Students walk out of class to participate in downtown climate protest

Originally Published on November 9th, by Andrew Hoffman

 Hundreds of protesters of all ages, led by high school aged youth, marched through downtown as part of the “Global Day of Action.” The protesters marched to demand that JP Morgan Chase as well as Liberty Mutual stop funding fossil fuel projects and companies, and to instead invest in clean energy.  Before a line of flowers, candles and signes, dozens of protesters lay motionless in the middle of one of Seattle’s busiest streets.

“I think it’s a really powerful message,” junior Maria Fonville said. “It’s so simple, yet it has a big impact.”
“It’s important that we come here and we tell companies, large corporations that are investing so much money in fossil fuels, that you’re hurting us,” senior Sheridan Green said. “…as much as we talk about how your individual impact hurts the planet, it’s nothing compared to the large corporations that are the core cause of what’s happening to us. 

Green is the head of the Sunrise Ballard club, the school hub of the Sunrise Movement, an environmental activist group. 

The protesters went from the regional Chase building to that of Liberty Mutual, in order to protest against the company insuring Trans Mountain, an oil pipeline expansion project in Canada.

Finally, they arrived at Seattle City Hall in order to call for the passing of the “Solidarity Budget,” as well as calling for the building of homes heated by fossil fuels to stop in the city. This proposal includes everything from defunding the police to making a Seattle Green New Deal.

 According to the proposa’s website, “Transitioning our homes and buildings to clean energy is a huge opportunity to tackle Seattle’s climate pollution, improve the health of our communities and create good, living-wage jobs,” it says. 

The proposal calls for $85 million to accelerate transitioning of homes and buildings of fossil fuels, as well as at least $132 million for the construction or acquisition and operation of green housing.

Protesting will certainly continue, for those who participate believe that their survival and that of humanity is threatened. 

“And I care about the climate, I care about our planet, and I want to see it survive more than, you know, seven years,” Green said.