>> youth activists are holding rallies in washington and around the country on climate change. live coverage here on c-span. > all right. ♪ [singing]

♪ we did it for the money they did it for the money they did it for the money ♪ey did it for the money ♪ they didn't do it for the boys didn't do it for the girls didn't do it for the mothers didn't do it for the daughters didn't do it for me didn't do it for you didn't do it for the weak didn't do it for the -- they did it for the money hey did it for the money what they did do it for the money they did it for the money ♪

thank you so much. my name is caroline. there's a fundamental problem with our relationship with money in this country. money is stitch intoed fabric, the foundation of our society. i do think it's important to have events like this and stand up to power. we live in a society where money is power. and it dictates everything we do. when you stand out here, you're standing up to money and power. [indiscernible] thank you so much for being here. i really appreciate it. >> give it up one more time for caroline rose. [cheers and applause] ok. so we're going to be a little interactive now with the audience. i want all this side to yell for me. [yelling] come on. [cheering] >> ditto. >> [indiscernible] -- i think

this side can do better. this side can definitely do etter. [cheering and yelling] >> ok. we're going to be introducing our next speaker who is another representative from california. any net, can you please come up -- nenette, can you please come up. >> thank you. are you ready for some change? [cheers and applause] i am too. my friends, this is the moment right here, right now. the alarm bells have been sounding for an entire generation. but this is the moment for you to be heard! [cheers and applause] you're being heard across the city, across this nation, and

across the entire planet, which is literally dying to be heard and it's beautiful to look at youth our climate making the change and causing this movement to move forward. are you ready? [cheers and applause] and we're sending the message that we're doing this in an urgent way. and we want climate action when? >> now! >> now, we don't lack the science to know the climate crisis is here. nor do we lack the brain power to heal our wounded planet from generations of abuse and neglect. but what we do lack is the will to act on it. you're all going to change that, right? [cheers and applause] and that's why having your voices here today is so

critical and so important. because, like those in power who refuse to act quickly enough or boldly enough, like those in an industry who place profits over the environment and over public health. so i want to be here with you to know that we are going to continue to call out loud, rally and show up and tell our -- until our voices are heard. is that right? [cheers and applause] well, don't stop and keep it going and i will do the same in the united states congress. thank you for showing your power in numbers, your power in voice, and to our climate youth, let's do this! cheers and applause] >> give it up one more time. there we go.

come on. [cheers and applause] >> so next up we have some amazing youth activists. they're suing the federal government. cheers and applause] we have kelsey juliana and levi, jacob, avery and jerome will be joining as well. [cheers and applause] >> thank you so much for coming out today. a lot of gratitude from the bottom of our hearts. we are the youth who are suing the u.s. government. our government. [cheers and applause] because we believe that we have a constitutional right to a climate capable of sustaining human life. and the courts are agreeing with us. cheers and applause] our government is paying $20 billion every year to fossil fuel companies and permitting pipelines like the pipeline in

north dakota and a project in my hometown of oregon. me and my family farm. if our government continues to promote dark money and fossil fuels over our lives, we won't have an economy to grow up in. we won't be able to grow our crops. we won't be able to raise our children in a safe community. and we won't be able to have clean water and a livable climate. [applause] listen to the science and protect life. thank you. [cheers and applause] >> we are on a timeline! this is a fight for our lives, for our security, for all future generations to come. [cheers and applause] they want us to just sit quiet? >> no! >> they want us to just sit and live for a future that may not exist? we are here because our generation has put us in an

unstable place. and you know what, i'm sick of hearing about their actions, i'm sick of their apologies, i'm sick of their shame and i'm sick of the future that they put on us. [cheers and applause] i'm sick of it and so are all of you. and we are not here to talk about our sacrifices and our doom and gloom and nonexistence. we are here to create! [cheers and applause] we are creating this movement every day because every day's action for ves more us! cheers and applause] who here is -- [indiscernible] -- sorry. i couldn't hear that. [cheers and applause]

that's just a little bit better. let's hear it! cheers and applause] all right. who here is not excited to hear that we might not have a future? i couldn't hear that. yeah. all right. everybody, let's go and let's -- we're never going to give up until we get climate action. [cheers and applause] what do we want? >> climate action! >> when do we want it? >> now! >> what do we want? >> climate action. >> when do we want it? >> now! >> thank you. cheers and applause]

