Chicago participated in the global climate strike for Earth Day on April 19, 2024. Many organizations, such as Fridays for the Future and Sunrise Movement, came together. This year’s protest theme was #EndFossilFuels, the world’s current biggest polluter. If you’d like to read about how climate change and fossil fuels are correlated, read here.
With the climate emergency threatening all living species on this planet, each person around the globe, whether young or old, is at risk of floods, wildfires, hurricanes, and more. The climate crisis disproportionately hits the poor, and their governments aren’t doing anything to help or prevent this. This is one of the many reasons people decided to attend the climate strike globally, and in Chicago specifically, around 100 people, ranging from ages 14 to 80, were marching down State Street, yelling, “What do we want? Climate action! When do we want it? Now!”
The main concern among protesters was how the fossil fuel industry is destroying our earth, with banks funding the chaos and greedy politicians protecting the oil industries instead of us, the people. JPMorgan is at the top of the list of fossil fuel bankers, financing a staggering $434 billion from 2016 through 2022. The protest started at Pritzker Park downtown, and its final destination was down a couple of streets in front of the JPMorgan Chase bank. The chants filled the street, “The planet, the people, always over profit!”
It’s important also to note that humans are destroying ecosystems that allow us to thrive on this planet. Coral reefs are currently going through mass bleaching, meaning that they are dying due to rising ocean temperatures, which fossil fuel emissions are the reason. Oil pipelines like Keystone XL and Dakota Access have damaged soil, wildlife, and clean water. Not only that, but these pipelines are often built on indigenous people’s land. Oil companies and governments approve these projects anyway. Deforestation is happening in the Amazon, destroying habitats and affecting rural communities. The beef and soybean industry is the top driver because of this.
The youth-led and organized Fridays for Future movement is again at the forefront of these calls for a just energy transition. This generation faces a worsening climate catastrophe with devastating consequences for human rights, but too many leaders in positions of power today aren’t doing much for their people. One way to stop fossil fuel emissions from continuing to heat up our planet is electrification: replacing fossil fuels with technologies that use electricity only from renewable sources in all sectors, from home cooking to heating to transportation.
We at Tribuno del Pueblo will continue to be the voice for Mother Earth and report on stories like that in support of these climate action movements. We also understand that many of the world’s most climate-vulnerable countries have done little to cause climate change. Yet, they are experiencing extreme heat waves, floods, and other climate-related disasters, so everyone must speak up for them too.
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