The report, released earlier this month, concluded that countries needed to move away immediately and massively from fossil fuels, which have been the foundation of major economies for more than a century.

The world has warmed an average of 1.1 degrees Celsius (1.9 degrees Fahrenheit) since the Industrial Age, largely due to human activities, namely the burning of oil, gas and coal. Scientists say that every fraction of warming to some degree is leading to more frequent droughts, more severe storms, more species extinctions – these effects are already being felt around the world. every corner of the world. Scientists say that once the Earth crosses a warming threshold of 1.5 degrees (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit), the likelihood of devastating heat waves, drought, wildfires and storms increases significantly.

At an Earth Day event Seattle on FridayMr Biden spoke about a number of measures his administration has taken to reduce pollution, but stressed the need to pass overdue legislation that would provide more than $500 billion in tax credits designed to also speed up the country’s transition to wind and solar power. when it comes to electric cars. “All I have to do is look around,” he said. “Cities and states are taking action. Businesses are moving. I’m acting. We need Congress to act as well.”

Mr. Simpkins followed Mr. Biden’s actions, including a crackdown on planet-warming methane seeping from oil and gas wells, and a ban on hydrofluorocarbons, a greenhouse gas produced by refrigerator coolers.

“Things about gas emissions, that was good,” he said. “Things about Freon and air conditioning, that was good. But they need more. Trees that are burned aren’t replanted every year. Houses that were hit don’t come back,” he said.

Mr. Simpkins voted for Mr. Biden in 2020, but said he would not run in the 2024 election unless Mr. Biden could introduce strong climate laws. “I hate to say this but I don’t vote,” she said.