>> my name is jerome foster ii. thank you. but what i want everyone to do who is standing here in the front of the capitol, i want to you look left, i want you to look right. i want all of you to understand that we are all united in this crisis. cheers and applause] all the actions we are seeking here and continue to seek, we're fighting for us. we're fighting for our children, we're fighting for our sisters and brothers, wear fighting for your mother and father. we are fighting for every single person who has died because of the climate crisis. [applause] we are the victims of an entire climate crisis that has destroyed andes mated entire communities, entire peoples. but politicians don't understand that. as millions of young people strike all around the world, the politicians are acting as if

they care that i act ags if they care about our future but we need real action to follow this all around the world we're seeing natural disasters affecting billions of people. people around the world are dying but we're acting as if we dent care. we're acting as if nothing is going to work. so we have to actually make sure we have legislation that will help the climate crisis. we have to make sure we're holding elected officials accountable. we have to hold corporations accountable. before you leave today i want every single person here to call their member of congress. i want every single person here talk about the clay mat crisis. i want this to be the number one ssue in the 2020 debate. right now, every single politician is quaking in fare

because we're showing them what action looks like, we're showing them what the people look like. we are showing them what democracy looks like. [cheers and applause] she me me what -- i say what democracy looks like, you say this is what democracy looks like. show me what democracy looks like! >> this is what democracy looks like! >> show me what democracy looks like! >> this is what democracy looks like! >> immaterial you to remember the faces here, i want you to understand that everyone here, everyone here is part of the movement. everyone here in this audience, everyone here as organizers, are part of this movement and we will act as such. you can not just go back to your job, you cannot just go back to our schools. you must join this earth, you must be here every sing friday,

you must be part of the revolution because this is a time for change. give it up again for all these people suing the federal government. [cheers and applause] >> we wanted to quickly acknowledge all the organizers that worked hours and hours tirelessly. ey're all sitting back here, e want to thank the organizers activism is about organizingment. a huge am of applause for all the people who put this together. cheers and applause] next we want to introduce one of our organizers who worked on finance and recruitment, an amazing young individual from earth uprising, wendy!

>> ok, got it. hello, everyone. [cheers and applause] it is so amazing to see alm of you here today and to be here with all of you. every time i walk the streets of d.c. or chant the chant it make misheart so full of pride and hope. it is and always will be the honor of my life to strike with each and every one of you today. k. [cheers and applause] my name is wendy, i'm 17 years old, i a native american climate activism.

-- activist. i'd like to acknowledge my privilege and my background because my story is vastly different than the ones you've heard today or will hear later on. indidge jus people and frontline communities are and will continue to be most affected by the climate crisis. many are fighting for their lives and rights today and they have been for centuries. so we recognize this an amplify their voices and they work. [applause] while we strike in solidarity with our brothers and sisters, we also know that the climate crisis is different from any problem that humanity has ever faced before because we know it affects everyone. and everyone has a climate story, whether you know yours yet or not. my parents are chinese immigrants and they sacrificed everything to come to america so my sisters and i could have a higher education and better life

than they did. [cheers and applause] my sisters and i understood this and we've always wanted to do well in school to make sure their sacrifices are worthwhile my education and my future has become my end goal. as it should. because i'm 17 and i shouldn't just be a full-time student. college applications should be the only thing i'm worried about. -- i should just be a full-time student. college applications should be the only thing i'm worried about. but in october of 2018, the they released their report telling the government they have 12 years left to act on the climate crisis or face devastating problems. i remember reading the report and feel very small. i will be 29 30 years old which isn't enough time for me to become the first asian american supreme court

justice or become a retired history teacher. that's why i'm here today -- and many of you are too. but we shouldn't be. youth climate activists shouldn't exist. greta thunberg should not be the figure she is. but we are. when young people act and come together our voices are loud and our actions are powerful. we know when we strike we win so today we strike because today we win. today -- cheers and applause] >> hey, everybody, i don't know if y'all heard but ref representative alexandria ocasio cortez heef. >> not right now. not right now. she's coming later. she's doing some congressional stuff. but she'll be here later to speak to us.

