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Environmental activist group Extinction Rebellion is taking its message to the doors during the General Election campaign.<\/p>\nEnvironmental activist group Extinction Rebellion is taking its message to the doors during the General Election campaign.<\/p>\n
The \u201cclimate canvassers\u201d went door-to-door on Sunday, highlighting to the public \u201cthe urgency of the climate crisis and the need to make climate action a key election issue\u201d, a statement said.<\/p>\n
They argue that this election is pivotal in ensuring that Irish political leaders take the actions necessary to reach the targets set out by leading climate scientists.<\/p>\n
Extinction Rebellion, which says it is a strictly non-partisan movement, is not canvassing on behalf of any political party or candidate, and has been hitting the doors nationwide since November last year.<\/p>\n
Volunteers took to the streets on Sunday in Dublin 8, around Christchurch, and Extinction Rebellion member Annette Jogensen says the group received a warm reception.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen we get to the door, we\u2019re quick to say we\u2019re canvassing but not for any political party or candidate,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
“After that people completely change mood, they\u2019re very guarded at first, but they get really open and curious when we tell them why we\u2019re there, that\u2019s a lovely way in.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe say that we\u2019re canvassing on behalf of climate and 90% of people are supportive and interested.<\/p>\n
\u201cToday we had one out of about 50 houses that said it was nonsense, but the vast majority of people are concerned.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s right across the board, I spoke with one woman in her sixties minding her grandchildren talking about how worried she was for their future, and everyone\u2019s seen the news in Australia, so that came up an awful lot.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt the same time, all the young people we speak to are straight away on top of it, and knowledgeable.\u201d<\/p>\n
Although not backing any particular candidates, the group says it asks the public to raise the issue of climate when politicians come knocking on their doors.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re doing deep canvassing but listening as well, allowing them talk themselves into realizing the issue is so big,\u201d Annette added.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe ask them to raise the issue with candidates that come to their door, we ask them to ask about the 8% reduction in greenhouse gas target, for instance.<\/p>\n
\u201cClimate can get very abstract so we ask people to raise these issues and we ask people to consider the politicians\u2019 responses too when thinking about to vote.<\/p>\n
\u201cOften people ask us who to vote for, but we just tell them we can\u2019t tell them.\u201d<\/p>\n
The group, which rose to prominence in Ireland last year after a number of traffic-halting protests in Dublin city center, with elaborate dramatics, costumes and music, as well as a sleep-in in Merrion Square Park, says it is attracting new members all the time.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s hard to count how many official \u2018members\u2019 we have, because of the structure, we\u2019re made up of affinity groups, not one general membership organisation,\u201d Annette said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s hard to calculate, we have over 1,000 people in the social media threads we use to communicate, but those who are very involved, canvassers for instance, we would have a couple of hundred.\u201d<\/p>\n