‘We’re part of the global movement’ fighting climate change, Bellingham marchers say
Approximately 500 people rallied downtown for the Bellingham Youth Climate Strike, part of a series of student-led demonstrations across Washington state and the nation on Friday.
A rally started at City Hall before noon Friday, Dec. 6, and marchers headed to the Depot Market Square for speakers and entertainment.
Climate Strike is the youth movement that formed around the “school strike for climate” and Fridays for Future school walkouts organized by Greta Thunberg of Sweden, the teenager calling for immediate action to address climate change. Thunberg arrived in Madrid on Friday for the COP25 United Nations-sponsored summit on climate change.
Similar Climate Strike rallies were underway Friday in several U.S. cities and in Washington state — including Seattle, Olympia, Kirkland, Everett, Sammamish and Tacoma, according to the national Climate Strike organization.
“We’re being part of the global movement, trying to keep pushing the effort forward,” Tanner Rapp, a Squalicum High sophomore and one of the organizers, told The Bellingham Herald.
Shannon Bosh, a Squalicum High junior, said the idea of the rally was to keep people focused on the issue of climate change.
“We don’t want the movement to fizzle out,” she told The Herald.
Goals of the Bellingham rally are to support the Climate Action Task Force recommendations that go before the City Council on Monday, to counter what they said is a “disinformation campaign” against the task force, and support a County Council plan to revise zoning in the Cherry Point area that limits new oil refineries and supports environmentally friendly industry.
A student-led Climate Strike rally in September drew approximately 2,500 participants on a scheduled day off for Bellingham Schools, but Friday’s event was held during a regular class day.
School district spokeswoman Dana Smith said that school officials understand the value of civic participation.
“We also respect that there are circumstances where students do miss school,” Smith told The Herald. “We encourage families to talk with their students about the protest and their participation. We expect families to excuse their child if they are planning to miss school.”
April Barker, a member of the Bellingham City Council, said she marched at the rally to show her support for climate action.
“The engagement is awesome,” Barker told The Herald. “All these kids, they may not be able to vote ... but they can influence what’s happening in their communities, and they’re doing that.”
One of the youngest marchers was 6-year-old Oliver Wright, a second-grader at Blaine Primary School.
“We want this march not to die,” he said. He urged more businesses and cities to ban single-use plastic bags of all kinds, saying that’s a simple step that people can take to help the environment.
Rapp said the next Climate Strike rally is being planned for the spring around Earth Day.
This story was originally published December 6, 2019 at 12:44 PM.
