Students of all ages unite across Vermont for the Global Climate Strike

Editor’s note: Updates from Climate Strike events in Brattleboro, Montpelier, Burlington, Middlebury and Lyndon went up throughout Sept. 20 on our live blog. 

Thousands of Vermonters taking part in the Global Climate Strike left their schools, workplaces and homes Friday, calling for “immediate solutions” to combat climate change. 

Students of all levels, from elementary schools to post-graduate programs, united at events in Burlington, Montpelier, Brattleboro, Middlebury, Lyndon and beyond.

“I have heard people say many, many times that the youth of today will be the saviors of our world, that my generation will be the one to slow climate change to a stop,” said Vivian Ross, a student at Middlebury Union High School.

“However, the world can’t wait for all of us to be able to vote, or drive, or have our own credit cards,” she said. “This is a movement that needs everyone.”

In Lyndon, busses of grade-schoolers unloaded on the campus of Northern Vermont University-Lyndon, where college students were waiting. 

“We’re standing up today to prove that we really need to start making a difference,” said Lauren Cornell, a senior at the college studying atmospheric science. 

Plenty of older folks turned out to support the grassroots effort, and cheer on the kids. 

Waterford resident Tom Cyr, 73, and his Rhodesian ridgeback, Mia, tailed the Lyndon marchers with his truck as they moved through the town’s winding hills between the college and downtown. 

“I think it’s great that all the young people have a means of showing their support for fighting climate change,” Cyr said.

Burlington drew the largest crowd by far, peaking at some 2,000 protesters in the early afternoon, according to city police. 

At least three separate climate strike marches in the Burlington area joined together in front of City Hall, creating a sea of people dotted with colorful signs and energized by ceaseless chants.

Burton’s headquarters in South Burlington hosted one of the marches. James Moore brought his two kids to the march, Oliver, who is in kindergarten, and William, who is in second grade. Moore said he wanted to march to change the future for his kids. 

“It’s kind of an alternative education,” Moore said of the strike. “They got arts, making signs. Music and P.E. during the march. And social studies. They’re learning about how to make change in our society.”

Avery McConnell, age 9, and her friend Zoe Legeros, also age 9, held hands as they walked to City Hall. McConnell said she’s mostly concerned about how climate change is affecting her favorite animals.

“Polar bears and seals are getting extinct,” McConnell said, “because the water is too warm and the ice is melting.”

Main St. in Burlington was completely closed for about an hour, from noon to just after 1 p.m., due to the marches, according to police updates. 

Earlier in the morning in Montpelier, students briefly held a “die-in” on Main St. near City Hall, laying down on the road and taking selfies. Others walked around the crowd, outlining their shapes in chalk and writing messages on the road.

Students said they want an education that prepares them for the coming “climate and economic crisis.”

“We all have power in our actions,” Shyloh Wonder-Maez, a Montpelier High School senior, told the crowd. “We believe we can make a difference, because we have the power of the consumer.”

So many people turned out for the demonstration in Brattleboro that organizers had to change venues, from Pliny Park to the larger Brattleboro Common. Hundreds more than the expected 500 people turned out. 

Police, as a result, closed several downtown streets for most of the lunch hour, detouring vehicle traffic and stopping southbound tractor-trailer trucks on nearby Route 30.

“Who is with me?” 13-year-old Django Grace shouted into a microphone after leading the march. “Us all being here together right now matters. When we unify like this, there is nothing that can stop us.”

The Friday strike kicks off a week of other climate action events. 

The Global Climate Strike was inspired by the Friday school strikes spearheaded by Swedish youth activist Greta Thunberg. The strike comes before Monday’s UN Climate Action Summit in New York City, where countries are supposed to present plans to meet the emissions reductions targets under the Paris Agreement. The United States, under President Donald Trump, withdrew from the Paris Agreement, but many states, including Vermont, pledged to still commit to the accord.  

“We are really heeding the call … of youth around the world who have called for this week of action,” said Abby Mnookin, one of the Vermont Climate Strike Organizers and the MotherUp! Coordinator at 350Vermont.

Demanding elected officials act on climate change has been the main focus of student demonstrations this year. Vermont students convened at the Statehouse for multiple days of climate action, including a “Rally for the Planet” this May. 

Participants in the Vermont Climate Strike say they want “comprehensive and immediate solutions to the climate crisis,” such as the Green New Deal, and policies that will transition to a clean energy economy. They’re calling for a halt in developing new fossil fuel infrastructure and a commitment to “keep fossil fuels in the ground.” 

Gov. Phil Scott and Democratic leaders found common ground last session in a two-pronged approach to climate policy, using one-time money to incentivize efforts to lower emissions from driving and heating. They also passed a bill requiring the state’s public utility commission to study the creation of an “all-fuels” efficiency program to better coordinate the state’s heating, electrical and transportation efficiency efforts.

But Vermont elected officials have taken some heat from environmental advocates, who say they are not doing enough to address the state’s greenhouse gas emissions. 

Rebecca Holcombe, the former education secretary now running for governor, marched with climate strikers in Craftsbury, the home of Sterling College. She called on Scott to pursue more aggressive climate policy, from increasing investment in home weatherization to expanding careers in green industries. 

“We can’t rely on Washington to act,” she said, according to an email from her campaign. 

“That’s why I encourage all of us to listen to young people when they ask us to get started on solutions and why I challenge Governor Phil Scott to commit to a goal of 100% renewable electricity by 2030.”

Scott said during his weekly press conference that he supported students having their voices heard. But he expressed more a limited view of what the state needs to be doing to fight climate change than what demonstrators are calling for. 

“We have a long ways to go in terms of EVs, we have a long ways to go in terms of charging infrastructure,” he said. “We’ve taken some steps, but we need to do more…and focus on other areas.”

Although by statute, Vermont is supposed to reduce overall greenhouse gas emissions 50% below 1990 levels in 2028, the state’s latest emissions data shows emissions are 16% higher than in 1990.

Reporting by Elizabeth Gribkoff and Erin Petenko in Montpelier, Grace Elletson in Burlington, Justin Trombly in Lyndon, Sarah Asch in Middlebury and Kevin O’Connor in Brattleboro. 

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