About 35 people gathered in front of the Carroll County Courthouse in Eureka Springs Friday, Sept. 20, braving pouring rain to demonstrate in solidary with an estimated four million people worldwide as part of the youth-based Global Climate Strike action designed to increase the resolve to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.
Participates include four students from Bentonville that included Hannah Grace Evans, her partner, Kevin Wilmoth, his little sister, Abigail Culmer, along with her friend, Toni Lacavera.
“We are a group of high school and college students from Bentonville trying to make a change and bring attention to what is happening in the world around us,” Evans said. “We were first introduced to the strike through the media, specifically through Greta Thunberg. Greta is a 16-year-old Swedish environmental activist who has created Fridays for Future. Fridays for Future is a school strike for climate change and it’s happening all over the world now because of her. It’s an international movement for children to leave the classroom in order to demand action for our environment.”
Evans said they saw the “Strike with Us” movement online and entered their zip code in to see if there were any strikes nearby. They saw that Eureka Springs would be hosting a strike.
“Greta has made her voice so strong and loud she has personally reached the United Nations in order to demand a change,” Evans said. “The truth is, global warming is happening. Climate change is real and my generation will be the ones to fix the mess that human activity has created. Humans are responsible for almost all of the increase in greenhouse gases in the atmosphere for over the past 150 years. This is mostly because we burn fossil fuels for electricity, heat, and transportation. This is not something that can be pushed aside or ignored any longer. We cannot fix this issue by pretending it doesn’t exist.”
Evans said she hopes the movement will continue to grow in order to open the eyes of more denyers and empower more young people to take action.
“The greatest power is with us, with the youth of the world who are knowledgeable about what is happening, and who are aware of the consequences past generations have pathed for us,” she said. “We will pave a new path, much stronger than the old, much more conscious of carbon footprints, more sustainable in regards to our environment and more nurturing to the millions of ecosystems that inhabit this world with us. We will be much more caring in regards to our Earth, our temple, our home. We can change the world now, and we will. Together.”
The only local student participating was Finn Van Sickle, 13, a seventh grader at Eureka Springs Schools. Van Sickle had heard about Greta Thunberg, and was inspired by her.
“I think what she is doing is really cool,” Van Sickle said. “It is awesome that someone cares that much that they would quit school to work to protect the climate.”
Participant Harrie Farrow thanked Luis Contreras for organizing the Eureka Springs Global Climate Strike event.
“As someone said on Twitter, this is the first generation that’s having to beg another generation to leave them a planet that is inhabitable,” Farrow said. “While it’s inspiring and hopeful to see youth world-wide stepping up to the plate for the planet and their futures, it’s imperative that adults of all ages do all we can to help them. It was wonderful to see Eurekans show up, including the mayor. And having the students from Bentonville join us was sweet and kept it all in perspective.”
Farrow encourages local residents to attend another Climate Strike event that is scheduled Friday, Sept. 27, from 12:30 to 3 p.m. on the Fayetteville Square.
Jerry Landrum, who has been promoting energy conservation and solar energy in Eureka Springs, appreciated the sign held by the high school students that said simply, “Vote.”
“Our collective house is on fire,” Landrum said. “If our leaders won’t put out the fire, then we need new leaders.”
Doc Contreras said he thinks one reason why reaction to reduce carbon emissions has been so slow is that people aren’t even bothering to vote.
“That is really an action that is relatively simple to take and very important,” Contreras said.
While he appreciated the turnout, he also found himself wondering, “Where are the rest of the people?”
“Why are we not paying attention?” Contreras asked. “That is the same question Greta Thunberg has been asking everybody. Are we are going to be alright? Not if we continue down the present path.”
Greta has questioned why even those who understand that human-caused global warming is a crisis are failing to act with the urgency needed to address climate change that is leading to sea level rises and more severe weather such as flooding and temperature extremes.
Contreras is concerned that President Donald Trump trying to sabotage the U.N. Climate Summit planned in Washington D.C. by booking space for a separate meeting at the same time that involves freedom of religion. Contreras said Trump has encouraged coal production, gutted environmental laws regarding greenhouse gas emissions, and is moving ahead with plans to encourage mining and fossil fuel development on public lands including the largest rainforest in North America, the Tongass National Forest.
At a meeting of the G-7 in April, Trump was the only representative of the seven major countries who failed to attend the meeting on climate change.
“Then he lied about it,” Contreras said. “He has done everything he can to destroy the chances we have to survive. Everything he says even with respect to the economy is wrong. He says the economy is great. In reality, the country is not in good shape. The Fed had to put billions in banking system because there was not enough money for the banks.”
Contreras also disagrees that it is necessary to continue to give subsidies to fossil fuel industries rather than invest in renewable energy. He said not only is alternative energy cheaper today, but the country and world can’t afford to continue expending huge resources to repair infrastructure damage caused by climate-change induced flooding, drought and extreme weather.
“We are having to pay for repairing what has been destroyed, but then it is destroyed again,” Contreras said. “Look at what just happened in Houston, which has now experienced three years of flooding.”
He strongly opposes fracking for oil and gas reserves, taking exception to the assertion that fracking is needed to keep the American economy strong.
“Fracking is such an expensive process that we have to sell a barrel of crude oil for less than it costs to extract the barrel of oil,” Contreras said. “It only works because of government subsidies. There is a glut of oil. Destroying a planet just to extract oil that wouldn’t be economical without subsidies doesn’t make sense.”
For more information about the Climate Strike events running from Sept. 20-27, go to the website globalclimatestrike.net/.