Millions Took Part in the Youth-Led Global Climate Strike Friday. Here’s Why People Marched

As many as a quarter-million people marched on the streets of New York City Friday for a youth-led climate strike inspired by Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg. Globally, as many as 4 million people took to the streets in hundreds of countries. Democracy Now! was in the streets of New York on Friday speaking with climate strikers from the United States and around the world.

AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org, The War and Peace Report. I’m Amy Goodman, as we continue our coverage of Friday’s historic Global Climate Strike, when as many as 4 million people marched around the globe. It was the largest protest ever focused on the climate crisis. Democracy Now! was in the streets of New York Friday speaking to climate strikers.

CLIMATE STRIKERS: Climate change has got to go! Hey hey, ho ho! Climate change has got to go!

ISABELLA: I’m Isabella. I’m 12 years old. And I’m here today because I believe that age doesn’t matter. And, sure, we can’t vote, but we still have a voice here. The Earth is really messed up. We should have fixed it a while ago. And it’s just not fair.

CLIMATE STRIKERS: We are trying! Trump is lying! Stop denying! The Earth is dying!

ISABELLA: I get really worried about our future, because I keep seeing a bunch of, like, posts or things that say, like, “Oh, yeah, by 2030, that the world could be like at its peak, that we can’t do anything anymore.” And I keep thinking, “Why don’t people listen, when things are right in front of their face?”