Transcripts For CSPAN DC Climate Strike Rally 20240714

Heir, everybody. Lets get started. Lets do this. We are your m. C. s for todays strike my name is nadia, im 17 years old, im from baltimore, maryland. Cheers and applause] im with zero hour. Round of applause for nadia [cheers and applause] hello, everyone, my name is ethan wright im the advocacy director of zero hour, im so glad all of you are here. Well be striking and having great speeches and performances. Can i get a round of applause too . Thank you. [applause] first we wanted to start with an acknowledgment, were going come on up here. [cheers and applause] hello, everyone how we all feeling today . [cheers and applause] its a Beautiful Day to be alive here on mother earth, isnt it . [cheers and applause] my name is jessie and im a proud member of the indian nation. We are the Indigenous People of maryland. Our traditional territory follows the Potomac River all the way down to the chesapeake bay. [cheers and applause] i want everyone to take a moment and feel the ground beneath your feet. Remember the steps that you took to get here. The land you are standing upon is native land. Cheers and applause] every square inch of the americas is nailtive land. [cheers and applause] land that was painfully rip aid way and stolen from indigenous eople. Obviously, all of us are here because we care about the environment. Thats why were striking. But half of us dont understand the land we are trying to protect. And the waters we are trying to protect. Before we can do anything, we need to understand where it comes from. How it has changed. What caused it to change. What caused the beautiful ecosystem of d. C. To be destroyed. What caused the roads to be paved over with asphalt. The sidewalks with concrete. What caused the capitol to be built. The answer is colonization. The genocide of Indigenous People. The enslavement of africans. Some may say that this doesnt matter that it happened a long time ago. That it doesnt affect us today. [booing] but it affects communities of color every single day. [cheers and applause] today across our nation and here in d. C. , it is still brown and black communities that have the least amount of access to clean water and healthy green spaces. Cheers and applause] despite the fact that it was colonizers who forced development and mass consumption upon them. It is still marginalized and lowincome communities that are hit the hardest by hurricanes. And the hardest by doubt. And floods. And climate catastrophes despite the fact that they contribute the least to Climate Change. Cheers and applause] we need to have the voices represented in every in every single conversation we have about environment. Every single dialogue. Every single workshop. Because this is not just an environmental issue. This is a race issue. This is a [cheers and applause] this is an immigration issue. [cheers and applause] this is a feminist issue. And we cant stop anything until we understand the connections etween these issues. [cheers and applause] this building behind me, built on the backs of our ancestors, now has the power to make real change. It is one of the strongest institutions and most powerful institutions in the world. So congress, i ask you, are you going to sit here and watch our lanet die . Are you going to let your most vulnerable constituents suffer at the hands of climate catastrophes. 15 years from now, will you be able to look us young people in the eyes and tell us you did everything you could to save our future. We the youth say you are not doing enough. [cheers and applause] we the youth demand action now. Thank you so much for having me today, for giving me the platform to speak, to represent voices that dont get represented enough. [cheers and applause] im going to go ahead and turn this space over to my sebastian and zaire please give them a warm welcome. [cheers and applause] [chanting] [chanting] [cheers and applause] speaking foreign language] hello,ern. My name is takata. [cheers and applause] i come from the Standing Rock nation in north dakota. Cheers and applause] i always like i would like to privilege adress the of being here. There are millions and millions of people just like us who will never have who have never had the right to be able to stand here with us. Who are those people whose voices have never been heard . Who are the governments who are oppressing them . We need to be the ones to stand in for those who cant be here with us. We need to acknowledge [cheers and applause] we need to acknowledge their suffering by being the ones to stand up and say that we need clean air and we need clean water there is no reason that one human being should be suffering on this planet. There is no need. [cheers and applause] the earth gives us abundance in every single area of our lives. Everything weve ever needed. Why is it that humans have forgotten how to live with that . Why is it that we have forgotten how to provide for ourselves . There are indigenous blueprints, indigenous ways of being, indigenous knowledge. This is what we should be looking at when we are talking about solutions to the Climate Crisis. Cheers and applause] because every time that we think about what happens if we dont do anything, there are Indigenous Peoples who have been asking that same question for illenia. Im 16 years old. Ive been fighting for this since i was 9. Tell me. Tell me why a 9yearold would have to be talking to Congress People about her own future . Tell me why there are children who have to stand up for themselves . Where are our parents . Where are our grandparents . [cheers and applause] it was not our job to be here today. It was the people in congress and it was the president. It was the people who tried so hard to get to this land, it was the people who massacred millions. Is wanted it so bad, what stopping you from fighting for it now . [cheers and applause] is stopping you i have thought every day about what the future looks like for a daughter, what does it look like for our children . Why are there only a few clean rivers in this country . What happened to our ancestors . They have been fighting for this before we could even conceive what the Climate Crisis was . What does it mean that we dont honor that now . We as Indigenous People if theres one thing we can get across to all of you, its that what it means to be human, is to be able to be part of the earth. It means listening to the inherent cycles and laws that the earth has already provided. Its our job to listen. It is our only job. Thank you for all that you have done, thank you for showing up today. But we need to do more. There is so much left to do. Often when we talk about Climate Change we dont talk about system change. Climate change is an intersectional issue. [cheers and applause] you can lower all the Carbon Emissions you want but if you are not respecting women if you are not respecting people of color, what is the solution . We as the human population need to be the change because i will not sit and worry about a future that i might not have. Cheers and applause] remember who you are. Remember that you are always going to be a part of the very ground that you stand on. There is no us without her. Thank you. Speaking foreign language] hello, everyone, good day. Y lakota name is lightwoman. My name is nina. I come from minneapolis, minnesota, the