ilhan omar will also be come, ayanna pressley. >> ok now our next speaker is a d.c. local who has been working and organizing youth far long time. i'd love to bring to the stage brent yearwood. cheers and applause] >> how y'all doing out there? [cheers and applause] so, i just want to say this real quick, first, i want to lift up -- i just want to thank these mazing organizers and leaders. they are young, i didn't say youth leaders because these are the ones who should be leading the clay mat movement.

and so first we lift up, i am based in d.c. with the hip-hop caucus -- [cheers and applause] originally from louisiana. [cheers and applause] i actually kind of love that you get more love for the caucus than louisiana. i kind of love that a lot. but one of the things that is so important in this process, i want to lift up those right now. here are floods in houstons, the people in the bahamas, this is the anniversary of puerto rico. people are still dealing with superstorm sandy, hurricanes irma, maria, wildfires in california, wildfires in the arctic, still those suffering in florida. we're going to give them some love.

i just want to say two things. i want you to help me with something. the first thing, this is just the beginning. for the folks in zero hour, come on, zero hour. cheers and applause] my amazing friend nadia and the whole crew and everybody else. [cheers and applause] here. en i want to say two things. one, your the david that will beat the goliath. cheers and applause] you are the david that will beat the goliath. beat industry. secondly to that, never forget. never forget this. organized people beats organized

money every single time. cheers and applause] and my last thing, some of you might know this, some of you may not. i used to be a u.s. air force officer. i was protesting the war in iraq and -- cheers and applause] and i was beaten, literally, by police right around the corner here. no, no. don't do that. that happened. it was what it was. but this is the point. since that time i've had a really bad leg. and i don't move that much. but i want to take from you your youthful energy to jump. i can't jump. so on this place, nadia, and natalie, where i was beaten, i

want to jump with y'all. can i jump with y'all? so y'all can stand up. come on. tand up. come on, on stage up here. >> not everyone, not everyone. >> i might need some help. don't fall off the stage. >> just some. >> the way it gos is this. i'm going to -- when i say jump -- you say strike. i say climate, you say strike. i say climate, you stay cey strike. and then we start jumping. we're going to jump, climate strike, climate, strike, climate strike. y'all got that? are you ready? >> climate! >> strike! >> that's not good enough. they got to hear you inside. >> climate!

>> strike! >> little better. >> climate! >> strike! >> climate! >> strike clam >> climate! >> strike! >> climate stram >> strike! >> climate! >> strike! >> climate strike! climate strike. >> can't hear you. >> climate strike. >> cabot hear you. >> climate strike. >> come on. >> climate strike! climate scrike! climate strike! climate strike! cheers and applause] >> thank you again for hyping us up. give him a round of applause. one more, come on. cheers and applause]

> get up here. don't have to sit down. >> some of us have asthma. >> so. pretty much a tradition to figure out who the better m.c. is. so we're going to do a little scream contest. we'll start withed in a yasm if you think nadia is the better m.c., give her some love! cheers and applause] >> ok, now me. [cheers and applause] >> i think that's a pretty clear win fored in a yasm we'll try one more time for me. ok? one more time.

[cheers and applause] >> ok the next person we're going to introduce is near an dear to both of our hearts. she's -- >> the policy director of 350.org. >> we'd like to welcome to the stage natalie mebane. get your butt up here, natalie. >> thank you so much. thank you so much. how are you? you guys don't even know how blessed you were just now to see reverend yearwood speak. 12 years ago in 2007, i'm going to date myself, i was a youth climate activist just like you. ok. [cheers and applause] >> and i went to this conference, power shift network conference. power shift 2007 if anybody was out here. and i walk into the room. first person on stage is this man on stage.

