Alexandria Villaseñor has spent her Friday mornings since December 2018 taking the New York City subway to United Nations headquarters, where she stands alone in front of the 39-story building with two signs that alert passersby about her mission, calling for international action to address climate change. Alexandria, now 14 years old, was inspired to launch her U.N. vigil by 15-year-old Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg, who, beginning in August 2018, skipped school on Fridays to stand in front of the Swedish Parliament to demand her government seriously address climate change. Her action moved thousands of students across Europe and later the U.S. to participate in the “Fridays for Future” movement that is demanding governments around the world aggressively address the growing threat of climate change.
After several international Fridays for Future protests over the past year, young people and adults from around the world will join together in a massive coordinated strike on Friday, Sept. 20 to protest government and business inaction on climate change. The protest, just 3 days before the start of the United Nations Climate Action Summit, is predicted to be one of the largest environmental protests in world history. A second International Earth Strike is planned for Sept. 27.
Between The Lines’ Scott Harris spoke with Alexandria Villaseñor, a co-founder of U.S. Youth Climate Strike and founder of Earth Uprising. Here, she talks about the importance of the Sept. 20 Global Climate Strike and the urgent campaign she’s helping to organize to move the world to action on climate change.
ALEXANDRIA VILLASEÑOR: In September on the 20th, there is going to be a global youth-led climate strike and it is sending a message to the world leaders who are flying to New York City for the United Nations Climate Summit. We are demanding them to make change at this summit. And through that, there’s going to be week-long actions and then ending with an adult-led strike on Sept. 27th. And so really through this, we are sending a message to the whole world that we are demanding change and our world leaders need to act now on the climate crisis.
BETWEEN THE LINES: What’s the main message that you want people listening here to take away from this particular event that you’re helping organize right now on Sept. 20. What’s the importance of it?
ALEXANDRIA VILLASEÑOR: You know, my message for everyone on here today is that we really need everyone on the streets demanding bold climate action because we have no time to waste and we need everyone out there protesting for our future. And it’s my generation who will be affected the most by the climate crisis and we can’t vote. And so going out and protesting is one of the only ways and one of the best ways to get our voices heard. And so we need everyone, youth out on the streets.
BETWEEN THE LINES: Are you hopeful that this particular action coming up on Sept. 20 will change the hearts and minds of the politicians that have been paralyzed in not taking action on climate change?
ALEXANDRIA VILLASEÑOR: You know what? They’re going to have to, because there be so many students out there demanding action that there’ll be no way to ignore us.
BETWEEN THE LINES: What gives you hope that there will be the kinds of change that you’re demanding? Given the fact that as you know, the fossil fuel companies provide hundreds of millions of dollars in campaign contributions to the politicians who, for the most part, are the climate change deniers in our House and Senate. And all over this country, you’ve got elected officials who very bluntly have been bought and paid for by the fossil fuel industry. What gives you hope that you can overcome the power of their money?
ALEXANDRIA VILLASEÑOR: You know, what really gives me hope is that the youth movement is growing every day and it’s getting larger and more students are getting involved. And you know, OPEC recently said how the youth movement is the number one threat to the oil industry. And I think that’s what really gives me hope – is that the youth movement is changing the conversation and since we’re growing, we are going to get out there and make change.
BETWEEN THE LINES: Alexandria, I wanted to ask you a bit about the kinds of conversations you have about the motivation of some of these politicians who certainly have children, have grandchildren. And if they don’t have kids or grandkids themselves, they certainly have family members who do and the kinds of thought process you think goes into their climate change denial, which has really frozen our country in place and many other countries around the world into inaction on climate change. When it comes to the welfare of their direct family members and the next generation, it just seems counterintuitive that they would not take action to protect future generations.
ALEXANDRIA VILLASEÑOR: Yeah, it is. It’s really upsetting that a lot of politicians and people in power are choosing profit over our future. And it shouldn’t be the responsibility of my generation to make sure that they look past money and they actually look at our future and what is – how we have to conserve this planet that we have. And there’s also a lot of politicians – the people who are donating to them are fossil fuel industries. And so they are listening to their donors.
BETWEEN THE LINES: And you’re hopeful, as you’ve said, you’re hopeful that continuing action and agitation by the youth whose generation really has the most at stake here and everybody else, all of the adults here who live in this world will help change their views. What do you think it’s gonna take in terms of protests or occupation-style mass sit-ins or civil disobedience? Have you given thought to some next steps because it seems like simple protest, at least to date, has not done the trick – that maybe things need to escalate in a nonviolent way. Have you any ideas on where we go next?
ALEXANDRIA VILLASEÑOR: Yeah. You know the movement, it’s just going to continue to grow and I think we really have to look at past movements like the 18 days of protest in Egypt to bring down President Mubarak. We really need to escalate our actions and do things more direct action – and that long. You need protests that last through days and days till our demands are met.
For more information visit Global Climate Strike at globalclimatestrike.net.