land of over 10,000 beautiful lakes. The land where wild rice grows on the water. Where it has always been lakota land and ojibwe land. I want you all to take a moment and look us in the eyes, all of you congresspeople who are listening, all of you people who are able to create change, look us in our eyes and tell us that youre going to do something. Cheers and applause] youre going to do something for your future grandchildren, those yet unborn. Think about the people, the beautiful nations that will hum. In minnesota theyre trying to build a pipeline. E pipeline proposed by the corporation. Myself along with other young people, the youth climate interveners said in the courts that we will not accept this pipeline to destroy the only thing weve ever known. [cheers and applause] while being here in d. C. For the past week, we have told the congresspeople that we want them to sit and listen to us. That you have had your time to talk and now it is our time. It is our time to talk. Youve had your entire lives to do something about it. And it has not it is not enough. So if were to demooned Climate Change its nothing to be debated about. Like one of our relatives that came from the amazon, the place where things are happening right now that we could not even imagine to our communities, how much more indigenous blood is going to be shed in the name of Climate Change. And we are here to say not one more drop. Cheers and applause] all of you young people out there who are listening, have listened, for the years to come, i want you to understand your power, understand how strong you are. An never let anyone take that away from you because you are beautiful. And you are strong. And your great great grandchildren deserve a place to stay. [cheers and applause] a place to live. A place thats as beautiful as where we stand right now. Thathe spirits that plague plague these people here. You need to understand the type of destruction thats happened within our community. We need to address the doctrine papal bulls and the that were the basis and foundation of the country. We need to address those things. I urge each and every one of you to go back to your communities an educate yourself about these things. Understand that i dont wish for tribal sovereignty, i wish for human sovereignty. Immaterial to live on this land like my ancestors did and i want to guarantee the same for my future grandchildren. Thats why im fight, thats why im here, thats why im psyched cheers and applause] land back land back [speaking foreign language] my name is jennifer, im from outh dakota. I am 22 years old. The very first time i came to washington, d. C. For a march i was 18 years old. What we did that day, what young people can do, it shes you what young people can do, we can take to the streets. We can storm the congresspeople, we can storm the white house we can can hold them accountable because we have the powers. We are the people. We are the future of this nation. The future is in our hands. And the future is coming. The future is rising. We will rise with it. We will raise our voices. We will hold them accountable. Because this is our land, this is our home. This last does not belong to us. It belongs to our children. Our childrens children. An long, long after us, we were not the first ones to come here. Were not the first ones to fight for freedom, to fight for the right to be a human being. Were not the first ones an we will not be the last ones. Cheers and applause] i want to tell the president , and the congresspeople, we will keep coming. Our children will keep coming. Well keep coming like the storm that never ends until they do something. I look at all of you, all these Beautiful People, Beautiful People of color, not white, not black, not brown, all the colors in between, the most Beautiful People that come beautiful lands, we all come from somewhere. We all have homes that we fight for. We all have families that are suffering. We are here for them. We are here for the voiceless. We are here for the people that are being raped and murdered. We are here. I stand as a woman of color, as an indigenous woman, i fight for my future, i fight for my children, i conot have children yet but as a young person wanting to fight for my future that these people got to enjoy years before us. Do we not get to have a good future . [cheers and applause] i say how dare they. How dare they tell us that we dont deserve a good future that we dont deserve clean water how dare they. When we unite it ghives us a reason, a banner to stand behind. Through the pain, through the fear, through the anger, we stand mind this pearn and it gives us power. It makes them scared. Cheers and applause] we can gather as one people from different lands, different philosophies. When you look around and see someone to your right, to the left, you dont know that person but right now that is your brother. That is your sister. Standing on the front lines with you. Fighting this fight. The front line is not washington, d. C. It stretches from palestine to brazil. It stretches across this land. And this world needs to be ready. I feel nothing but love, i feel nothing but power and i tell them, you should be scared. You should be scared. I look at you in your eyes. I see nothing but power. Othing but the future. When we were running for the pipeline, we ran to washington, d. C. The youngest was 3 years old, the oldest 93. We had this chant. Lets do this chant with me, lets bring the spirits here. They will follow you home and they will protect you. We stand. We stand. For our brothers. For our brothers. For our sisters. For our sisters. We stand. We stand. For water. For water. For life. For life. We stand. We stan. For all the nations. For all the nations. We stand. We stand. For our brothers. For our brothers. For our sisters. For our sisters. We stand. We stand. For the waters. For water. For life. For life. Cheers and applause] give it up for them one more time cheers and applause] hello, everyone. Before we get to the next speaker i want to bring up something that sadly happened last night. There was a shooting in columbia heights. I would love to have a moment of silence for all those affected. I also just want to bring the attention to how the climate stands in solidarity with the gun violence movement. [cheers and applause] we acknowledge the intersections between the Climate Crisis and the gun violence movement. Yeah. If we could have a moment of silence for a little bit for all those who lost their lived and have been affected. Thank you. So now we want to acknowledge the demand. We are all here, but what are we demanding . What are we demanding from corporations and elected officials . A bunch of youth climate organizations got together in iowa work no wifi and no cell service and made these demands together. Were going to tell you what were demanding. Our five demands to the people, the elected officials and the corporate greedy fossil fuel industry. We, one, demand a green new. New deal. [cheers and applause] second, we demand respect of indidgenuss rights and treaties. [cheers and applause] three, we are going to fight big agriculture and move to a more Sustainable Agricultural system. [cheers and applause] we are going to protect biodiversity. [cheers and applause] and lastly, Environmental Justice for all. No matter your race, religion, place