reverend yearwood. she's just standing on the stage going, fight the power! and the crowd, thousands of youth, about 6,000 of them stood back and said the same thing, fight the power. did that for like five minutes straight. i didn't know what i walked into. i had no idea what i was doing. i was ok, i found this place. i'm going to join now. so since that moment, november 2007, i credit reverend yearwood for recruiting me to the movement and making me know that climate activism was something i was going to do for the rest of my life. it is an honor to get to speak right after him. i'm the policy director at 350.org. we are one of the people who formed the adult strike coalition to help put on strikes across the country and the world. thousands and thousands of strikes happening around the world. and we're glad you guys came. we're here, we're talking about climate what we want to do here, the people in this building, one thing that's really special

about your generation. [cheers and applause] >> one great thing is that you guys are at that age where you're about to be able to vote. [cheers and applause] now some of you have seen some members of congress on stage, there's more to come. obviously they got there because people voted. all right? 2020. is upon us. and to vote, you have to egister to vote. all right? so all of you here, i want to know, if you are old enough to vote in the next election, raise your hand. chaz a lot of people. that's a lot of people. this is just one strike happening across the u.s. and across the world. ok? so my one request for all of ou, and your friends, you know

what you can do on fridays? register your friends to vote. now y'all talk about friday for future, i love that vote for your future. vote for your future. vote for your future on friday. register your friends to vote on fridays. use that opportunity when you're striking and you're striking for the climate, to get new voters on the rolls to have some control over who enters this building next year. thank you all so much. thank you for striking with us. [cheers and applause] >> we las vegas you. >> so this week greta thunberg was here in d.c. [cheers and applause] we got to see her hang out with her a little bit, see her testimony. super powerful. something she really -- really emphasized was unite behind the science. unite behind the science. we wanted to bring up brenda, who is a climate scientist. she's going to be talking a little bit about the science behind the climate crisis.

[cheers and applause] >> thank you. >> thank you all. it is so inspiring to see so many of you here today in front of the capitol! [cheers and applause] i'm a climate scientist a concerned scientist, i was one of the many authors of the national climate assessment and i brought my friend here, marcy rodman who is fighting for inclusion of all human history in the intergovernmental panel on climate change. cheers and applause] so, first of all, thank you for the space you all have created and generously invited me, alyle bit older, to be here. i honor that. thank you so much. [cheers and applause] so you all know that climate

change is real. it is us. and we have to do something about it. cheers and applause] so many of you have been creating this movement for far have been -- people in washington, d.c., in communities around the world and recently greta thunberg with has been studying the science. she went before this halllowed halls and said don't listen to me, listen to the science, i am submitting for my testimony the special report on 1 hadn't 5 degrees which says we are running out of time. [cheers and applause] so i just want to thank all of the adults, i am here standing with you. science as your back. and all the adult allies are here to stand with you. you are the leaders, tell us what to do, we are following

you! cheers and applause] >> thank you. thank you, thank you. ok. a lot of move, going up and down the stage, good workout. all right, we're going to announce our next performance. >> we have another singer-song writer, claudia sachs, she's going to perform for us. >> all right, go ahead. >> my name is claud yea sachs i'm 16 years old from richmond, virginia. [cheers and applause] and i will be chanting as they told me to do the climate anthem i come posed, future of humanity. since i'm not performing this, it's very important that you guys know the words to the chorus. i need you to yell this back at

me. we have to fight. >> we have to fight. >> we have to fight. >> we have to fight. >> to save our earth. >> so save our earth. >> we have to fight. >> we have to fight. >> so we can be. >> so we can be. >> the future of humanity. > the future of humanity. >> ♪ the beaches of miami will be gone by 2060 italy als of venice, will be beneath the sea the likes of new york city will be a distant memory the beauty of our coral reef will be covered in debris we have to fight we have to fight we have to fight to save our earth we have to fight we have to fight

we have to fight to we can be he future of humanity the california forests will be ash before we know it the ice from the arctic will flood your streets and markets the summer days you used to love will be 100 and bf the plastic that you always used has become turtle food we have to fight we have to fight we have to fight to save our earth we have to fight we have to fight we have to fight so we can be he future of humanity

strike here to to change the course of history and save humanity i can't hear you we have to fight we have to fight we have to fight to save our earth we have to fight we have to fight we have to fight so we can be the future of humanity one more time we have to fight we have to fight we have to fight to save our earth we have to fight we have to fight we have to fight so we can be the future of humanity ♪

