About 50 young people from around Vermont marched into the intersection of Main and State streets in Montpelier in August.

Many held signs, several kids leading the group into the road held up a large banner. Their goal was simple: stop traffic, stop people, and hopefully they'd see, hopefully even listen.

"Global Climate Strike," was painted across the banner, alluding to the Sept. 20 planned action by "millions of people worldwide" to draw attention to humans' impacts to the planet ahead of the Sept. 23 United Nations Climate Action Summit in New York.

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The kids, members of the Youth Action Alliance in Vermont, are calling for students and adults to join them for a walkout on Sept. 20, to walk out of their workplaces, schools, and homes as part of a global youth climate strike to demand "an end to the age of fossil fuels."

"We are all in the same boat," said Greta Thunberg, a Swedish 16-year-old who has become the face youth climate activism after calling out world leaders at a 2018 United Nations climate change conference.

Fittingly enough, Thunberg traveled to the U.S. in August via sailboat — refusing to fly to reduce her carbon footprint — to attend the Climate Action Summit.

Contact Ryan Mercer at rmercer@freepressmedia.com or at 802-343-4169. Follow him on Twitter @ryanmercer1 and facebook.com/ryan.mercer1.