Dems and Earth clubs march alongside environmental activists

On Sunday, Oct. 28, Hopkins students from Dems Club and Earth Club marched from the Minnesota US District Court to the inside rotunda of the state Capital alongside other environmental activists.

In 2015, 21 youth plaintiffs from Oregon banded together to sue the United States Government for condoning activities that harm the environment and, therefore, harm their futures. In 2016, environmentalists of Minnesota opposed a crude oil pipeline, called Line 3,  that is expected to be built across the state and within two Indian Reservations. Fast forward to 2018, and Minnesota youth successfully organized a march in St. Paul to show support for activists in both of these issues.

“The goals of the march were to show our solidarity with the Oregon plaintiffs and oppose the pipeline that the government approved to be built. We also hope to see a reduction in the use of fossil fuels at the state level,” said Angela Perez, senior, who took part in the march.

MN Can’t Wait is an youth-led movement encouraging Minnesota to take climate action and limit greenhouse gas pollution sooner rather than later. Lia Harel, senior, who is on the MN Can’t Wait board, helped in organizing the march and gave a speech outside of the courthouse.

“We announced at the march that the youth are going to sue the Pollution Control Agency for the pipeline,” Harel said.

Youth and adults marched with handmade posters, with several among these reading, “See you in court” and “There is no planet B.” According to Perez, some signs were so large that there was no way that passing car could miss the march.

Harel and the rest of the MN Can’t Wait youth board are presenting a “Youth Climate Inheritance Resolution” to the state legislature calling for zero greenhouse gas emissions within a decade. This resolution has been presented to many legislators and candidates for governor such as Tim Walz and Jeff Johnson.

“Now is the time to stop making decisions based on what is politically possible and start making decisions based on what’s necessary. And now is the time for bipartisan action because it’s not a Republican or Democratic Future, it’s just our future,” Harel said in her speech.