[cheers and applause] thank you, guys. >> thank you. cheers and applause] >> as we all know this is a global climate strike. we have strikes going on all over the world. thousands in the united states. >> give out up for that! [cheers and applause] >> we want to acknowledge the numbers popping up everywhere. so in france, 30,000 to 40,000 people. [cheers and applause] >> in germany alone, 1.4 million people. >> in australia, the first strike we were hearing about last night, 400,000 people. [cheers and applause] >> and brace yourselfs for the next one. >> can i get a drum roll for new york city!

three million people! [cheers and applause] we are going to be too loud for them not to hear us. climate justice now! next on stage we are bringing up y little me ethan. >> come on! >> hey, everyone. vandervere. ethan i'm here representing the national choice for change. in the 1970's, scientists began to ring the alarm bells about climate change. now 40-plus years later, here we are. hat 40-plus years of inaction. the u.s. national academy of sciences said that, quote, the

scientific understanding of climate change is sufficiently clear to justify taking steps to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. that statement was released in 2005. just two years before i was born. when i first learned about climate change, i felt a wave of emotions, fear, i was scared for my future that was being taken right in front of my face. rustration, wondered why isn't any action being taken? i was furious. really furious. [cheers and applause] so i went into adhave kacy. i went to several organizations including the national hildren's campaign and climate action. those two organizations are sponsoring this event today. [cheers and applause] but time and time again i keep seeing how our decisionmakers aren't acting.

why can't our leaders listen to us? why can't they choose democracy? why can't they do their job? [cheers and applause] speaking of their job, the definition of a representative is a person chosen to act or speak on behalf of a wider group. 9,621 he 116th congress, piece of legislation were introduced, only 203 had the word climate change in them, even though 70% of adult, 90% of kids believe that climate change is real and happening. that is not ok. [cheers and applause] when i was on the hill a senator's staffer fold me his boss would not vote to pass the green new deal because he thought it would hurt the economy even though 64% of his stites think that environmental protection right now is more important than economic growth. that is not ok.

[cheers and applause] it is not ok when a senator from oklahoma brings a snowball into the senate floor saying that climate change is false. [cheers and applause] while 62% of his constituents think climate change is real. this is what i call failure to represent and it is happening in our decision making offices. so leaders, act on clay mat change, vote for the people or get voted out. cheers and applause] >> vote them out! vote them out! vote them out! vote them out! vote them out! vote them out! vote them out! vote them out! vote them out! vote them out!

>> next we have an amazing organizer for our strike, she's oing to introduce herself. >> hello. ok. my name is kadija, i'm so glad to be here with you guys today. make some noise! [cheers and applause] last year on december 17, 2018, there were two strikers in the u.s. one was dave in new york city and one was callie benson right here. [cheers and applause] and look at how big the movement is today. look how big it is just in d.c. [cheers and applause] but when we talk about climate change and talk about the climate crisis we cannot forget to involve people of color and marginalized communities in the conversation. because we are fighting for our future. but so many people today are

fighting for their present. for their right to live today. tomorrow. the next month and the next year. we need to use the pri ledge of this movement and the privilege of the platform we have gained to elevate the voices of marginalized communs across the world. [cheers and applause] and when we think about people who are affected by climate change, we don't like to think about people in our own backyard. in d.c., for example, all of our toxic waste and treasure travels across the anacostia river into land gs fills that are systematically placed in communities of color. it is not a coincidence that according to the e.p.a. black americans are three times more likely to die from air pollution than their white counterparts. it is not a coincidence. this is seen all around the country from flint, michigan, to

the north dakota access pipeline, to south bronx. this is environmental racism and we must acknowledge the issue. [cheers and applause] we must acknowledge that we have to use this platform in order to address these issues. and fight for all humanity. we cannot just whitewash this who nt an address people are not acting. this is not going to affect the future for all of us, it's affecting the presentfish so many right now. [cheers and applause] as we move on today, i hope we continue this momentum and we continue bringing voices of color and people on the frontlines into this conversation. because enough is enough and the people who have been fighting this fight for centuries are not voices they deserve.

