Protestors strike for climate action from U of A
"The U of A has a chance to be a leader in climate action," strike organizer says.
Kathryn JohnsonOn September 20 at 12:00 p.m., Edmonton Youth for Climate (EYFC), Climate Action Coalition at the University of Alberta (CAUA), and the U of A Climate Advocacy Club hosted a climate strike. The strike began in front of the Administration Building at the U of A.
Approximately twenty-five U of A students, faculty, and other participants attended. One strike organizer, Juliana Weber, said that the strike was organized “in conjunction with a global climate strike.”
Weber cited Jasper forest fires, floods in Europe and Asia, and environmental racism as reasons for a call for action. “We’ve known about climate change for decades and we are seeing its effects.”
“We haven’t really seen any concrete action on this from the university or from our other leaders. We want climate action and good green jobs, specifically for youth through a Youth Climate Corps,” Weber said. A Youth Climate Corps “would be a federally funded program providing good, green jobs to everyone under the age of thirty-five,” according to Weber.
CAUA planned to present its Climate Action Plan to university President and Vice-chancellor Bill Flanagan. However, they were unable to as Flanagan’s “flight was delayed because of extreme weather,” according to Weber.
“We still want them to pass this climate action plan and declare a climate emergency. The U of A has a chance to be a leader in climate action and it starts with this plan,” Weber said.
“We demand climate leadership from our university,” professor says
Agricultural, life, and environmental sciences (ALES) professor Debra Davidson gave a speech.
“I wish that decision makers had listened to the science decades ago when global warming was a one-alarm fire and not a ten-alarm fire,” Davidson said.
“As one of the top universities in Canada, the U of A has tremendous influence to shape our collective responses to the climate emergency,” Davidson added. “We’re here to tell Flanagan that we demand climate leadership from our university.”
At approximately 12:30 p.m., protestors began their march to the Alberta legislature.
