Friday, September 20, marked the beginning of one of the largest environmental protests in history. Led by passionate young people like 16-year-old Swedish activist, Greta Thunberg, the movement is still growing and is open to anyone willing to join. Thousands of people of all ages walked out of their schools, workplaces, and homes to join demonstrations in the streets, demanding legal action in order to mitigate the effects of climate change before they become irreversible. Large-scale demonstrations and protests continued for an entire week, and the general movement will continue. The strikers implored countries to ramp up their efforts to minimize greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to the impacts of climate change that have already manifested, such as an increase in average global temperatures, rising sea levels, a heightened frequency of forest fires, and melting polar ice caps.
The recent global push for climate justice has been largely driven by young people, likely because they have the most to lose out of any generation if current climate trends continue. However, all denizens of Earth were encouraged to strike on September 20 and subsequent days to fight for the planet’s future, regardless of age. Students and working adults have voiced concerns about having to forgo academic or professional obligations in order to join the protests. Within ICSD, “Students who [did] not attend on this day for the purposes of participation in the Global Climate Strike [were] marked for an unexcused absence but [did] not receive discipline referrals,” wrote Assistant Principal Martha Hardesty in an email to IHS staff. Significant numbers of students and staff alike gathered on the Bernie Milton Pavilion of the Commons on Friday at noon.
Beginning at 3 P.M. on the day of the strike was a rally at Stewart Park, which was hosted by local scientific experts, as well as advocates from groups such as Mothers Out Front. Although the rally was targeted more towards adults, there was an active student presence. Ithaca High School Economics teacher, Sofi Gluck, was in attendance at the later rally. She said of the student action, “It’s exciting to see students out here . . . I think it’s great that a lot of young people have taken ownership of themselves to be here, and a lot of young people are speaking, which is really exciting. There’s a sort of a general energy level around organizing and getting involved that I haven’t really seen before, which is really exciting.”
Images by Miles Marteal ’21:
