For the third time since March, and the second time this academic year, CRLS students stood up in protest against the ever-growing concerns over the climate crisis. Students from CRLS joined thousands from schools around the Boston metro area to strike in solidarity with students world-wide. In Boston, the demonstrations were an effort to call for more action by Massachusetts legislators, namely Governor Charlie Baker, while simultaneously demanding the Green New Deal’s implementation on a national scale. 

For many students at CRLS, the strike was a powerful moment in the fight for climate justice. Sasha Henry ’21 said that “[the speakers] were mainly young people … and what they were saying was we needed change now, [which] was really impactful.” After marching from Copley Square to the statehouse, strikers made their way inside the building to demand that the Massachusetts legislature pass a series of climate protection and climate justice bills. Although police and security forces kept youth from entering the legislative chambers, a large sit-in lasted well past sunset outside Governor Baker’s office. 

Teenagers played a central role in organizing and participating in the event. The majority of the speakers, leaders, and those who marched were in high school or college around the Boston area. Gabriel Traietti ’21 said, “these marches are important because of the fact that they are being done by kids, [since] this generation and future generations will be impacted the most by climate change.” The strike was organized for the 6th of December so that it would align with the COP25 summit—a meeting of international leaders working to combat climate change—which began on December 2nd in Madrid, Spain.

Those who organized the protest are a part of the organization named Boston Climate Strike, whose main mission has been to gain publicity and support from locals in the fight against climate change. The Boston Climate Strike has youth members in schools across the Boston area, including at CRLS. One of those students, Adam Gould ’23, formerly the fundraising lead for the Boston Climate Strike, told the Register Forum that the reason for an increase in strikes is “our [commitment] to get[ting] eight bills passed at the state house [that] relate [in large part] to environmental justice, [as well as achieving] net zero carbon emissions … and the era of the Green New Deal.”

CRLS’ participation in this strike was clearly lower than that of its September 20th counterpart, which Gould attributed to the less time there was for planning, saying “For September 20th, we had started at the beginning of the summer, [whereas] for December 6th we started a week or two after September 20th, and that wasn’t really enough time.” However, the Boston Climate Strike and other organizations around the world have already begun preparations for a strike on Earth Day’s 50th anniversary in April in hopes of gaining over 20,000 participants and far surpassing the September 20th turnout.

This piece also appears in our December 2019 print edition.