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LA youth rallies for global climate strike
Environment Sep 15, 2023
| Photo courtesy of mathiaswasik/Flickr (CC BY 2.0)
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Hundreds of young Angelenos Friday will march in streets and join others around the world in a Global Climate Strike, a day of action against climate inaction.
Youth Climate Strike Los Angeles, the group organizing Friday’s action, said they expect more than 500 people to rally outside of L.A. City Hall at noon to protest the lack of action they say is needed to address the climate and save lives.
The first Global Climate Strike was in September 2019, inspired by Swedish activist Greta Thunberg, who started demanding political action by skipping school and protesting at the Swedish parliament.
Since then, climate strikes have been led by youth leadership across the globe, including here in L.A.
“We’re striking in line with demands centered on putting organized people-pressure on our elected officials to act now on climate crisis, to wake up people in this city, to address the climate crisis head-on, and to end our dependence on oil,” Youth Strike L.A. stated in a public document.
The group intends to build power with broader social movements here in L.A., support other youth leaders to fight for climate adaptation and to mobilize L.A. to focus on climate action.
The march will begin at 1:45 p.m., and the group will lead four different teams to rally outside City Hall, L.A. County, L.A. Department of Water and Power, and the headquarters of Los Angeles Unified School District.
Youth Climate Strike L.A. has list a of demands for L.A. leaders. Organizers are calling upon local, state and federal governments, as well as LADWP and LAUSD, to declare a climate emergency and increase efforts to end oil drilling, plant more trees, greening schools, improving public transit, and building affordable, climate-friendly housing.
According to scientists at NASA’s Goddard Institute of Space Studies, this summer was Earth’s hottest since global records in 1880.
“Summer 2023’s record-setting temperatures aren’t just a set of numbers — they result in dire real-world consequences. From sweltering temperatures in Arizona and across the country, to wildfires across Canada, and extreme flooding in Europe and Asia, extreme weather is threatening lives and livelihoods around the world,” NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said in a statement.
Gavin Schmidt, climate scientist and director of Goddard Institute of Space Studies added, “Climate change is happening.”
“Things that we said would come to pass are coming to pass,” Schmidt said in a statement. “And it will get worse if we continue to emit carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gasses into our atmosphere.”
