“It’s Our Future At Risk”

New Haven high school climate activists descended on City Hall Friday to write Valentine’s Day cards about their love for the planet — and to send those cards to the mayor and to alders, urging them to do what they can now to protect the Earth for generations to come.

The Valentine’s Day social was organized and hosted by the New Haven Climate Movement.

It was the group’s second ​“Cookies For Climate” youth social of the year so far, bringing together local high school and college students to eat sweets, drink hot chocolate, and talk about organizing for a greener future.

“We’re just here to spread love for the planet,” said Adrian Huq, a 17-year-old New Haven Climate Movement leader and senior at Metropolitan Business Academy.

Huq played a key role in getting youth to City Hall to pressure the alders to adopt a climate emergency resolution. They also helped turn the spotlight on Justin Elicker after he was elected mayor, calling on him to follow through on campaign promises to prioritize fighting climate change.

Huq said the Friday series of local youth socials is modeled after the #FridaysForFuture demonstrations started in 2018 by Swedish teenager and world-renowned climate activist Greta Thunberg.

“More important than getting a big turnout at strikes and protests is getting more people to organize,” Huq said.

That means solidifying and expanding upon the New Haven Climate Movement’s core group of 10 youth action team members, who get together, socialize, and strategize even when there aren’t hundreds of people marching in the streets.

Chomping on cookies and filling out red paper cards decorated with hearts, the 10 students who showed up to City Hall Friday afternoon all seemed eager to heed that call to action.

“If people see it’s so important to us as young people, they’re more likely to act,” said 16-year-old Co-Op junior and former mayoral transition team member Kiana Flores. ​“This is about more than just protests.”

“Everybody needs a voice,” said fellow 16-year-old Co-Op junior Alissa Boutviseth. ​“Eventually we’ll get heard.”

“I think it’s so important for young people to get involved,” said 16-year-old Windsor High School junior Alia Salem.“It shows we’re standing together.”

Esmeralda Gutierrez, a 17-year-old junior at Hill Regional Career High School, said that friends in the Sunrise Movement directed her to the New Haven Climate Movement as a group that is more focused on cultivating high school leaders in the fight for curbing greenhouse gas emissions.

“It’s our future that’s at risk,” she said about why she showed up to City Hall Friday.

“Sometimes it can feel like of hopeless,” added 16-year-old Wilbur Cross High School junior Catalina Homann. But, she said, coming together in such a supportive, passionate, and nonjudgmental community of fellow young people equally concerned about the future of the planet helps her feel a bit calmer — and inspired to push for change.

The Valentine’s Day cards that the students filled out and dropped in the City Hall mailboxes of the mayor and all 30 alders read: ​“I Love My Earth! Stop Climate Change Because …

“I want a future,” one student wrote.

“This is my home,” wrote another.

“I don’t want to be extinct,” wrote a third.

“This is a new way to engage youth,” Huq said about the event.