Burqueños gathered in downtown Albuquerque on Sept. 20 for the 2019 Climate Strike, which was also held concurrently in cities across the world.
Climate change, drawing attention from millions across the world, was the driving force behind Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller’s public announcement in a meeting earlier this week that the City of Albuquerque passed a motion “Endorsing The Declaration Of A Climate Emergency, Creating A Climate Action Plan For The City Of Albuquerque.”
“We have a plan to get to 100% renewable energy within the next 6 years... This emergency is about action,” Keller said.
Keller said while other governments continue to use non-renewable resources, Albuquerque will be a leader and innovator in reducing its carbon footprint.
The event was organized by the activist group Fight for Our Lives and started as a rally at downtown's Robinson Park at 12:30 p.m. The rally then turned into a march to Sens. Martin Heinrich and Tom Udall’s (D-N.M.) offices just up the street. Many younger attendees participated in a walkout from Albuquerque Public Schools and other schools in the area to come to the demonstration.
People from all walks of life gathered with colorful posters to the rally in the park and then participated in the march up Central Avenue. Signs such as “New Mexico is our HOME and is NOT disposable,” “Keep Fossil Fuels in the Ground" and “There is no planet B”, among others, filled the crowd.
Kelsey Rader, Albuquerque's sustainability officer, said her role is organizing and overseeing all the different green and sustainable initiatives across the city.
“The 100% renewable energy goal is our biggest item," Rader said. "It is happening in a few phases, but one key chunk is the 29 solar projects going on across the city. These projects are estimated to be done by this January."
According to Rader, the City of Albuquerque will be creating a new website dedicated specifically to the city's sustainability projects so the public can keep up with the initiatives happening in their community. The website will be going up in the next few weeks, Rader said in an interview with the Daily Lobo.
One of the keynote speakers of the demonstration was Freddy “Flowpez” Lopez, who brought his talent to the stage and provided a more artistic commentary to the event by singing and rapping in both English and Spanish about climate change and the preservation of the planet.
Emily Fan, a University of New Mexico student studying violin performance and biology and the vice president of Fight for Our Lives, anticipated 1,500 attendees according to the event’s Facebook page. Of these attendees, 500 were expected to be K-12 students.
“It’s important for people to come out because climate change is not something we can address later," Fan said. "It is something that needs to be addressed now. It is not something that we can do later."
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Fan said she hopes that elected officials like President Donald Trump address climate change. She said this is an interesting event to have right after Trump came to New Mexico since a lot of conservatives come out to these climate centered events.
At the rally, multiple organizations sent volunteers out to register people to vote. Meandering through the crowds, people like Roger McNew and Mike Smith, two friends from the North Valley and active in their precinct, could be seen registering people to vote.
McNew said he came to the event in the hopes of registering young people to vote since statistically — according to McNew — they don’t turn out to vote in as high of numbers as other groups. About halfway through the event, McNew and Smith had registered 14 people to vote.
“If you want to make change, one way to create change is at the ballot box," McNew said. "You need people to vote in order to make democracy work. As a Democrat, I decided I need to be ready for the change that is afoot."
Erika Eaton, a 13-year old eighth grade attendee from Wilson Middle School, organized her school’s principal and teacher supported field trip to the climate strike. Eaton said about 50 people from her school attended the event, adding that she wanted to be a leader in the issue of climate change and get people participating. This was one of the biggest public school turnouts at the event, according to Eaton.
She and her peers carried signs that said “If you don’t start acting like adults we will.”
Eaton cited the blazes in the Amazon rainforest as one of the most disturbing events that has happened recently. There are many ways to reduce your carbon footprint, she said.
“It is upsetting me that many people — many adults — aren’t taking this matter seriously,” Eaton said. “Young people are leading the change, and the future is us.”
News reporter Christina Kaskabas contributed to the reporting of this article.
Megan Holmen is the news editor at the Daily Lobo. She can be contacted at news@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @megan_holmen
