By RWIN CHLANDA
More than 200 people, mostly school students, took part in a Strike 4 Climate Action protest in Todd Mall this morning.
Bodhi Perz (at right) argued for a vegan diet – less water needed to produce the food. Rainforests are cut down to create grazing land, he said. Cows produce methane.
Nick Boffa (below) stressed the need for continuing efforts against anything that increases global warning and said: “We need to come together, like we are now, and keep governments in it.”
On the “from little things big things grow” theme, he says every day he picks up at least one piece of rubbish someone else has dropped.
Jordyn Kindness (below right) says there is a lot of support in Alice Springs for efforts to slow down climate change – more support than resistance.
“There are many no fracking signs,” she says.
A woman said some young people are likely to be accused of being manipulated by adults, but the young people should stick to their principles and make themselves heard.
The rally on the church lawns continued as a march, with boisterous slogans, through the CBD, and ended at 9.30am.
Meanwhile Crikey reports that Norway has nominated the founder of the School Strike 4 Climate movement, Greta Thunberg, for the Nobel peace prize ahead of today’s mass day of action.
She began solo protests in August last year, has been nominated by Norwegian Socialist MPs for launching a movement aimed at halting “wars, conflict and refugees” born from climate change.
Her nomination comes as hundreds of thousands of young people are marching across 1659 towns and cities in 105 countries today.
For Australia, this will mean at least 56 separate strikes calling to stop the Adani-Carmichael mine, phase out existing mines, and transition to 100% renewables by 2030, says Crikey.
“The strike has been denounced by conservative politicians and News Corp publications — from The Australian’s expose on the adult support that students are receiving, to The Daily Telegraph quizzing anti-strike students on words misspelled at previous protests,” says Crikey.
Thursday, April 18, 2024
The freedom of the press still furnishes that check upon government which no constitution has ever been able to provide – Chicago Tribune.
62 People in the photo. I asked a participant how many were there and was told 70. 200 is a large extrapolation.
They came up with nor suggested alternatives.
Hi “Phantom”,
I stand by my estimate. By no means all the people present were in the group photo. People were coming and going throughout the event which lasted from 7.45am to 9.30am. People also appear to have joined the parade through parts of the CBD. If there is a reliable count we would, of course, be glad to hear about it.
Erwin Chlanda, Editor.
Young people should be praised for expressing and demonstrating their strong beliefs.
But how many in this protest have left their mobile phones behind? Are they willing to give up their computers, games console, walk or ride a bike to school?
Have cold showers, open windows instead of starting the aircon? We have to make a lot of sacrifices if we really want to slow down the climate change.
Kids stay in school and learn. Politicians make smart decisions re their future?
@ Phantom. It is not for the students to suggest the “alternatives”, as these are already well publicised in the media and evident by the many, many examples within Australia and overseas.
Think photo voltaics, storage batteries, wind turbines, Snowey Mk 2 hydro, etc.
The purpose of the protest was to state their demands loud and clear:
• Stop Adani and no more new coal mines.
• “No” to Fracking.
• 100% Renewables by 2030.
All of this analysts better than me say is possible, with government will.
I applaud the students and their supportive parents and remind everyone of the role that active protest has played in shaping the Australia we enjoy today.
Perhaps you should come to the next protest and, if you wish, wear your mask.
Just another excuse for a day off from school. We have politicians to act on these things.
Sure, have a rally. But kids don’t vote and should be at school not protesting.
Leave it to the adults.
Half these young kids would have no idea what climate change actually is all about.
I agree that there was rather too much adult involvement.
Anti fracking triangles had obviously been distributed widely to those without placards.
An adult vegan activist got himself at the head of the parade initially.
This “coaching” disempowered the children and merely gives substance to the critics just ready to pounce.
I speak as someone who was there to lend moral support.
@ David: “We have politicians to act on these things.”
Crikey!
John Howard a very late convert just before 2007 election; The Ruddster creeping away from “the greatest moral challenge of our time” (although creeping conveys meaning as well); Julia reluctant to bring in an emissions trading scheme, hounded as a carbon taxing Julia by Abbott, Credlin, The Parrot and Hadley; Malcolm crucified twice for trying to do something that Tony wouldn’t … and now the farce of Barnaby wanting to rise again on the back of coal, and The Potato on his road to Damascus finally sensing the tide turning … and you blithely tell the kids “We have politicians to act on these things.”
They will roll over laughing at you. Rightly.
@ David: “We have politicians to act on these things.”
Crikey!
John Howard a very late convert just before 2007 election; The Ruddster creeping away from “the greatest moral challenge of our time”; Julia reluctant to bring in an emissions trading scheme, hounded as a “carbon taxing Juliar” by Abbott, Credlin, The Parrot and Hadley; Malcolm crucified twice for trying to do something that Tony wouldn’t – and now the farce of Barnaby wanting to rise again on the back of coal, and The Potato on his road to Damascus finally sensing the tide turning … and you blithely tell the kids “We have politicians to act on these things.”
They will roll over laughing at you. Rightly.
I wonder how much smaller the attendance would have been if this was held on the weekend?
@ Evelyn: While I agree with the general intent of your comment it is important to note for the interested children’s education, that neither their action nor any taken by this nation will have the slightest effect on the world climate! Even if we could completely halt all of our carbon production tomorrow, it would not make the slightest difference to climate change.
So by all means kids work towards a cleaner environment, cleaner air and cleaner oceans, but don’t be taken for a ride by those who seek to create irrational fears about your own beautiful world, through politically motivated, fear mongering garbage, about climate change.
It is a natural part of our world and always will be!
The thing we really do need to need fear and guard against, are the mindless efforts of indoctrinated climate fanatics who seek through their ignorance and city bred real world isolation, to do something irrational about planetary warming.
It would benefit everyone to keep in mind that a warming climate is a more productive climate, while on the other hand a cooling climate very quickly becomes a threat to all life on earth, through starvation!
Let’s hope we get to sit somewhere in between. In the meantime there is one very real threat we should all fight and guard against, the life threatening efforts of climate science to artificially interfere with our climate. One stupid mistake and “Winter really will be coming”!
Among those 200 people protesting, how many have protested or will protest against the destruction of trees at Anzac Hill High School? It is less glamorous but more meaningful to protect our environment than to join world’s movements.