Hundreds of people marched through Downtown Santa Monica Friday morning, joining millions around the world who left work and school to call for government action on climate change at the urging of Swedish activist Greta Thunberg.
Protestors rallied along Ocean Front Walk, in Palisades Park and in front of Santa Monica City Hall to demand that elected officials facilitate a transition to renewable energy and halt the use of fossil fuels, carrying signs that read "There is no planet B" and "We'd be at school if the earth was cool."
“We have to move toward total decarbonization, which of course means an entire restructuring of how the system works,” said Barrett Stuart, a film producer from Marina Del Rey. “It won’t be easy or palatable, but that’s what has to happen.”
Thunberg, a 16-year-old who began walking out of school on Fridays last fall, has asked that other young people participate in the fight for their collective future. In Santa Monica, children led marchers of all ages along the beach and into downtown Friday, chanting “Fossil fuels have got to go” and “Climate justice now.”
Santa Monica’s New Roads School organized a strike of its own on the Santa Monica College campus and other local schools, such as the Archer School for Girls, sent students to a larger strike at Pershing Square in Downtown Los Angeles.
“Climate change is the biggest threat to life on earth,” said Archer student Abigale Lischak, a Santa Monica resident. “If changes aren't made now, there won't be much of a future for my generation.”
One group of young people was conspicuously absent, however. The Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District did not support student participation in the strike and marked students absent if they decided to walk out of school.
Superintendent Ben Drati said the district has implemented a sustainability plan and provides on-campus opportunities for students to participate in the climate movement.
“We ask that students consider the impact on their education by choosing to leave school and encourage any outside activities be conducted under parent supervision, after school or weekends,” Drati wrote in an email to families.
Wendy Dembo, a parent of a 6th-grader at Lincoln Middle School, said she was disappointed that SMMUSD did not allow students to participate in the strike.
“They’re saying they’re for sustainability and then they’re not allowing kids to participate in a protest that has so much meaning to their generation,” Dembo said. “To have Superintendent Drati say that kids will not be excused for protesting seems counterintuitive.”
Older participants in Friday’s protest said they were marching for their children and grandchildren.
“I’m worried about what kind of world we’re leaving them and I’d like to see a president who doesn’t deny science and climate change,” said Diana Pagan, who was visiting from Florida. “I’d like to see the Green New Deal adopted, because time is running out.”
madeleine@smdp.com
