Young people teach me every day that we have no reason NOT to act boldly, particularly when a space for action opens in front of us. Greta Thunberg, the Swedish teenager whose voice on climate change has ricocheted around the world this last year, has found her way into the hearts and minds of the student environmental interns at the Centre for Imagination.
Late last night, I received a politely worded email from the interns, suggesting that we ought to join the hundreds of schools around the world who are protesting for action on climate change this Friday, March 15. When I asked what they had in mind, I imagined a moderate informational display and perhaps a petition.
I thought too small. The interns wanted to meet with school leaders and then join with students in the schools around our small town to press the local city council for actions we can take close to home that will make a difference. They want a city-wide commitment, for example, to stop selling and consuming plastic water bottles, a re-examination of food consumption patterns locally, and a recycling partnership with Waste Warriors, among other proposals.
They don't understand why we adults are not panicking more and not taking more drastic action. With Greta, they see unequivocal action on climate change as the only possible source of hope.
I have to agree.
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