they're being erased by people who worry about the future. while we worry about the future we have to worry about the present. this is not normal, environmental racism should not be a thing, systematic racism should not be a thing, we need to fight against it. because fighting for environmental justice is fighting for human rights. we need to fight for every single human being on this planet no matter your age, no matter your race, no matter your gender or any other identity of yours. thank you. [cheers and applause] >> thank you, kadija! big round of applause! [cheers and applause] >> next up we have an amazing artist who organized a lot of art work you see here today with me, all these amazing pickup rucks.

of the executives. >> boo! >> we hate them. she is going to be speaking here. cheers and applause] >> oh my gosh. my name is reina hatcher, i'm only 16 queers old. i am here to speak for the trees. and all other life on earth which cannot speak. we are killing our planet. not just for the human race but everything on earth. we are destroying habitats. poisoning water. polluting air we need to breathe. and ruining our chance of having future. we are only one species who is going to be responsible for the destruction of millions of others. his is not our planet to take.

as humans we seem to enjoy blaming others for our problems. but if everyone did the way we do here in the united states we would need five earths to provide enough for everyone. pollution is so bad that our geological record will be made up of plastic. we will go down in history as the plastic age. the destruction we created is oing to be our legacy. in the last 10 years alone, we have made more plastic than in the century before that. and plastic is only one part of human impact. i want you to take a breath. and one more please. plankton pr deuces the oxygen you need for every other breath you take. because of climate change and ocean acidify case, the plankton

population is practically half the size it was 50 years ago. the future of not just my generation, or the next, or even the human species, but all life on earth is in our hands. [cheers and applause] i am a coordinator of extinction rebelyouth. cheers and applause] and we are fueled by love. love for our planet and all life on earth. we must disrupt the peace. we do not have time to be polite. his is a revolution. [cheers and applause] we must act now. [cheers and applause] the thing is, we are not only killing other life on earth, but ourselves.

we live here too. around the world people are already suffering from the growing -- growing effects of climate change and it is only going to get worse. we are out of time right now. we need to unite. and fight for our planet together. before mother earth has to fight back herself. rebel! or die! cheers and applause] >> another round of applause for reina! next we are bringing up an amazing representative, representative raul grijalva. he testified at the first climate change hearing at the conference, so we want to bring him up here. let's give him a round of applause, representative grijalva of arizona. cheers and applause]

>> i want to thank you. i want to thank everyone involved in organizing this strike. not only here but in my hometown of tucson and across this country. thank you very much. you know, climate change is making natural disasters more frequent and more dangerous. the reminder for me was just a few days week went to visit puerto rico. 3.4 million american citizens live on that island and over 3,000 people were killed by that hurricane maria. you go back two years later and the discussion about how to recoverer, how to take care of the humanitarian needs, and to build resilience for the future for the island, is still a discussion that's ongoing two years later. that the urgency we see. and that's the urgency that more

people should take time look at and understand. i want to say a little bit about the good opportunity i had to meet with some of the youth leaders and have a discussion. it wasn't a discussion. it was an opportunity to listen and to learn. one thing that came, he the lesson we all know is that time is not on our side when it comes to the climate crisis as a need for systematic, strong, powerful and bold solutions. time is not on our side. as time passes, the climate crisis becomes worse and worse and worse. indigenous people, frontline communities, environmental justice are all essential to the solution that we need to come up with. if you listen, you listen, what you hear from young people and from all these communities, is

protect all life, not just protect the profits. cheers and applause] our actions must be bold. they must be urgent. the voices for change an for action on climate change are strong. they're multigenerational. and above all, young. but let's be honest. when we talk about sloughs, the risk and the consequences of doing nothing fall squarery on the young people of our country and this world and on the children of this country and this world. if we as elected officials do not do our part, we are reneging on a legacy and commitment that we have to each other. for our part, the choice is simple for the people in congress, for the building behind me where i work. it's real simple. use your power. use our power. to move solutions, to change

