August, 20 2019, 12:00am EDT
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Thanu Yakupitiyage, 350.org, Associate Director US Communications thanu@350.org, +1 (413) 687-5160
One Month Ahead of Global Climate Strikes, Thousands Pledge Support
Youth-Led Climate Strikes Draw Intergenerational Support; Activists of All Ages, Labor Groups, Faith Leaders and More Voice Support
WASHINGTON
The latest weeklong series of events to demand bold action to address the climate crisis will take place across the United States starting September 20th, also the second anniversary of Hurricane Maria. People will walk out of work to join strikes, marches and rallies. Events include music concerts, mass bike rides, teach-ins, people's assemblies, protests targeting fossil fuel companies, bike races and more. During the week of action, the UN Climate Summit on September 23rd in New York will aim to meet the peoples' demand by accelerating action to implement the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. Demands of the week-long actions include halting fossil fuel projects, a just transition to 100% renewables for all, and holding polluters, such as Big Oil, accountable for perpetuating climate breakdown.
Coordinated by Future Coalition, the U.S. youth-led strikes includes Earth Uprising, Fridays for Future USA, Extinction Rebellion-Youth, Sunrise and Zero Hour. The Youth Climate Strike Coalition is steering the national campaign, with active support, participation and collaboration from an Adult Climate Strike Coalition, which includes leading national organizations such as 350.org, Greenpeace, SEIU and March On. Youth and adults, institutional and grassroots organizations, climate-focused and social justice groups, are coming together as a unified front to demand transformative action on climate.
The strikes movement, inspired by Swedish teenager Greta Thunberg, and localized in the U.S. by dozens of youth leaders, including Indigenous, frontline, and youth of color, has spread rapidly in the last 12 months. Strikers demand governments, as well as elected officials at all levels, step up to take urgent action to prevent further catastrophic climate breakdown and protect our collective future.
QUOTE SHEET
Vic Barrett, 20-year-old Juliana v. United States plaintiff from White Plains, NY said: "Because of the actions of the United States government and the fossil fuel industry, my generation has never known a world free from the impacts of climate change. Time is running out. This decade is our last chance to stop the destruction of our people and our planet. This is our time to join in solidarity with communities around the world to fight for a just future. This is why we strike."
Jesus Villalba Gastelum, Age 16, Earth Uprising LA City Coordinator/ Youth Climate Strike Los Angeles Organizer, said: "I live in Los Angeles, a diverse city of many roots, including Indigenous, Mexican, Spanish, American, and Tongva. We are organizing the LA Youth Climate Strike from a place of love, hope, and resolve. We are taking to the streets this September 20th in order to claim the future that is rightfully ours. While this mobilization is youth led, we welcome people of all generations to join us in kicking off LA's week of action. Our march is calling out inaction on the climate crisis, and stands in support of refugee rights, human rights, and dignity for all."
Tamara Toles O'Laughlin, 350.org North America Director, said "The September 20th Climate Strikes and the following week of action across the United States is an intergenerational and multiracial moment to make our stand for our right to transformative climate action that preserves a sustainable, healthy, and livable future for all. With the leadership of young people backed by grandparents and parents alike, health workers, teachers, can drivers and more, now is the time for all of us to come together to demand that real climate leaders at the national, state and local levels hold fossil fuel companies accountable for decades of negligence and damage."
Nancy, Minnesota Chippewa / Leech Lake, of MN 350 said about escalated actions planned in Minnesota, said: "We're making a stand that we're still here. The Gitche Gumee is really important to the people of Minnesota, and we want to honor that through a peaceful prayer action on September 28th. Our goal is to teach people that treaties are a two-party agreement -- Native people are not the only ones responsible for maintaining the treaties, but that we're all responsible and we need to move in solidarity. We all need the water, and we all need to do this together."
Nella Pineda-Marcon, Chairman of the Climate Justice Committee at New York State Nurses Association, said: "I saw firsthand the disaster of Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines when I went there for a medical mission with the New York State Nurses Association. We were first responders, and we actually saw the whole devastation and took care of a lot of people that were victims of the disaster. After that mission, we created a committee in our organization that would take care of people that are, communities that are affected by climate change and its devastation. But even in the city, in the Bronx, we see kids coming in to the emergency room suffering from asthma because of the bad air quality in the Bronx. I'm excited about the youth strikes because I'm looking forward to making a big statement about the global impacts of climate change."
Reverend Dr. John C. Dorhauer, General Minister and President, United Church of Christ, said: "Our youth not only know that the future of the Earth is in peril; they also know it is they who will suffer the most severe consequences. The United Church of Christ is greatly encouraged by the movement taking shape under their leadership. We stand ready to serve them in any way we can. We, too, believe that it is our responsibility to care for creation. For too long we have consumed resources without restraint. Our blatant disregard for the health of the planet has come at a high cost - and we are asking our children and grandchildren to pay the price for it. We support their movement and seek to join them in defiance of a government that has shirked its responsibility to safeguard the planet and care for Mother Earth."
May Boeve, Executive Director, 350.org, said: "Our movement continues to grow and we will not rest until we stop burning fossil fuels and until we begin a rapid energy revolution with equity, reparations and climate justice at its heart. This is why we support the incredible and brave young people from every corner of this globe who are demanding that we all rise together now."
EDITOR'S NOTE:
For more on strike events being planned across the U.S. and the world, go to globalclimatestrike.net and www.strikewithus.org.
To view this press release online, visit: https://350.org/press-release-climate-strikes-one-month-usa/
350 is building a future that's just, prosperous, equitable and safe from the effects of the climate crisis. We're an international movement of ordinary people working to end the age of fossil fuels and build a world of community-led renewable energy for all.
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