Climate change protests: Do extreme stunts actually work?
It's been a week full of headline-grabbing climate protests in the District. But, do extreme stunts actually work to showcase activists' messages in a positive light?
Bruce Russell-Jayne was one of the protesters who blocked traffic Wednesday on the George Washington Memorial Parkway.
"We don’t apologize for what we’re doing here," he told FOX 5 later in the week.
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Protesters block section of George Washington Memorial Parkway
A section of the George Washington Memorial Parkway was closed by protesters who were demonstrating in the roadway Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Tim Martin was one of two protesters who smeared paint on the casing that holds Edgar Degas’ sculpture Little Dancer Aged Fourteen at the National Gallery of Art on Thursday.
Climate group Declare Emergency organized the demonstrations with the goal, they said, of getting the president to declare a climate emergency.
"You have to do this perceived conflict raising action in order to get our voices heard," Martin said Friday. "We’ve tried everything else. We’ve tried voting, signing petitions, nobody’s listening and nobody is talking about the climate emergency."
Some of the people who spoke with FOX 5 in Northwest D.C. on Friday said they supported the protests, including Andi Bisk.
"I think it’s awesome," she said after looking at pictures of the protests.
Others felt differently, however, even if they do support the underlying cause.
"I think that people should be smart climate change advocates and we should get the truth out there because climate change is real," explained David Searby. "But this doesn’t do their cause any good."
Neither Martin nor Russell-Jayne said they were concerned their actions could push people away from supporting their cause.
"Because we have research that shows these actions raise awareness," Martin said.
"We’re not trying to convince the deniers," Russell-Jayne said. "We’re not trying to convert anyone. We are after those people who are already concerned about climate change to get them to up their level of action."
Climate protests are expected to continue into the weekend, with the group Climate Defiance saying they plan to blockade Saturday’s White House Correspondents Dinner.