Cara Fleischer

Guest columnist

“As I’m sure you are aware, we are facing a climate crisis. That’s right. Our very existence is threatened by our poor habits that destroy our ecosystem and harm other people and animals on our planet. Climate change is serious problem that we need to address.” – Charlotte Stuart-Tilley, 13, Tallahassee School Strike for Climate leader.

Last month, Charlotte Stuart-Tilley, a 13-year-old student with the Tallahassee Homeschool Group, organized the first School Strike for Climate in Florida’s capital city. Surrounded by dozens of classmates holding signs, Charlotte led the demonstration to send a message to lawmakers that her generation stands to suffer the most from the environmental sins of our fossil fuel-powered world.

She is planning another strike at the Historic Florida Capitol this Friday from 9 a.m. - 1 p.m. and invites all students to join her. They can even bring their school work to complete on the capitol steps. “You may think that all you are doing is sitting outside of the capitol, but no… you are encouraging a healthy future by fixing our past mistakes in the present,” Charlotte said.

Charlotte was inspired by a 16-year-old student in Sweden named Greta Thunberg who organized the first Students for Climate school strike outside of the Swedish Parliament, receiving a worldwide outpouring of support and attention.

Her TedX talk is as heartbreaking as it is inspiring, as she says in her quiet, haunted voice, “What we do or don’t do right now, me and my generation can’t undo in the future.” Greta has inspired kids in countries all over the world to activate under the hash tags #SchoolStrikeforClimate and #FridaysForFuture.

Thousands of school children marched in Australia recently and the momentum continues to grow across the globe for children to call their leaders to task about implementing legislation to fix the looming problem that will define their future. Now, according to The Guardian, up to 70,000 school children each week are taking part in school strikes in 270 towns and cities worldwide.

The kids join the drumbeat of public sentiment of frustration with leaders that continue to stall instead of addressing the climate crisis. After years of feeling like climate science and environmental warnings were falling on deaf ears, 2019 feels different. Perhaps 2018 served as a wake-up call and Americans are finally ready to connect the dots and trust the science.

After extreme weather events like Hurricane Michael leveled coastal towns in the Florida panhandle and the Camp Fire quickly burned communities to the ground in California, costing billions in damage and untold human suffering, the U.S. Congress has responded with the Energy Innovation Act as a carbon fee and dividend solution to reduce emissions, as well as a Green New Deal overhaul to address climate change.

People all over the country can point to how their weather has been more extreme, and how they are seeing changes in nature. Add all of this to the latest U.S. government study that says we only have a 12-year window to seriously reduce our carbon emissions that are causing global warming and irreversible catastrophic climate change and most people now agree that the climate crisis is an urgent problem that our leaders need to solve.

Yale Climate Opinion Maps says that 60% of Floridians, or an estimated 8.4 million adults, worry about global warming. That is a heavy burden most of us carry as we go about the very activities that are contributing to the problem. It isn’t our fault that we live in a fossil fuel-thirsty society, but we may feel guilty each time we gas up our cars, knowing we are polluting the planet.

If most of us are worried about the direction our planet is headed, and the need for change is urgent, why aren’t more of us speaking up and taking action?

Perhaps most adults are too busy supporting their families and keeping up with the demands of our consumer-driven society to give much weight to the dire warnings the government, military, and scientists have been reporting about the climate crisis, but the kids are paying attention and bravely speaking up for their future. It is time for adults to listen, learn, and stand with children whose lives will be impacted the most.

Wise beyond her years, Greta Thunberg said in her Tedx Talk, “The one thing we need more than hope is action. Once we start to act, hope is everywhere.” Hope was on the young protestor’s faces as they held their signs high in front of the Historic Florida Capitol as they cheered and smiled at the passing traffic every time a motorist honked their horn in solidarity. It is time for adults to follow the kids’ lead. Get involved and see how you can go from feeling apathy to being inspired to join this historic movement to save the planet.

Getting involved

Here are some ways to start:

• Support the School Strike for Climate at the Historic Florida Capitol this Friday, Feb. 15 from 9 a.m.-1 p.m. https://www.facebook.com/events/411991636212089/

• Get kids outside to form an appreciation of nature.

• Investigate climate resources online at web sites like 350.org, Sierra Club, Mom’s Clean Air Force, ReThink Energy Florida, Climate Reality, and Citizens’ Climate Lobby.

• Make calls to your representative to express your concern and ask for them to act on climate. Find their number at www.house.gov/representatives/find-your-representative.

• Ask what your house of worship is doing to be sustainable.

• Attend a local meeting like Citizens' Climate Lobby (www.citizensclimatelobby.org) or Sustainable Tallahassee (www.sustainabletallahassee.org) to connect with other people who are involved in climate action.

• Donate to a local or national climate action nonprofit whose mission inspires you.

• Learn more about #SchoolStrikeforClimate and #FridaysforFuture and encourage kids and schools to participate in the Worldwide School Strike for Climate on March 15 at the Historic Florida Capitol from 9 a.m. - 1 p.m.

Cara Fleischer is a Creation Care leader at Saint Paul's United Methodist Church and a Liaison for Citizens' Climate Lobby. Join her Facebook group at www.facebook.com/groups/mommafly/. Email her at mommafly1 @yahoo.com.