of origin. Cheers and applause] now we are going to invite our first elected official to speak. I would love to bring to the stage representative yim mcgovern from massachusetts. Jim mcgovern from massachusetts. Thank you so much. Hello, everybody, im congressman jim mcgovern from massachusetts. [cheers and applause] i am here because i proudly stand with all of you and the millions and millions of other people all around the world who are striking today. [cheers and applause] i dont need to tell you how depire things are right now. Were running out of time. Were running out of time to save our planet. And you are all doing the right thing by being out here today. [cheers and applause] but let me tell you what is not right. It is not right that you have to be out here in the first place. It is not right that you have to sacrifice your education because of so because the socalled adult heres in washington dont take the Climate Crisis seriously. [cheers and applause] and it is not right that Mitch Mcconnell and donald trump fly to the lie to the American People about this emergency every single day. [cheers and applause] so im asking today are you ready to fight back . [cheers and applause] are you ready to save our planet . [cheers and applause] i know you are and i am too. But you know, the polluters, they dont want us here today. They dont they do not want you here today. They dont want your voices to be heard. They have got super p. A. C. S, lobbyist, theyve got some members of congress convinced theres no emergency and others who will do anything they say for a campaign contribution. [booing] but you have one thing they cannot buy and that is a movement. And that movement is already producing real change. Change thats going to sweep all the Climate Change deniers right out of congress. [cheers and applause] change thats going to sweep the denier in chief right out of the white house. [cheers and applause] change thats going to sweep the dirty fossil fuel money right out of washington. [cheers and applause] that movement wont stop until we have a country thats not afraid to face this emergency. With creativity and courage. It wont stop until we have a country that understands we ought to be building windmills instead of warheads. [cheers and applause] and we wont stop until we make the Green New Deal a reality. [cheers and applause] look, change wont happen by itself. It takes hard work and dedication and guts. But youve got to show up and cause trouble. Good trouble like my friend john lewis likes to say. [cheers and applause] youve heard a lot about the future today but if work ahead ever feels too big, if it ever feels like theres no way we can rise to face the challenges i sugg jest you look at the past. You cant take no for an answer. Dont give in. Dont give up. Keep fighting until the people that werent there show the same kind of courage as the people who are standing out here today. Im so proud to be with you. Thank you. [applause] Green New Deal Green New Deal Green New Deal Green New Deal Green New Deal Green New Deal next we have an amazing musician coming up, her name is caroline rose. Well have her introduce herself. Hey, everybody. I was supposed to perform a song turns out we have the wrong permit or something. Classic. Soing what id like to do instead is ill play ill have them play the song while im walking off. I want to sum up what the song is about. Its called money, an apt title. Youre going to put me on the spot now. Clearly im not a politician, i dont really know what im doing. [singing] we did it for the money they did it for the money they did it for the money hey did it for the money they didnt do it for the boys didnt do it for the girls didnt do it for the mothers didnt do it for the daughters didnt do it for me d idnt do it for you didnt do it for the weak didnt do it for the they did it for the money they did it for the money what did they do it for the money they did it for the money thank you so much. My name is caroline. Theres a fundamental problem with our relationship with money in this country. Money is stitched into the fabric and foundation of our society. I think its important to have events like this and stand up to power. We live in a society where money is power. And it dictates everything we do. When you stand out here, youre standing up to money and power. [indiscernible] thank you so much for being here. Really appreciate it. Give it up one more time for caroline rose. Cheers and applause] ok. O were going to be a little interactive now with the audience. I want all this side to yell for me. [yelling] come on. [cheering] ditto. [indiscernible] i think this side can do better. This side can definitely do better. [cheering and yelling] ok. Were going to be introducing our next speaker who is another representative from alifornia. Nanette barragan. Can you please come up . Thank you. Are you ready for some change . [cheers and applause] i am too. My friends, this is the moment right here, right now. He alarm bells have been sounding for an entire generation. But this is the moment for you to be heard [cheers and applause] youre being heard across the city, across this nation, and across the entire planet, which is literally dying to be heard and its beautiful to look at and see our climate youth making the change and causing this movement to move forward. Are you ready . [cheers and applause] and were sending the message that were doing this in an urgent way. And we want Climate Action when . Now now, we dont lack the science to know the climate risis is here. Nor do we lack the brain power to heal our wounded planet from generations of abuse and neglect. But what we do lack is the will o act on it. Youre all going to change that, right . [cheers and applause] and thats why having your voices here today is so critical and so important. Because, like those in power who refuse to act quickly enough or boldly enough, like those in an industry who place profits over the environment and over public health. So i want to be here with you to know that we are going to continue to call out loud, rally and show up until our voices are heard. Is that right . Cheers and applause] well, dont stop and keep it going and i will do the same in the United States congress. Thank you for showing your power in numbers, your power in voice, and to our climate youth, lets do this [cheers and applause] give it up one more time. There we go. Come on. [cheers and applause] so next up we have some amazing youth activists. Theyre suing the federal government. [cheers and applause] we have Kelsey Juliana and levi, jacob, avery and jerome will be joining as well. [cheers and applause] thank you so much for coming out today. A lot of gratitude from the bottom of our hearts. We are the youth who are suing the u. S. Government. Our government. [cheers and applause] because we believe that we have a constitutional right to a climate capable of sustaining human life. And the courts are agreeing with us. Cheers and applause] our government is paying 20 billion every year to fossil fuel companies and permitting pipelines like the pipeline in north dakota and a project in my ometown of oregon. Me and my family farm. If our government continues to promote dark money and fossil fuels over our lives, we wont have an economy to grow up in. We wont be able to grow our crops. We wont be