direction, and to deal with climate change. [cheers and applause] we cannot afford to just -- to just sit around and protect our power. and do little or nothing. really believe that verybody talks about the schedule issue, the climate change, the climate crisis. i agree but it can be a very important unifying issue where all of us regardless of zip code, regardless of color, regardless of origin, regardless of gender, come together to say, life is the most important item on the agenda. i want to thank you for the education. for the learning. and for the strength that you

bring to this issue. this issue is important to the american people now because of the actions you've taken and others have taken in the last few years. congratulations for raising the bar and now congratulations for holding our feet to the fire as your representative to do something about it. thank you very much. cheers and applause] >> thank you, representative gri 458 vasm i want to acknowledge that this is an intergenerational issue. thank you to all the adults who are standing bd and looking to youth for the answers because we are today, we are the present, we are tomorrow and we are the next generation that has to live through this crisis. so without further ado, we want to bring up to the stage john garamendi, a representative from california, to talk about the climate crisis. thank you. >> thank you! thank you!

do you feel the energy of the sun? [cheers and applause] do you feel the energy of the wind? [cheers and applause] do you feel the energy that you possess? yes! are you ready to use that energy to change what is going on in this building? [cheers and applause] are you ready to use that energy to change what's going on in the white house? [cheers and applause] are you ready far green new deal? [cheers and applause] are you ready to do the work that needs to be done to change hat's going on in america? [cheers and applause] then you must, you must never, ever give up, you must never, ever stop using your energy to save our planet. are you ready for that? [cheers and applause] are you ready to do the work in the precincts back home? [cheers and applause] are you registered?

[cheers and applause] >> i heard a few noes. if you're not registered, you're not voting and you don't count. you have to got to use your energy to change the political climate in america. are you ready for cha? cheers and applause] quour gathered here, they're gathered in new york, perhaps a million, they're gathered in california, and all of us, young as you are, older as some others are, and some my age are ready for change. we need to do it together! the energy of the sun, the energy of the wind, the energy of the ocean, but most important, the energy of the youth. do it. make it happen. make it happen! [cheers and applause] >> another round of applause. thank you so much. [cheers and applause] >> next we have another performer, a round of applause

for alex! >> hello, everyone, my name is alex, i'm 16 years old, i'm a striker with fight ing for our future. thank you guys for being here today. this is amazing. we are all here today because we are in a crisis. we are in a climate crisis. and a report done by the ahn year ago stated that if we don't reduce global fossil fuel emissions by two degrees, before an we are going to reach irreversible climate catastrophe and it is my generation that's going to be affected the most and it is my generation that cannot even vote to fix it. but for these of you who can vote, i encourage you to think about the future of the earth. vote for the interests of our planet and our people before the interests of large corporations. cheers and applause]

if you're like me and can't vote yet, i encourage you to write a song, go to climate rallies on fridays, start a crub organization of your own after school. he more we have these conversations the less complex it will seem and together we can become an insurmountables for of change. i wrote a song called "be the change." unfortunately i can't perform it today but i want to teach you a part of it so we can lift our choices together so that those men an women in the capitol with the power to create change can hear our call to action. [cheers and applause] so oim going to sing the chorus and i need you to repeat after e. ♪ what do you want to leave behind >> ♪ what do you want to leave behind

what are we going to be remembered for at the end of our lives what are we going to be remembered for at the end of our lives we only have one world and the future is at stake >> ♪ we only have one world and the future is at stake > ♪ but we have to make a change >> ♪ so we have to make a change >> ♪ that was beautiful. thank you. cheers and applause] continue to fight. if we are going to change anything we need to start by believing in change. by being here today you are there are starting to create it. chunk so much. cheers and applause]

