An earnest group of climate change advocates spent about a half hour last Friday letting passersby on Highway 61 know that climate change is real. They, along with multitudes of others, are asking for the U.S. to adopt the Green New Deal, as well as transform our economy to 100 percent clean, renewable energy by 2030. Staff photo/Brian Larsen
With temps in the mid- 20s and a patchy blue sky, Friday, December 6, was a beautiful day to be outside.
Taking advantage of that splendid weather, a local group of about 25 individuals gathered at noon near Java Moose along Highway 61 holding up signs demanding a halt to climate change.
Denny Fitzpatrick, one of the organizers of the pop-up rally, read a message from the Sunrise Movement.
A portion of the speech stated, “We, as a global society, are at a crossroads. We have a decision to make. Are we going to choose money and power, or are we going to choose the future? The next wave of strikes is an invitation to choose us. Choose the kids, choose humanity, choose the future.”
Action called for by the Sunrise Movement includes adopting the following:
A Green New Deal:
Transform our economy to 100 percent clean, renewable energy by 2030 and phase out all fossil fuel extraction through a just and equitable transition, creating millions of good jobs.
Halt all leasing and permitting for fossil fuel extraction, processing and infrastructure projects immediately.
Respect Indigenous Land and Sovereignty:
Honor the treaties protecting indigenous lands, waters, and sovereignty by the immediate halt of all construction, leasing, and permitting for resource extraction, processing, and infrastructure projects affecting or on indigenous lands.
Also, “recognize the Rights of Nature into law to protect our sacred ecosystems and align human law with natural law to ban resource extraction in defense of our environment and people.”
Environmental Justice:
A transition that invests in prosperity for communities on the front lines of poverty and pollution, and a “welcoming those displaced by the cumulative effects of the climate crisis, economic inequality, violence, and lack of opportunity.”
Sponsored by Sunrise Movement and Arrowhead Indivisible, the peaceful rally was highlighted by some words from Olya Wright, 14, who has spent almost half of her life asking people to join with her, calling for a halt to climate change.
After leading with a section of Robert Service’s poem “Call of the Wild,” Wright began her speech.
“Together, we stand for what we feel is one of the most important causes for action of all time. This threat that we call ‘Climate Change’ is endangering our very existence.”
“Today, I am not driven by a threat, but by a vision for the future, a future where animals and humans can coexist, side-by-side without one always trying to tame more land. A future where humans are at home in the environment, a future where we use its natural wonders wisely.”
“This is what motivates me to strive for change. What motivates each one of you might be different, but we all must still share something in common, for it brings us together today. In this world, we need to find these commonalities to help motivate us all; this, then, is how change can come around.”
“And so, I encourage every one of you to recognize what motivates you. What are you hoping for in this world? Why are we standing here, getting cold toes when we could be snug and warm at home? Let us help others to find their motivation, so they will join the movement, and stand for our common goal.”
“Let us follow in the teaching of nature, as an anonymous proverb states: A frog does not drink up, the pond in which he lives.”
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