Dems Begin New Challenge To Kids: Ditch School To Join Climate Change Protests
Democratic politicians encouraged thousands of children to skip school to demand politicians do something about global warming, including passing the Green New Deal.
Former Vice President Al Gore said “students are fighting like their world depends on it” in a tweet extolling Haven Coleman, a 12-year-old listed as the co-founder and co-director of the Youth Climate Strike.
“I stand with all students striking here in Atlanta and across world today,” Gore tweeted Friday as thousands of students skipped school to protest climate change.
Led by the inspiring @GretaThunberg and @ClimateReality leader @havenruthie in the U.S, students are fighting like their world depends on it. I stand with all students striking here in Atlanta and across world today. #YouthClimateStrike #FridaysForFuture
— Al Gore (@algore) March 15, 2019
Student strikes were inspired by 16-year-old Greta Thunberg, who began ditching school in August to sit in protest outside Swedish parliament.
Thunberg told the United Nations in December that “civilization is being sacrificed” by adults who are “stealing” their children’s futures by not immediately shedding fossil fuels.
Tens of thousands of students have since skipped school to demand politicians immediately address global warming. U.S. strikers are demanding Congress pass the Green New Deal resolution introduced by Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York.
Backed by well-funded environmental groups, youth strikers are protesting “for the Green New Deal, for a fair and just transition to a 100% renewable economy, and for ending the creation of additional fossil fuel infrastructure,” according to the Youth Climate Strike website.
The kids say “inaction has left us with just 11 years to change the trajectory of the worst effects of climate change.” That deadline is based on the misleading media hype surrounding a U.N. report released in October.
Ocasio-Cortez, activists and politicians have claimed humanity has less than 12 years to cut emissions and avert catastrophic global warming — a message they only amplified as students took to the streets Friday.
Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., said lawmakers should listen to the teenagers and children striking. Khanna, a supporter of the Green New Deal resolution, called on Congress to immediately address global warming.
“I am so energized to see young people across this country taking action on climate change,” he tweeted Thursday night. “Our job as lawmakers is to listen to them.”
“If we don’t act, they will have to deal with the fallout from climate disaster,” Khanna said.
I am so energized to see young people across this country taking action on climate change.
Our job as lawmakers is to listen to them.
If we don’t act, they will have to deal with the fallout from climate disaster.
— Ro Khanna (@RoKhanna) March 15, 2019
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also extolled Coleman and the other leaders of the Youth Climate Strike movement in the U.S., which includes Isra Hirsi, Minnesota Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar’s 16-year-old daughter.
Three amazing young women—Isra Hirsi, age 16; Haven Coleman, age 12; and Alexandria Villaseño, age 13—have organized youth climate strikes around the country tomorrow. Their demand: a livable future for their generation.
Find a strike and spread the word: https://t.co/AXx41ldvsR pic.twitter.com/i5FVRrGh5u
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) March 14, 2019
Omar marched with climate strikers in Washington, D.C., Friday. She is also a Green New Deal supporter.
We face the greatest threat that humanity has ever faced: climate change.
Today, I had the honor of introducing my daughter, one of the organizers of the student climate strike. ✊? pic.twitter.com/skNjgWQjd7
— Rep. Ilhan Omar (@Ilhan) March 15, 2019
However, Democratic leadership and party moderates have tried to distance themselves from the Green New Deal, which calls for a massive expansion of government control over the economy.
Republicans, on the other hand, want the resolution debated publicly, confident it can be used against Democrats in the 2020 elections. Some Republicans have called the Green New Deal a grab bag “socialist” policy demands.
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