People from around the world left their home, work and school Friday to partake in a global climate crisis strike.
Phoenix was no exception, with hundreds of people showing up to the Maricopa County Courthouse and marching 1.3 miles to the Arizona State Capitol Building.
The global strike was initiated by Greta Thunberg, a 16-year-old Swedish environmental activist, who has spent the last year protesting what she sees as a lack of action regarding climate change.
Thunberg sat in front of the Swedish parliament for three weeks, until Sweden would align themselves with the Paris Agreement and has continued to protest every Friday since.
Influenced by Thunberg, the world joined together in striking, and Phoenix’s Arizona Youth Climate Strike (AYCS) group organized a local protest, drawing up to 600 attendees, according to DPS estimates.
“Either we take action, or millions of people suffer, including people in my community and people I love,” said Claire Nelson, a member of the AYCS organizational team.
Members of the community took action by adorning countless creative climate crisis signs to grab the attention of onlookers while marching. People of all ages joined the strike, from toddlers to senior citizens.
The AYCS held a rally once every protestor reached the State Capitol Building, allowing speakers Rhyan Antonowicz, Anna Mohr-Almeida, Columba Sainz, Daniella Lopez, Laura Medina, Laura Dent, Sarra Tekola, Aditi Narayanan and Brian Mecinas to touch on subjects of capitalism’s effect on carbon emissions, renewable energy, the impact of climate change on lower income communities and what politicians should be doing about the crisis.
During the rally, AYCS called for the City of Phoenix to declare a Climate Emergency, pass a new Climate Action Plan that brings more to the table than the Paris Climate Accord and create a new climate plan that includes all Phoenix residents being protected from climate change effects, including the homeless and low-income communities.
“Houston is underwater, the Amazon is on fire, the Bahamas were destroyed and these are only the climate impacts of this month. So, I need you to be able to skip school and work, break laws and act like your house is on fire, because it is,” ASU Sustainability student Tekola said, leaving protestors attending the rally cheering.
According to the AYCS, recently the Arizona Democratic Party has endorsed the Green New Deal, proving the climate work being done in recent months by the community worthwhile.
Contact the reporter at anweber3@asu.edu.
