ADirector and climate activist Jane Fonda urged Americans to vote for “climate champions” at the polls Wednesday at the TIME100 Summit.
“Joe Biden provides us with a context in which we can fight and he can be pressured,” Fonda said. “The orange guy, forget it. There is no room for fighting or disagreeing.”
Although Fonda did not explicitly address Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, her comments appeared to be aimed in part at those on the left frustrated by the Biden administration’s reluctance to call for a permanent ceasefire and its continued military aid to Israel while carries out what critics consider genocide. Some promised not to vote for him. A December 2023 New York Times/Siena College poll found that nearly three-quarters of voters ages 18 to 29 disapprove of Biden’s response to Israel’s conduct in Gaza.
Fonda joined Greenpeace and other climate activists to advocate for Congress to pass the Green New Deal in 2019. She has been arrested a few times for protesting. That legislation, a bipartisan bill that aims to reduce U.S. greenhouse gas emissions to zero, has so far failed to pass Congress.
Fonda says she’s tired of seeing Republicans block important science-backed climate legislation. “If you can’t change people, change people,” she says. (Fonda runs a Climate PAC in her name.)
Fonda, whose love for the environment dates back to childhood; she was a tomboy who escaped to nature when “things weren’t so good at home.” She remembered how there used to be more birds and no highways or smog in Los Angeles in the 1930s when she was born.
“Nature is where I found solace,” she says. “When nature started to disappear, I noticed.”
Fonda’s chat with TIME Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs was the closing conversation of the TIME100 Summit, which preceded closing remarks from TIME CEO Jessica Sibley.
The TIME100 Summit brings together leaders from the global TIME100 community to highlight solutions and encourage action toward a better world. This year’s summit features a variety of speakers from diverse sectors, including politics, business, health and science, culture and more.
TIME100 Summit 2024 speakers include actor Elliot Page, designer Tory Burch, Olympic medalist Ibtihaj Muhammad, WNBA champion A’ja Wilson, author Margaret Atwood, NYSE President Lynn Martin, comedian Alex Edelman, the Professor Yoshua Bengio, the 68th Secretary of State John Kerry, and many more.
The TIME100 Summit was presented by Booking.com, Citi, Merck, Northern Data Group, Glenfiddich Single Malt Scotch Whiskey and Verizon.
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