We’re Ready For The Global Climate Strike. Are You?

Hot Topic: Climate Strike. The world will be watching tomorrow as tens of millions of people in 150 countries walk out of classrooms and businesses to join the youth-led Global Climate Strike, demanding climate action from world leaders in advance of UN meetings next week in New York.  More than 300 news outlets have vowed to put climate change front and center this week, and hundreds of companies have thrown their support behind the strikes.

A new poll from The Washington Post and the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) shows why the protest is resonating in cities across the U.S.: A strong majority of Americans—about 8 in 10—now agree that human activity is fueling climate change and express concern that President Trump has relinquished the nation’s role as a global leader in pushing for climate action.

As stories this week note, the costs of the climate crisis are already high in the U.S.  We pay billions of tax dollars every year to rebuild cities after climate-driven disasters. Farmers are losing billions annually to catastrophic weather events. And a rising number of kids and young adults are being treated with psychiatric drugs in order to reduce the emotional stress and exhaustion caused by “eco-anxiety.”

With so much at stake, now is the time for all of us to lend our time and our voices while the world is watching.  We look forward to taking to the streets with you tomorrow.
—Matt & Traci, GMMB

Action
This Friday, 150 countries will participate in the youth-led Global Climate Strike to demand accountability and action from world leaders ahead of the United Nations Climate Action Summit. (Vox)

Hundreds of American companies will actively support the Global Climate Strike, with some taking a stand by closing their stores for the day, delaying their opening time so staff can participate, or donating their commercial airtime to the effort. (Fast Company)

In New York, the Department of Education will give students strikers excused absences, and school districts across the country are following suit. (The New York Times)

More than 300 news media outlets worldwide have committed to emphasizing coverage of the climate crisis this week and next in the lead up to the UN Summit. (Covering Climate Now)

Health
As a growing number of children and youth seek counsel for eco-anxiety, psychologists are encouraging parents to avoid talk of doom and adopt age-appropriate discussion of climate change. (Newsweek)

A new study from the NRDC examines the escalating health risks and costs related to climate change and declares the situation a public health emergency. (NRDC)

Equity
When Hurricane Dorian hit the Bahamas, many wealthy property owners and resort-goers escaped safely while the cooks, cleaners, and construction workers were trapped in shantytowns razed by the storm. (The Washington Post)

Extreme weather endangers people with disabilities and threatens the stability of the accessible environments they’ve built to live independently. (Yale Climate Connections)

Politics & Economy
A new Washington Post-KFF poll has found a growing disconnect between Americans who are increasingly worried about the warming planet and administration efforts to scale back environmental protections. (The Washington Post)

Still, even as its effects intensify, some Americans continue to see climate change as a threat only to people in other countries, one that will unfold in the distant future, a problem people will solve, or simply part of a natural cycle.  (Newsweek)

Upcoming Events

• September 20: Global Climate Strike
• September 23: UN Climate Summit 2019 (New York City)
• September 23-29: Climate Week NYC (New York City)
• September 25: Strike for Climate Justice (San Francisco)
• November 25-26: World Congress on Environmental Toxicology and Health Safety (Valencia, Spain)
• December 19: COP 25 (Santiago, Chile)

Banking on climate change? Check out this interactive chart of fossil fuel financing by 33 of the world’s largest banks.

“No one is too small to have an impact.”
—Greta Thunberg 

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