Youth-led climate strikes and marches took place all over the world today, putting out the call to politicians and businesses to address climate change. WAMC's Capital Region Bureau Chief Dave Lucas was in Albany’s West Capitol Park.
Hundreds of students, many holding placards bearing expressions like “There is no planet B” and “Listen to the cries of the world,” gathered outside the capitol, demanding Governor Andrew Cuomo declare and act upon a climate emergency. Alanah Cohen-Tigor is from Saratoga Springs. "I think that there aren't being enough steps being taken right now to help out our environment and to make the change that we need, and I think that there's just a lot more legislation, more laws that need to be passed in order to regulate some of the harmful industries going on right now."
Climate activist Mark Dunlea, chair of the Green Education and Legal Fund, says the Global Youth Climate Strike, led by 16-year-old Swedish activist Greta Thunberg, imparts a sense of hope and a sense of truth. "For 30 years our generation, our elected officials, have known about the reality of global warming, and the reality is, they've done nothing. And now, children are saying 'you're leaving us a world where it's not clear that we're gonna be able to survive, and we demand action now."
Recent Schalmont High School grad Audrea Din, now at UAlbany, kicked off the rally: "We are striking because it's a social order is obstructed by our refusal to attend school then our system is forced to face the climate crisis and enact change. Throughout history, the youth have been on the frontlines of every movement, fighting for justice, change, and we'll do it again for its determining factor, this issue of our generation."
Rally-goers lay on the ground to observe 5 minutes of silence before a series of speakers. One of the threading themes, a call for lawmakers to implement a Green New Deal to shift the U.S. to 100 percent renewable energy by 2030.
High school student Letia Hornsby was accompanied by her baby-boomer dad Michael. "If I'm gonna live 'til I'm 80 I feel that this is gonna be more important than like missing one chemistry block. So, I think that it's very important for me to be here and show that I care and I care about my future, and I think other people should start caring too."
"Yeah, and I think it's important for her to take part in some civil disobedience, you know, if she's really that concerned about the issue, then she needs to know that she has some agency in correcting it, in doing something about it. And I think that my generation, just, you know, we really did a horrible job, we're still doing a horrible job in ameliorating this whole climate change thing."
Worldwide actions, which included rallies in cities like Albany and New Paltz, are all leading up to the United Nations General Assembly and the Climate Action Summit on Monday.
