Young climate protesters push Washington senators to sign onto Green New Deal
On a chilly Monday morning, two dozen student protestors marched to the offices of Senators Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell in downtown Seattle.
"We need massive societal and political change, better jobs, equal wages, and trying to alleviate climate change and growing inequality," said Maxim Lowe, an activist with Sunrise Seattle, part of a national movement of youth pushing for stricter climate change policies.
The group endorses an aggressive 10-year climate plan first proposed by Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
22 secs
Young climate activists walk from Occidental Square in downtown Seattle to the offices of Senator Murray and Cantwell on December 16, 2019.
Lowe and others brought personal items they burned to symbolize the effects of climate change.
"I printed out a picture of my hometown Sarasota, Florida, which is flat and at ocean level. So it’s at high, high risk of rising sea levels and will be underwater at some point," Lowe said.
The group was ushered into an auditorium and did not make it to the senators' offices. It’s unclear if Murray and Cantwell were even in the building, but their staff said they would pass on the student’s complaints.
There’s been over a dozen Sunrise protests like this across the U.S., some leading to arrests.