able to raise our children in a safe community. And we wont be able to have clean water and a livable climate. [applause] listen to the science and protect life. Thank you. [cheers and applause] we are on a timeline this is a fight for our lives, for our security, for all future generations to come. [cheers and applause] they want us to just sit quiet . No they want us to just sit and live for a future that may not exist . We are here because our generation has put us in an nstable place. And you know what, im sick of hearing about their actions, im sick of their apologies, im sick of their shame and im sick of the future that they put on us. [cheers and applause] im sick of it and so are all of you. And we are not here to talk about our sacrifices and our doom and gloom and onexistence. We are here to create [cheers and applause] we are creating this movement every day because every days inaction drives more action for us [cheers and applause] who here is psyched . [cheers and applause] sorry, i couldnt hear that. [cheers and applause] thats just a little bit better. Lets hear it [cheers and applause] all right. Who here is not excited to hear that we might not have a uture . Couldnt hear that. [cheers and applause] yeah. All right. Everybody, lets go and lets were never going to give up until we get Climate Action. [cheers and applause] what do we want . Climate action when do we want it . Now what do we want . Climate action. When do we want it . Now thank you. [cheers and applause] my name is Jerome Foster ii. Thank you. But what i want everyone to do who is standing here in the front of the capitol, i want to you look left, i want you to look right. I want all of you to understand that we are all united in this risis. [cheers and applause] all of the activists that have spoken here and will continue to speak are fighting for all of us. Were fighting for our children, were fighting for our sisters and brothers, wear fighting for your mother and father. We are fighting for every Single Person who has died because of the Climate Crisis. [applause] we are the victims of an entire Climate Crisis that has destroyed and decimated entire communities, ntire peoples. But politicians dont understand that. As millions of young people strike all around the world, the politicians are acting as if they care that i act as if they care about our future but we need real action to follow this all around the world were seeing natural disasters affecting billions of people. People around the world are dying but were acting as if we dent care. Were acting as if nothing is going to work. So we have to actually make sure we have legislation that will help the climate risis. We have to make sure were olding elected officials accountable. We have to hold corporations accountable. Before you leave today i want every Single Person here to call their member of congress. I want every Single Person here to talk about the clay mat crisis. I want this to be the number one issue in the 2020 debate. Right now, every single olitician is quaking in fare because were showing them what action looks like, were showing them what the people look like. We are showing them what democracy looks like. [cheers and applause] show me what i say she me what democracy looks like, you say this is what democracy ooks like. Show me what democracy looks like this is what democracy looks like show me what democracy looks like show me what democracy looks like this is what democracy looks ike immaterial you to remember the faces here, i want you to understand that everyone here, everyone here is part of the movement. Everyone here in this audience, everyone here as organizers, are part of this movement and we will act as such. You cannot just go back to your job, you cannot just go back to your schools. You must join this earth, you must be here every sing friday, you must be part of the revolution because this is a time for change. Give it up again for all these people suing the federal government. [cheers and applause] we wanted to quickly acknowledge all the organizers that worked hours and hours tirelessly. Theyre all sitting back here, we want to thank the organizers activism is about organizing. A huge am of applause for all the people who put this together. [cheers and applause] next we want to introduce one of our organizers who worked on finance and recruitment, an amazing young individual from earth uprising, wendy ok, got it. Hello, everyone. [cheers and applause] it is so amazing to see all of you here today and to be here with all of you. Every time i walk the streets of d. C. Or chant the chant it make misheart so full of pride and hope. It is and always will be the honor of my life to strike with ach and every one of you today. Ok. Cheers and applause] my name is wendy, im 17 years old, i a native american limate activist. Id like to acknowledge my privilege and my background because my story is vastly different than the ones youve heard today or will hear later n. Indigenous people and frontline communities are and will continue to be most affected by the Climate Crisis. Many are fighting for their lives and rights today and they have been for centuries. So we recognize this an amplify their voices and they work. [applause] hile we strike in solidarity with our brothers and sisters, we also know that the Climate Crisis is different from any problem that humanity has ever faced before because we know it affects everyone. And everyone has a climate story, whether you know yours yet or not. My parents are chinese immigrants and they sacrificed everything to come to america so my sisters and i could have a Higher Education and better life than they did. Cheers and applause] my sisters and i understood this and weve always wanted to do well in school to make sure their sacrifices are worthwhile my education and my future has become my end goal. As it should. Because im 17 and i shouldnt just be a fulltime student. College applications should be the only thing im worried about. I should just be a fulltime student. College applications should be the only thing im worried about. But in october of 2018, the they released their report telling the government they have 12 years left to act on the Climate Crisis or face devastating problems. I remember reading the report and feel very small. By the year 2030 i will be 29 years old which isnt enough time for me to become the first Asian American Supreme Court justice or become a retired history teacher. Thats why im here today and many of you are too. But we shouldnt be. Outh climate activists shouldnt exist. Greta thunberg should not be the figure she is. But we are. When young people act and come together our voices are loud and our actions are powerful. We know when we strike we win so today we strike because today we win. Today [cheers and applause] hey, everybody, i dont know if yall heard but representative alexandria ocasiocortez is here not right now. Not right now. Shes coming later. Shes doing some congressional stuff. But shell be here later to speak to us. Ilhan omar will also be come, ayanna pressley. Ok now our next speaker is a d. C. Local who has been working and organizing youth far long time. Id love to bring to the stage brent yearwood. [cheers and applause] how yall doing out there . [cheers and applause] so, i just want to say this real quick, first, i want to ift up i just