We, the youth of New Jersey, are striking because decades of inaction has left us with just 11 years left to avoid a climate apocalypse. We are striking because our world leaders have neglected to address or even prioritize the climate crisis, the defining issue of our time. We are striking because marginalized communities across our nation - especially low-income communities and communities of color - are already feeling the blows, a pain that will soon spread to every one of us. We are striking because if the social order is disrupted by our refusal to attend school then  the system will be forced to face this crisis and finally enact change. We are striking because, as minors, there is nothing else we can do short of watching our futures and dreams burn in sweltering heat strokes, starve after crop failures, or drown in relentless flooding. With our futures at stake, we call for radical legislative action to combat climate change and its countless detrimental effects on the American people. We are striking for the Green New Deal, for more substantial legislation that fights for clean energy to be passed, for an immediate transition to a 100% renewable economy, and for an end to the addition of yet more fossil fuel infrastructure. The climate crisis should be and must be declared a national emergency, as our window for stopping climate change is shrinking, yet it is our only hope.

Our Demands

Green New Deal

• An equitable transition for marginalized communities that will be most impacted by climate change

• An equitable transition for fossil-fuel reliant communities to a renewable economy

• 100% renewable energy by 2030

• Upgrading the current electric grid

• No creation of additional fossil fuel infrastructure (pipelines, coal plants, fracking etc.)

• The creation of a committee to oversee the implementation of a Green New Deal

  • That has subpoena power

  • Committee members can’t take fossil fuel industry donations

  • Accepts climate science

A halt in any and all fossil fuel infrastructure projects

• Fossil fuel infrastructure disproportionately impacts indigenous communities and communities of color in a negative way

• Creating new fossil fuel infrastructure would create new reliance on fossil fuels at a time of urgency

All decisions made by the government be tied in scientific research, including the 2018 IPCC report

• The world needs to reduce GHG emissions by 50% by 2030, and 100% by 2050

• We need to incorporate this fact into all policymaking

Declaring a National Emergency on Climate Change

• This calls for a national emergency because we have 11 years to avoid catastrophic climate change

• Since the US has empirically been a global leader, we should be a leader on climate action

• Since the US largely contributes to global GHG emissions, we should be leading the fight in GHG reduction

Compulsory comprehensive education on climate change and its impacts throughout grades K-8

• K-8 is the ideal age range for compulsory climate change education because:

  • Impressionability is high during that developmental stage, therefore it’s easier for children and young adults to learn about climate change in a more in-depth manner, and retain that information

  • Climate change becomes a nonpartisan issue, as it truly is because it’s based solely on science from the beginning

Preserving our public lands and wildlife

• Diverse ecosystems and national parks will be very impacted by climate change, therefore it’s important that we work to the best of our abilities to preserve their existence

Keeping our water supply clean

• Clean water is essential for all living beings, when we pollute our water supply, or the water supply of someone else, it’s simply a violation of an essential human right

Our Solutions

• The extraction of Greenhouse Gases from the atmosphere

  • Reforestation-- replenishing our forests by planting trees and allowing them to thrive, sustainable forestry

  • Reduced food waste-- methane emissions from rotting food in landfills contributes immensely to overall Greenhouse Gases emissions

• Emission standards and benchmarks

  • We need to create standards and benchmarks for reducing Greenhouse Gases that align with those expressed by the science community to avoid 2° Celsius warming

• Changing the agriculture industry

  • Less carbon-intensive farming

  • More plant-based farming

• Using renewable energy and building renewable energy infrastructure

• Stopping the unsustainable and dangerous process of fracking

• Stop mountaintop removal/mining

  • It is very harmful to our environment and people working in these fields

*These are not the sole solutions, these are just some solutions that we approve of

*To be effective, these solutions need to be implemented at a large scale by the United States government