Hundreds in OKC march in climate strike
Standing with her sign raised out in front of her, Maria Wood made her intentions known.
“I want you to panic,” read the colorful sign Wood held.
“Panic brings awareness,” Wood said. “I'm ready for people to pay attention.”
Hundreds gathered outside City Hall in downtown Oklahoma City on Friday afternoon as part of an international youth climate strike aimed at grabbing the attention of global leaders and demanding they take action to combat the climate crisis and its catastrophic effects on the planet.
Matthew Salcido helped organize the event in Oklahoma City, one of more than 800 across the country. Salcido said this is the third event they have helped organize in the city and by far the most well attended.
“The Earth needs us ,” Salcido said. “Showing up is where it starts. Our voice is growing louder as we come together.”
Signs held high by demonstrators reflected the frustration and desperation most say they feel as their warnings and pleading are ignored lawmakers and business leaders.
“Make our climate great again.”
“There is no planet B.” “Climate crisis won't wait. Neither will we.”
One of the main rallying cries from demonstrators in Oklahoma City on Friday was a call for the end of fossil fuel use. Scheduled ahead of the opening of the United Nations General Assembly and t he Climate Action Summit on Monday, protesters say drastic steps will be necessary to slow the rise of global temperatures.
The U.N. is calling on governments to come to the summit with concrete plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 45% in the next decade and to net zero by 2050.
After a series of speakers, the group in Oklahoma City marched through downtown and toward the Devon Tower. Standing outside the massive 800-foot-tall building, protesters shouted “No more oil, no more coal.”
The Climate Strike movement is mostly led and organized by teens and young adults.
Inspired by Swedish teenager Greta Thunberg, who helped kickstart the climate strike movement with her weekly “Fridays for the Future” demonstrations, millions of students and young adults worldwide have participated in rallies and protests.
More than 300,000 Australian students and workers filled the streets, while thousands more in London blocked traffic outside Parliament chanting, “Save our planet.”
“If the world was cool we would be in school ,” said Thunberg who was in New York City to address an estimated crowd of 250,000 demonstrators in Manhattan on Friday.
Amy Brooks, 17, spoke at the event in Oklahoma City and encouraged more students to get involved.
“Students, your voice is stronger than you think it is,” she said. “We have our whole lives ahead but now is the time to prevent the world we know from vanishing.”