want to thank these amazing organizers and leaders. They are young, i didnt say outh leaders because these are the ones who should be leading the clay mat movement. And so first we lift up, i am based in d. C. With the hiphop caucus [cheers and applause] originally from louisiana. [cheers and applause] i actually kind of love that you get more love for the caucus than louisiana. I kind of love that a lot. But one of the things that is so important in this process, i want to lift up those right now. Here are floods in houstons, the people in the bahamas, this is the anniversary of puerto rico. People are still dealing with superstorm sandy, hurricanes irma, maria, wildfires in california, wildfires in the arctic, still those suffering in florida. Were going to give them some love. I just want to say two things. I want you to help me with something. The first thing, this is just the beginning. For the folks in zero hour, come on, zero hour. Cheers and applause] my amazing friend nadia and the whole crew and everybody else. [cheers and applause] ive been here. Want to say two things. One, your the david that will beat the goliath. [cheers and applause] ou are the david that will beat the goliath. You will beat industry. Econdly to that, never forget. Never forget this. Organized people beats organized money every single ime. [cheers and applause] and my last thing, some of you might know this, some of you might know this, some of you may not. I used to be a u. S. Air force officer. I was protesting the war in iraq and [cheers and applause] and i was beaten, literally, by police right around the corner ere. No, no. Dont do that. That happened. It was what it was. But this is the point. Since that time ive had a really bad leg. And i dont move that much. But i want to take from you your Youthful Energy to jump. I cant jump. So on this place, nadia, and natalie, where i was beaten, i want to jump with yall. Can i jump with yall . So yall can stand up. Come on. Stand up. Come on, on stage up here. Not everyone, not everyone. I might need some help. Dont fall off the stage. Just some. The way it gos is this. Im going to when i say jump you say strike. I say climate, you say strike. I say climate, you stay cey strike. And then we start jumping. Were going to jump, climate strike, climate, strike, climate strike. Yall got that . Are you ready . Climate strike thats not good enough. They got to hear you inside. Climate strike little better. Climate strike climate strike clam climate strike climate stram strike climate strike climate strike climate strike. Cant hear you. Climate strike. Cabot hear you. Climate strike. Come on. Climate strike climate strike limate strike [cheers and applause] thank you again for hyping us up. Ndf applause. One more, come on. [cheers and applause] get up here. You dont have to sit down. Some of us have asthma. So. Pretty much a tradition to figure out who the better m. C. S. So were going to do a little cream contest. Well start withed in a yasm if you think nadia is the better m. C. , give her some love [cheers and applause] ok, now me. [cheers and applause] i think thats a pretty clear win fored in a yasm well try one more time for me. Ok . One more time. [cheers and applause] ok the next person were going to introduce is near an dear to both of our hearts. Shes the policy director of 350. Org. Wed like to welcome to the tage natalie mebane. Get your butt up here, natalie. Thank you so much. Thank you so much. How are you . You guys dont even know how blessed you were just now to see reverend yearwood speak. 12 years ago in 2007, im going to date myself, i was a youth climate activist just like you. Ok. [cheers and applause] and i went to this conference, Power Shift Network conference. Power shift 2007 if anybody was out here. And i walk into the room. First person on stage is this man on stage. Reverend yearwood. Shes just standing on the stage going, fight the power and the crowd, thousands of youth, about 6,000 of them stood back and said the same thing, fight the power. Did that for like five minutes straight. I didnt know what i walked into. I had no idea what i was doing. I was ok, i found this place. Im going to join now. So since that moment, november 2007, i credit reverend yearwood for recruiting me to the movement and making me know that climate activism was something i was going to do for the rest of my life. It is an honor to get to speak right after him. Im the policy director at 350. Org. We are one of the people who formed the adult Strike Coalition to help put on strikes across the country and the world. Thousands and thousands of strikes happening around the world. And were glad you guys came. Were here, were talking about climate what we want to do here, the people in this building, one thing thats really special about your generation. [cheers and applause] one great thing is that you guys are at that age where youre about to be able to vote. [cheers and applause] now some of you have seen some members of congress on stage, theres more to come. Obviously they got there because people voted. All right . 2020. Is upon us. And to vote, you have to register to vote. All right . So all of you here, i want to know, if you are old enough to vote in the next election, raise your hand. Chaz a lot of people. Thats a lot of people. This is just one strike happening across the u. S. And across the world. Ok . So my one request for all of you, and your friends, you know what you can do on fridays . Register your friends to vote. Ow yall talk about friday for future, i love that vote for your future. Vote for your future. Ote for your future on friday. Egister your friends to vote on fridays. Use that opportunity when youre striking and youre striking for the climate, to get new voters on the rolls to have some control over who enters this building next year. Thank you all so much. Thank you for striking with us. [cheers and applause] we las vegas you. So this week Greta Thunberg was here in d. C. [cheers and applause] we got to see her hang out with her a little bit, see her testimony. Super powerful. Something she really really emphasized was unite behind the science. Unite behind the science. We wanted to bring up brenda, who is a climate scientist. Shes going to be talking a little bit about the Science Behind the Climate Crisis. Cheers and applause] thank you. Thank you all. It is so inspiring to see so many of you here today in front of the capitol cheers and applause] so im a climate scientist a concerned scientist, i was one of the many authors of the National Climate assessment and i brought my friend here, marcy rodman who is fighting for inclusion of all Human History in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. [cheers and applause] so, first of all, thank you for the space you all have created and generously invited me, alyle bit older, to be here. I honor that. Thank you so much. [cheers and applause] so you all know that Climate Change is real. It is us. And we have to do something about it. Cheers and applause] so many of you have been creating this movement for far longer than have been people in washington, d. C. , in communities around the world and recently Greta Thunberg with has been studying the science. She went before this halllowed halls and said dont listen to me, listen to the science, i am submitting for my testimony the