Over 500 young people gathered for a climate strike at the Ohio Statehouse at noon on Friday, September 21 Their coalition calls for full implementation of a Green New Deal (immediate action on the climate crisis), a halt in future fossil fuel infrastructure projects, greater consideration and acknowledgment of the scientific consensus surrounding climate change in government decision making, the preservation of our land and wildlife, protection of safe, public water sources, and the incorporation of the scientific veracity of climate change into public education curriculum.
A week of events is planned:
Saturday, September 21st - Community Mindfulness Day @ the Idea Foundry 10:30-11:30pm
- Cleveland (Cleveland Public Library) and Cincinnati (First Unitarian Church of Cinci)
- Games, art project, free store (bring items you no longer use that others could give new life!) (also a great chance to give away excess from your summer gardens!)
Sunday, September 22nd - Contact Your Reps Day
- We will provide contact information and scripts for people to reach out to their reps and:
Monday, September 23rd - Meatless Monday & Buy Less/Buy Local Day (United Nations Climate Change Summit in NYC)
- Celebrating a culture of rethinking, reducing, re-using, and sharing
- Encouraging patronage of local shops, restaurants, and organic farms
- Highlight vegan and vegetarian friendly grocery stores and restaurants
Tuesday, September 24th - Peoples’ Assembly @ Lane Road Library 6-7:30pm
- A conversation led by the people and mediated by members of OH Climate Strike
- Discuss events from the UN Climate Change Summit 9/23
- We invite activist groups from the Columbus community to come introduce themselves & hand out literature- give people the opportunity to learn and get involved
Wednesday, September 25th - Protect Our Water Day
- Call out specific companies that are polluting Ohio’s waterways
- Education about fracking and how it affects our water and climate
- River Cleanup Team > traveling the Olentangy and Scioto, picking up trash and photographing evidence
Thursday, September 26th - Teach In @ Unknown (People’s Mansion or Otterbein) in the evening- will solidify location & time this week & post on our Facebook and website
- Focus on local climate change contributors (Start the Conversation) & talk about the 3.5% rule
Friday, September 27th - International General Strike
- Solidarity with the rest of the world striking on this day (silent strikes, wearing green, sharing photos and footage on social media of the general strikes in other countries)
The mission of the Ohio Climate Strike: We, the environmentally-conscious citizens of Ohio, created Ohio Climate Strike to organize with the urgency and focus that the climate crisis demands. We acknowledge that scientific consensus continues to reaffirm the reality of climate change, and that, by this point, radical legislative action is required to preserve the future we strive for. We additionally recognize climate change’s varying global manifestations, and the disproportionate impact it has on traditionally marginalized communities, as well as global communities who have historically contributed the least to greenhouse gas emissions. We intend to organize and educate: through strikes, demonstrations, seminars and teach-ins. Our organizational efforts serve not only to advance local awareness of the severity and imminence of the climate crisis, but also to voice communal demand for a series of clear and necessary legislative steps that will correct our course, as well as finally raising consciousness about the institutional barriers which threaten our movement and seek to profit from the status quo at our expense.
