More than 1000 students passionate about current environmental issues assembled in Sproul Plaza at noon on Friday, September 20 to protest the lack of action by the local and national governments.
Dante Gonzales, a senior studying Society and Environment at UC Berkeley, organized the protest to demonstrate the scope of the fight for climate change. Gonzales wanted to bring awareness to the failure of politicians to pass effective legislation and other issues that contribute to the collective concern of environmental conditions.
Berkeley students, elementary-age kids, middle-schoolers and older alumni united and stood in solidarity for their beliefs regarding climate change. Activists held signs with phrases such as “Pro World” and other posters appealing to the Green New Deal (proposed legislation to address climate change and economic inequality). A banner hung from Sproul Hall read “We are the Earth protecting itself.”
The pressing matters addressed at the strike include increasing health hazards in our local environments, the inappropriate dumping by the fossil fuel industry and the direct actions by our own UC Berkeley to fund unsustainable partnerships.
Gonzales believes change “all starts with our communities and continues to ripple out until we join in arms with others to create systemic change.”
This fervent generation is dissatisfied with current environmental policies and demands change immediately. This is not just any typical Berkeley liberal protest. This has galvanized the youth across the nation to speak up against public officials for their beliefs. Activists are eager to look past their differences to establish a national presence for the sake of not only the planet, but ourselves as well.