Asheville students join in global Youth Climate Strike

Elias Varn at Asheville Youth Climate Strike
SPEAK OUT: Asheville High School senior Elias Varn addresses the crowd at Asheville's Youth Climate Strike. Photo by Daniel Walton

On March 15, in concert with more than 1.4 million young activists from around the world, Asheville-area high school students led a rally of roughly 200 people at Pritchard Park as part of the global Youth Climate Strike. The event, an outgrowth of efforts started last year by 16-year-old Swedish activist Greta Thunberg, called for “radical legislative action to combat climate change and its countless detrimental effects on the American people.”

Five speakers from Asheville High School and the School of Inquiry and Life Sciences at Asheville — Clay Swan-DavisDean WortasElias VarnMaeve Goldberg and Seth Bellamy — shared their worries about the impacts of climate change and the hope that organized pressure could move governments to act. “If you take one thing away from this rally, let it be this: You are not as small as you think you are,” Swan-Davis told the crowd.

As listed on the national Youth Climate Strike website, specific goals of the movement include stopping all new fossil fuel infrastructure projects, declaring a national emergency on climate change, establishing compulsory climate change education for elementary school students and ensuring a clean water supply. Strikers also call for the passage of a Green New Deal, which would transition the country to 100 percent renewable energy by 2030.

 

SHARE

Thanks for reading through to the end…

We share your inclination to get the whole story. For the past 25 years, Xpress has been committed to in-depth, balanced reporting about the greater Asheville area. We want everyone to have access to our stories. That’s a big part of why we've never charged for the paper or put up a paywall.

We’re pretty sure that you know journalism faces big challenges these days. Advertising no longer pays the whole cost. Media outlets around the country are asking their readers to chip in. Xpress needs help, too. We hope you’ll consider signing up to be a member of Xpress. For as little as $5 a month — the cost of a craft beer or kombucha — you can help keep local journalism strong. It only takes a moment.

About Daniel Walton
Daniel Walton is the former news editor of Mountain Xpress. His work has also appeared in Sierra, The Guardian, and Civil Eats, among other national and regional publications. Follow me @DanielWWalton

Before you comment

The comments section is here to provide a platform for civil dialogue on the issues we face together as a local community. Xpress is committed to offering this platform for all voices, but when the tone of the discussion gets nasty or strays off topic, we believe many people choose not to participate. Xpress editors are determined to moderate comments to ensure a constructive interchange is maintained. All comments judged not to be in keeping with the spirit of civil discourse will be removed and repeat violators will be banned. See here for our terms of service. Thank you for being part of this effort to promote respectful discussion.

8 thoughts on “Asheville students join in global Youth Climate Strike

  1. Enlightened Enigma

    they’ve all been brainwashed by climate change…they think (AOC) that we only have 12 years left to fix it… fix what ? total young SKULLS OF MUSH. … this is the garbage that government screwls produce…

    • The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a United Nations body representing a consensus of 195 countries (including the United States of America), has determined based on an overwhelming and international body of research that carbon emissions must be cut drastically from current levels by 2030 to avoid global warming of more than 1.5 degrees Celsius over pre-industrial levels. https://www.ipcc.ch/sr15/chapter/summary-for-policy-makers/

      • Lulz

        LOL because all these plane crashes from 70 years ago that are now being uncovered by receding glaciers indicates what? Where were the glaciers then? A UN panel of bogus science with only a few hundred years of climate records is like the gospel? And these kids with a sub par education and no perspective of real life or gasp, ranking oh 38th in the world in science and math are to be taken seriously? They have knowledge and rationale behind their protest? Or is it emotions and fear brought on by a bunch of snake oil salesmen and their cultist minions?

      • Enlightened Enigma

        the UN is part of the Agenda 21 bullshite…surely you know they are the supreme propagandists in this silly charade … if not then blame your negligent government screwl …

    • Lulz

      The sign that says Capitist Pigs is too funny. Can’t spell and yet is able to comprehend what these communist windbags are spoon feeding them.

  2. Brennan

    Just continue to Say NO to our Fake President! According to the recent World Economic Forum’s 2019 Global Risk Report, the top two risks facing civilization by likelihood include extreme weather events (e.g. floods, storms, etc.) and the failure of climate-change mitigation and adaptation strategies:https://www.weforum.org/reports/the-global-risks-report-2019

    Prior to this annual report a major study endorsed by 15,000 scientists from over 180 different countries summarized that our current modes of living have become largely unsustainable in multiple categories: https://academic.oup.com/bioscience/article/67/12/1026/4605229

    Worldwide greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels, deforestation and other activities have grown 45% (CO2) from preindustrial levels and not surprisingly, seventeen of the warmest years on record have all occurred since the start of the 21st century. To put this into perspective, since 2013 the earth’s climate system has been gaining the heat equivalent of about 400,000 Hiroshima nuclear bombs a day due to excessive carbon emissions according to NASA. In January of this year Antarctic sea ice hit the lowest extent in the 40-year satellite record. Due to the thermal expansion of water and melting ice, global sea levels have risen over half a foot since preindustrial times: https://ocean.si.edu/through-time/ancient-seas/sea-level-rise
    With more heat rapidly building in the atmosphere and oceans, extreme temperature, precipitation and storm anomalies are occurring more frequently. These climate extremes are eroding some of the very core foundations of civilization including the productivity of agriculture, the integrity of freshwater supplies, coastal infrastructure and the bioproductivity of ecosystems that sustain all life.

  3. Enlightened Enigma

    climate always changes, and no amount of ‘published BS’ will change what is on the planet … it’s a massive ploy to extract money for socialism for one thing…careful what you fight for.

Leave a Reply

To leave a reply you may Login with your Mountain Xpress account, connect socially or enter your name and e-mail. Your e-mail address will not be published. All fields are required.