special report on 1 hadnt 5 degrees which says we are running out of time. Cheers and applause] so i just want to thank all of the adults, i am here standing with you. Science as your back. And all the adult allies are ere to stand with you. You are the leaders, tell us what to do, we are following you [cheers and applause] thank you. Thank you, thank you. K. A lot of move, going up and down the stage, good workout. Ll right, were going to announce our next performance. We have another singersong writer, claudia sachs, shes going to perform for us. All right, go ahead. My name is claud yea sachs im 16 years old from richmond, virginia. [cheers and applause] and i will be chanting as they told me to do the climate anthem i come posed, future of humanity. Since im not performing this, its very important that you guys know the words to the chorus. I need you to yell this back at me. We have to fight. We have to fight. We have to fight. We have to fight. To save our earth. So save our earth. We have to fight. We have to fight. So we can be. So we can be. The future of humanity. The future of humanity. The beaches of miami will be gone by 2060 the canals of enice, italy will be beneath the sea the lights of new york city will be a distant memory the beauty of our coral reef will be covered in debris we have to fight we have to fight we have to fight to save our earth we have to fight we have o fight we have to fight to we can be the future of humanity the california forests will be ash before we know it the ice from the arctic will flood your streets and markets the summer days you used to love will be 100 and bf the plastic that you lways used has become turtle food we have to fight we have to fight we have to fight to save our earth we have to fight we have to fight we have to fight so we can be the future of humanity we stand here to strike to change the course of history and Save Humanity i ant hear you we have to fight we have to fight we have to ight to save our earth we have to fight we have to fight we have to fight so we can be the future of humanity one more time we have to fight we have to fight we have to fight to save our earth we have to fight we have to fight we have to ight so we can be the future of humanity [cheers and applause] thank you, guys. Thank you. [cheers and applause] as we all know this is a Global Climate strike. We have strikes going on all over the world. Thousands in the United States. Give out up for that [cheers and applause] we want to acknowledge the numbers popping up verywhere. So in france, 30,000 to 40,000 people. [cheers and applause] in germany alone, 1. 4 illion people. In australia, the first strike we were hearing about ast night, 400,000 people. [cheers and applause] and brace yourselfs for the next one. Can i get a drum roll for new york city three Million People cheers and applause] we are going to be too loud for them not to hear us. Climate justice now cheers and applause] next on stage we are bringing up my little me ethan. Come on hey, everyone. My name is ethan vandervere. Im here representing the ational choice for change. In the 1970s, scientists began to ring the alarm bells about Climate Change. Now 40plus years later, here we are. That 40plus years of naction. The u. S. National academy of sciences said that, quote, the Scientific Understanding of Climate Change is sufficiently clear to justify taking steps to reduce the amount of Greenhouse Gases in the atmosphere. That statement was released in 2005. Just two years before i was orn. When i first learned about Climate Change, i felt a wave of emotions, fear, i was scared for my future that was being taken right in front of my face. Frustration, wondered why isnt any action being taken . I was furious. Really furious. Cheers and applause] so i went into adhave kacy. I went to several organizations including the National Childrens campaign and Climate Action. Those two organizations are sponsoring this event today. Cheers and applause] but time and time again i keep seeing how our decisionmakers arent acting. Why cant our leaders listen to us . Why cant they choose democracy . Why cant they do their job . [cheers and applause] speaking of their job, the definition of a representative is a person chosen to act or speak on behalf of a wider group. So in the 116th congress, 9,621 piece of legislation were introduced, only 203 had the word Climate Change in them, even though 70 of adult, 90 of kids believe that Climate Change is real and happening. That is not ok. [cheers and applause] when i was on the hill a senators staffer fold me his boss would not vote to pass the Green New Deal because he thought it would hurt the economy even though 64 of his constituents think that Environmental Protection right now is more important than economic growth. That is not ok. Cheers and applause] it is not ok when a senator from oklahoma brings a snowball into the senate floor saying that Climate Change is false. [cheers and applause] while 62 of his constituents think Climate Change is real. This is what i call failure to represent and it is happening in our Decision Making offices. So leaders, act on clay mat change, vote for the people or get voted out. [cheers and applause] vote them out vote them out vote them out vote them out vote them out next we have an amazing organizer for our strike, shes going to introduce herself. Hello. Ok. My name is kadija, im so glad to be here with you guys today. Make some noise [cheers and applause] last year on december 17, 2018, there were two strikers in the u. S. One was dave in new york city and one was Callie Benson right here. [cheers and applause] and look at how big the movement is today. Look how big it is just in d. C. [cheers and applause] but when we talk about Climate Change and talk about the Climate Crisis we cannot forget to involve people of color and marginalized communities in the conversation. Because we are fighting for our future. But so many people today are fighting for their present. For their right to live today. Tomorrow. The next month and the next year. We need to use the pri ledge of this movement and the privilege of the platform we have gained to elevate the voices of arginalized communs across the world. [cheers and applause] and when we think about people who are affected by Climate Change, we dont like to think about people in our own ackyard. In d. C. , for example, all of our toxic waste and treasure travels across the Anacostia River into land gs fills that are systematically placed in communities of color. It is not a coincidence that according to the e. P. A. Black americans are three times more likely to die from air pollution than their white counterparts. It is not a coincidence. This is seen all around the country from flint, michigan, to the north Dakota Access pipeline, to south bronx. This is environmental racism and we must acknowledge the issue. [cheers and applause] we must acknowledge that we have to use this platform in order to address these issues. And fight for all humanity. We cannot just whitewash this movement an address people who are not acting. This is not going to affect the future for all of us, its affecting the presentfish so any right now. [cheers and applause] as we move on today, i hope we continue this momentum and we continue bringing voices of color and people on the frontlines into this conversation. Because