Climate Rally Frees Mother Earth From Fossil Fuels

Climate activists broke the chains tying Mother Nature to a model power plant — as part of a youth-led protest designed to galvanize individuals, private organizations, and city government to take action now to save the planet from the ravages of climate change.

That march took place around the Green and in front of City Hall Friday as part of the New Haven Climate Movement​’s ​“Stop Climate Freefall” rally.

At the youth-led rally, organizers and participants called for carbon-cutting changes at the individual, institutional and policy levels alike. Those included everything from urging members of the public to use carbon-neutral modes of transportation to pressing for the Board of Education to declare a climate emergency, just as the Board of Alders did in 2019.

The visual and theatrical centerpiece of the protest involved a teenage activist wearing cardboard cutouts of Earth and chained to a model power plant being freed by her climate conscious peers.

Emma Polinsky, a New Haven Climate Movement organizer and Yale student, told the Independent that the idea for the Mother Nature skit came from creatives on the team who ​“wanted to give people something visual to get them excited about climate.”

Yellow chains attached Mother Nature to the miniature power plant, covered in statistics about the harms of fossil fuels, that trailed behind her.

As the rally — a part of Swedish youth activist Greta Thunberg’s Fridays for Future annual climate strike — progressed and marchers learned more about what they can do to help cut carbon emissions, Mother Nature appeared healthier and more cheerful, until she was eventually released from the chains weighing her down.

Starting at the corner of Elm and Church Streets, students ranging from preschool to college, parents, and even grandparents gathered to hear organizers from the New Haven Climate Movement, Save the Sound, the Yale Student Environmental Coalition, the Yale Endowment Justice Coalition, and Mayor Justin Elicker.

Organizers made sure that the rally would be seen and heard. Marchers were armed with cardboard signs, some homemade and some distributed by organizers, and noisemakers. Throughout the rally, attendees shook rock-filled soda cans, whistled, hollered, clapped against their signs, and even kazoo-ed along to the tune of chants to show their support for the fight against climate change. Many passing cars honked in solidarity.

After an introduction and optimistic speech to kick things off from an organizer with Save the Sound, Mother Nature led the procession toward Temple Street, where they paused for another speech before continuing on toward Center Church. There, Kiana Flores, co-founder of New Haven Climate Movement, gave a speech and led the group in writing messages to Mayor Elicker about their ideas for fighting climate change in the Elm City, which Mother Nature later presented to the mayor.

Though he was supposed to address the crowd in front of City Hall, Mayor Elicker met the rally on the Green so that he could make it to pick up his children on time. Arriving on his bike, he paused to take selfies with a few students before speaking to the crowd about his collaboration with the organizers, highlighting new federally funded City Hall positions designed to address the climate crisis in New Haven and encouraged qualified residents to apply to these yet-to-be-filled posts. He made sure to mention that residents had Democrats to thank for the creation of the climate response office.

After the mayor’s departure, the rally made its way back down the Green and up the steps of City Hall. Marchers began by sitting down for a moment of silence to recognize the deaths caused by climate change. Organizers beat a drum 40 times during the silence, once for each year since 1982, and pointed out the most recent disasters in Puerto Rico and Pakistan, emphasizing that nations with the least culpability in the climate crisis often bear the brunt of its devastation.

The rally ended with more speeches from high school organizers, a group photo, and a reading of UN Secretary-General António Guterres’s recent words on the climate crisis: ​“Emissions are rising as people die in floods and famines. And this is insanity. This is collective suicide. From Pakistan, I am issuing a global appeal: Stop the madness; end the war with nature; invest in renewable energy now.”

"50% Fossil Free In 2023"

One question was at the heart of each speech, activity, and chant that punctuated the march around the Green: What is the plan to get New Haven to ​“net zero”?

Alex Rodriguez, the opening speaker from Save the Sound, said that the first step is to raise awareness about the realities and perils of climate change, including rising sea levels, heavier rainstorms, longer droughts, and higher-temperature heat waves. ​“People deserve to know how their climate is impacted,” he said. ​“There’s no refuting that.”

Flores expressed her confidence in the New Haven community and the importance of coming together to fight for a safe environment. She urged attendees to sign New Haven Climate Movement’s individual pledge to reduce personal carbon emissions by 50 percent in 2023 by finding more sustainable food sources, electrifying appliances and transitioning to carbon-neutral transportation.

This individual pledge is the first level of the movement’s newest campaign, dubbed ​“50% Fossil Free in 2023.” 

The campaign also asks organizations to take steps to reduce their carbon footprint and increase awareness. 

The final level is focused on the government. The campaign asks the Board of Alders to commit $5 million more to cutting fossil fuels, in addition to the $5 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) aid that the mayor and the alders have already allocated to climate change resiliency efforts.

Young In Kim, a senior at Wilbur Cross High School, gave the final speech of the day about what comes next for New Haven Climate Movement. They will attend the Board of Education meeting Tuesday and urge the board to adopt a Climate Emergency Resolution similar to the one the movement successfully lobbied the Board of Alders to pass in 2019. 

Kim noted that transportation is the leading contributor to carbon emissions and the school district needs to take action to reduce its own emissions from school buses. He also pointed out how climate change is already interrupting education: ​“An entire wing of my high school was closed last week after heavy rain in just one day.”

Kim told the Independent that he feels optimistic that the resolution will pass. He said that the board members he and other students have worked with, including Board Vice President Matthew Wilcox and board member Dr. OrLando Yarborough III, have ​“been very responsive and supportive of student activism, even if it takes two or three emails to get to them.”

At the end of the rally, Kim and Polinsky called on any attendees who feel passionate about fighting climate change in schools to attend the Board of Education meeting and testify in favor of the resolution.