ST PAUL, Minn. — Students from across the Twin Cities region converged on the Capital City Friday as part of the Youth Climate Strike, determined to make some noise about the future of the planet they've inherited from older generations.
"It’s not about blaming the older generation, it’s about saving something that needs to be saved," Cece, a Como High School Student, told KARE.
"This is where we live, this is where we breathe, this is where our family lives, this is our home. We've got to protect it!"
The Saint Paul Police estimated the crowd at roughly 6,000. Most of them were middle school, high school and college students but there was also a large contingent of people their parents' and grandparents's age.
"I’m scared for the future because our generation doesn’t have one if we don’t do something right now," explained Anna, a student at Upper Mississippi Academy.
"There are things we can all do, like cutting down on meat. You don’t have to go vegan, you just have to have one less hamburger a week."
They gathered first at Western Sculpture Park and then marched a few blocks to the State Capitol, on streets the police had temporarily blocked off for them. Many carried homemade signs featuring burning planets, or warnings about fossil fuels and other sources of greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming.
"My sign says, 'Science is not a liberal conspiracy'," Victoria, a Stillwater student, told KARE.
"A lot of conservatives think climate change is something made up by liberals and the media, but 98 percent of science says climate change is completely real. And we can’t ignore that."
At the Capitol rally many of the speakers extolled the virtues of keeping up the pressure on government leaders and corporate America to prioritize climate change and prepare for the effects, such as severe weather and climate refugees.
"Tell them that the globe is on fire, tell 'em we’re tired, tell 'em we won’t stop!" Juwaria Jama, one of the leaders of Minnesota's Youth Climate Strike group, told the crowd, reading from a spoken word poem she wrote.
"Tell 'em to listen loud and clear because we’re done staying silent! Tell 'em we won’t go down without a fight! Tell 'em this isn’t the last of us! Tell 'em we’re here for good so they better get used to it!"
Speakers also highlighted environmental justice and equity, efforts to protect people of color, immigrants and the poor who are most likely to feel the impacts of rising temperatures and sea levels.
The Star Tribune reports that some of the young people who skipped school Friday to participate were inspired by the work of activists like Swedish teenager Greta Thunberg, who launched the climate strike movement and will speak at the United Nations on Monday. Others said the protest was also about advocating for racial justice and equity in climate-related policy.
Organizers demanded legislation at the state and local level to reverse climate change. They also pressed Gov. Walz and legislators to block the Enbridge Line 3 Pipeline project and two precious metals mines in the works in northern Minnesota.
Those projects are all tied up in legal battles, in various stages of permitting and environmental safety reviews.
A large crowd of young people also demonstrated outside City Hall in Duluth.