enough is enough and the people who have been fighting this fight for centuries are not getting the voices they deserve. Theyre being erased by people who worry about the future. While we worry about the future we have to worry about the present. This is not normal, environmental racism should not be a thing, systematic racism should not be a thing, we need to fight against it. Because fighting for Environmental Justice is fighting for human rights. We need to fight for every single human being on this planet no matter your age, no matter your race, no matter your gender or any other identity of yours. Thank you. [cheers and applause] thank you, kadija big round of applause cheers and applause] next up we have an amazing artist who organized a lot of art work you see here today with me, all these amazing pickup trucks. Of the executives. Boo we hate them. She is going to be speaking here. [cheers and applause] oh my gosh. My name is reina hatcher, im nly 16 queers old. 16 years old. I am here to speak for the trees. And all other life on earth which cannot speak. We are killing our planet. Not just for the human race but everything on earth. We are destroying habitats. Poisoning water. Polluting air we need to breathe. And ruining our chance of having a future. We are only one species who is going to be responsible for the destruction of millions of others. This is not our planet to take. As humans we seem to enjoy blaming others for our problems. But if everyone did the way we do here in the United States we would need five earths to provide enough for veryone. Pollution is so bad that our geological record will be made up of plastic. We will go down in history as the plastic age. The destruction we created is oing to be our legacy. In the last 10 years alone, we have made more plastic than in the century before that. And plastic is only one part of human impact. I want you to take a breath. And one more please. Plankton pr deuces the oxygen you need for every other breath you take. Because of Climate Change and ocean acidify case, the plankton population is practically half the size it was 50 years ago. The future of not just my generation, or the next, or even the human species, but all life on earth is in our hands. [cheers and applause] i am a coordinator of extinction rebelyouth. [cheers and applause] and we are fueled by love. Love for our planet and all life on earth. We must disrupt the peace. We do not have time to be polite. This is a revolution. [cheers and applause] we must act now. Cheers and applause] the thing is, we are not only killing other life on earth, but ourselves. We live here too. Round the world people are already suffering from the growing growing effects of Climate Change and it is only going to get worse. We are out of time right now. We need to unite. And fight for our planet together. Before mother earth has to fight back herself. Rebel or die [cheers and applause] another round of applause for reina next we are bringing up an amazing representative, representative raul grijalva. He testified at the first Climate Change hearing at the conference, so we want to bring him up here. Lets give him a round of applause, representative grijalva of arizona. [cheers and applause] i want to thank you. I want to thank everyone nvolved in organizing this strike. Not only here but in my hometown of tucson and across this country. Thank you very much. You know, Climate Change is making natural disasters more frequent and more dangerous. The reminder for me was just a few days week went to visit puerto rico. 3. 4 million american citizens live on that island and over 3,000 people were killed by hat hurricane maria. You go back two years later and the discussion about how to recoverer, how to take care of the humanitarian needs, and to build resilience for the future for the island, is still a discussion thats ongoing two years later. That the urgency we see. And thats the urgency that more people should take time look at and understand. I want to say a little bit about the Good Opportunity i had to meet with some of the youth leaders and have a discussion. T wasnt a discussion. It was an opportunity to listen and to learn. One thing that came, he the lesson we all know is that time is not on our side when it comes to the Climate Crisis as a need for systematic, strong, powerful and bold solutions. Time is not on our side. As time passes, the Climate Crisis becomes worse and worse and worse. Indigenous people, frontline communities, Environmental Justice are all essential to the solution that we need to come up with. If you listen, you listen, what you hear from young people and from all these communities, is protect all life, not just protect the profits. [cheers and applause] our actions must be bold. They must be urgent. The voices for change an for action on Climate Change are trong. Theyre multigenerational. And above all, young. But lets be honest. When we talk about sloughs, the risk and the consequences of doing nothing fall squarery on the young people of our country and this world and on the children of this country and this world. If we as elected officials do not do our part, we are reneging on a legacy and commitment that we have to each other. For our part, the choice is simple for the people in congress, for the building ehind me where i work. Its real simple. Use your power. Use our power. To move solutions, to change direction, and to deal with Climate Change. [cheers and applause] we cannot afford to just to just sit around and protect our power. And do little or nothing. You know, i really believe that everybody talks about the schedule issue, the Climate Change, the Climate Crisis. I agree but it can be a very important unifying issue where all of us regardless of zip code, regardless of color, regardless of origin, regardless of gender, come together to say, life is the most important item on the agenda. I want to thank you for the education. For the learning. And for the strength that you bring to this issue. This issue is important to the American People now because of the actions youve taken and others have taken in the last few years. Congratulations for raising the bar and now congratulations for holding our feet to the fire as your representative to do something about it. Thank you very much. [cheers and applause] thank you, representative gri 458 vasm i want to acknowledge that this is an intergenerational issue. Thank you to all the adults who are standing bd and looking to youth for the answers because we are today, we are the present, we are tomorrow and we are the next generation that has to live through this crisis. So without further ado, we want to bring up to the stage john aramendi, a representative from california, to talk about the Climate Crisis. Thank you. Thank you thank you do you feel the energy of the sun . Cheers and applause] do you feel the energy of the wind . [cheers and applause] do you feel the energy that you possess . Yes are you ready to use that energy to change what is going on in this building . [cheers and applause] are you ready to use that energy to change whats going on in the white house . Cheers and applause] are you ready far Green New Deal . [cheers and applause] are you ready to do the work that needs to be done to change whats going on in america . [cheers and applause] then you must, you must never, ever give up, you must never, ever stop using your energy to save our planet. Are you ready for that . [cheers and applause] are you ready to do the work in the precincts back home . [cheers and applause] are you registered . Cheers and applause] i heard a few noes. If oure not registered, youre not voting and you dont count. You have to got to use your energy to change the Political Climate in america. Are you ready for cha . [cheers and applause] quour gathered here, theyre gathered in new york, perhaps a million, theyre gathered in california, and all of us, young as you are, older as some others are, and some my age are ready for change. We need to do it together the energy of the sun, the energy of the wind, the energy of the ocean, but most important, the energy of the youth. Do it. Make it happen. Make it happen [cheers and applause] another round of pplause. Thank you so much. Cheers and applause] next we have another performer, a round of applause for alex hello, everyone, my name is alex, im 16 years old, im a striker with fight ing for our future. Thank you guys for being here today. This is amazing. We are all here today because we are in a crisis. We are in a Climate Crisis. And a report done by the ahn year ago stated that if we dont reduce Global Fossil fuel emissions by two degrees, before 2030, we are going to reach an irreversible climate catastrophe and it is my generation thats going to be affected the most and it is my generation that cannot even vote to fix it. But for these of you who can vote, i encourage you to think about the future of the earth. Vote for the interests of our planet and our people before the interests of large corporations. [cheers and applause] if youre like me and cant vote yet, i encourage you to write a song, go to climate rallies on fridays, start a crub organization of your own after school. He more we have these conversations the less complex it will seem and together we can become an insurmountables for of change. I wrote a song called be the change. Unfortunately i cant perform it today but i want to teach you a part of it so we can lift our choices together so that those men an women in the capitol with the power to create change can hear our call to action. [cheers and applause] o oim going to sing the chorus and i need you to repeat after e. What do you want to leave behind what do you want to leave behind what are we going to be remembered for at the end of our lives we only have one world and the uture is at stake so we have to make a change so we have to make a change you guys sound beautiful. Thank you. [cheers and applause] continue to fight. If we are going to change anything we need to start by believing in change. By being here today you are there are starting to create it. Chunk so much. Thank you so much. [cheers and applause] so next we have alyssa wiseman, one of the if youre interested in getting involved hit her up. Big round of applause for lyssa. Hello, everyone. I want to thank each and every one of you for coming out today o fight for our futures. [cheers and applause] each and every voice is necessary to bring change. My name is alyssa wiseman, i am here as a concerned citizen. As a child, i should not have to worry about my future. But my future is in jeopardy. All of our futures are in jeopardy. Your childrens futures are in eopardy. We have only 11 years to rectify decades of damage that we have inflicted on our lanet. And only 18 months until some damages are irreversible. We no longer have the luxury of time. We do not have the luxury of gradual change. We are in the midst of a global emergency. And we must act fast if we want o survive. [cheers and applause] many areas of the world are on their way to becoming uninhabitable. But most of those areas are not on u. S. Soil. Like most issues, the Climate Crisis will disproportionately affect the marginalized. The impoverished. And the voiceless. People all over the world who are already struggling to get by are now experiencing shortages of water, shortages of food for their children, and unbearable heat waves. I am here to speak for the people who will be affected by he refugee crisis. [applause] i am here for the people who are going to lose their livelihoods due to the Climate Crisis. I am here for the people who are suffering and dying because f our countrys decisions. It is time for us to fight ack. We can no longer sit back and wait for policymakers to bring hange. To even acknowledge that change is needed. That the Climate Crisis is real. We must be the change. As a coleader of zero hour d. C. , i want to embolden the voices of children because we are the ones facing this new reality. The reality that our world is no longer safe for us. If we want to survive, we must take action. I want our policymakers to see the faces of the people they are condemning to death. Nd i want them to hear our cries. It is now it is now or never. Thank you for your time. Cheers and applause] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2019] President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump will host the second state dinner of his administration as he welcomes australian prime minister, scott morrison, and his wife, jenny morrison. Watch guest arrivals and dinner toasts. Our live coverage begins today t 6 30 p. M. Eastern. Cspan is back in des moines, iowa, this saturday for Live Campaign 2020 coverage of the polk county democrats annual steak fry. 17 president ial candidates will take the stage for speeches. Watch live on cspan, cspan. Org or listen live on the go using the free cspan radio app. Campaign 2020. Watch our live coverage of the president ial candidates on the campaign trail and make up your own mind. Cspans campaign 2020, your unfiltered view of politics. Next, a book tv exclusive. Our cities tour visits sheridan, wyoming, to learn more about its unique history and literary life. For eight years now weve traveled to u. S. Cities, bringing the book scene to our viewers. You can watch more of our visits at cspan. Org citiestour. All right. One, two, three. The nationals final rodeo. Theres no place better to be the second week in july than sheridan, wyoming. We put on a world class event and we just love to invite you all to come to sheridan. O say can you see y the dawns early light what so proudly we hail by the twilights last gleaming i tell you what, this week is the biggest week in sheridan. Economically and entertainmentwise. Its good because 89 years ago, sheridan was dead as a doer nail. There was nothing going on. So door nail. There was nothing going on. So some citizens decided, we need to have a rodeo to provide some Economic Opportunity and entertainment and that was their charter and it still is. So here we are 89 years later. Were still doing the same thing and we hope the Founding Fathers will be proud of that. In 1928 and 1929, a financier family named j. P. Morgue be, they bought the historic morgan, they bought the historic p. K. Ranch outside of town. For years they had a big rodeo out in the fields. It was such a big deal. I think there were cars in 23 states. This is in 128. Came to. The people of sheridan said, if they can do it, why cant we do it here . So a group of concerned citizens got together and formed a committee and they decided, were going to have a rodeo. They didnt just start out on a small scale. They wanted t