>> so next we have alyssa -- if you'reof the interested in getting involved hit her up. big round of applause for alyssa. > hello, everyone scham -- hello, everyone! hello, everyone! i want to thank each and every one of you for coming out today to fight for our futures. [cheers and applause] each and every voice is necessary to bring change. y name is alyssa wiseman, i am here as a concerned citizen. as a child, i should not have to worry about my future. but my future is in jeopardy. all of our futures are in jeopardy. your children's futures are in

jeopardy. years to rectify decades of years to rectify decades of damage that we have inflicted on our planet. and only 18 months until some damages are irreversible. we no longer have the luxury of time. we do not have the luxury of gradual change. we are in the midst of a global emergency. and we must act fast if we want to survive. cheers and applause] many areas of the world are on their way to becoming uninhabitable. but most of those areas are not on u.s. soil. like most issues, the climate crisis will disproportionately affect the marginalized. the impoverished. and the voiceless. people all over the world who

are already struggling to get by are now experiencing shortages of water, shortages of food for their children, and unbearable heat waves. i am here to speak for the people who will be affected by he refugee crisis. i am here for the people who are going to lose their livelihoods due to the climate crisis. i am here for the people who are suffering and dying because of our country's decisions. it is time for us to fight back. we can no longer sit back and wait for policymakers to bring change. to even acknowledge that change is needed. that's a cly -- that the climate crisis is real.

we must be the change. as a co-leader of zero hour d.c., i want to embolden the voices of children because we are the ones facing this new reality. the reality that our world is no longer safe for us. if we want to survive, we must take action. i want our policymakers to see the faces of the people they are condemning to death. and i want them to hear our cries. or never.-- it is now thank you for your time. cheers and applause] >> next up we have a student

from pakistan. >> hello, everybody! i am an exchange student from pakistan. [cheers and applause] i arrived here no longer than three weeks ago and i decided to come down here and say a few words to let you know about the extent of your influence across the world. [cheers and applause] i come from a country that is one of those countries that has been impacted the most by climate change. in 2015, our largest city was struck by a heat wave with temperatures reaching as high as 120 degrees and took the lives of 2,000 people.

and yet we didn't have a single clue as to what was happening. or perhaps we did. our youth did. i was an environmental management student before i came here. and i had millions of other students who were studying the same subject across the country. we knew what was happening. we understood the science. not that you need to study the subject in order to understand the science but the point is that we were studying the limate crisis and yet we never bostonnered to act. and yes, i use the word "we" because it includes me as well. i'm not going to lie and hide the fact that i didn't do anything as well. however, after coming here and witnessing the initiative that you all have taken to solve the climate crisis, my eyes have finally opened. [cheers and applause]

but i'm not here to tell you that. i'm here to tell you that since the climate strikes last friday, you have opened the eyes of millions of other young people living 7,000 miles away from you nd as i speak right now, -- as i speak right now the pakistani youth is organizing the country's first major climate strike in 25 different cities. cheers and applause] i'll be honest. i have witnessed a climate strike on the very first day of my arrival to the united states. i was a little intimidated but now i have realized that this is an emergency and it needs to be dealt with that way. so i assure you that when i go

back home nine months from now, i will make sure that our voices demanding climate wrussties do not weaken until they are heard. and why is that? why is that? because as far as i know, the gases released from our factories and our engines and our cars do not need visas to cross borders. thank you. cheers and applause] >> thank you all so much for being here. name is -- i'm national director of the campaign, i'm so grateful for everyone to be here. at the national children's campaign we make sure that every

single elected official is fight -- fighting for the 74 million children living in this country. we deserve a choice voice and deserve to have people fighting for us. that's why i'm so pleased to introduce representative kathy castor, chair of the select committee on the climate crisis. [cheers and applause] and congressmannierry nadler from new york. [cheers and applause] and they're going to say a few words about what it means to have all of you here with us today. thank you. >> hey, climate strikers! you all are looking awesome. so i'm so proud of you, you are right in between the white house and the u.s. capitol. i would call this inaction alley. i'm tired of inaction, aren't you? [cheers and applause] over there in the white house, we have a president who has said

that climate crisis is a hoax. he's rolling back clean energy standards, he's rolling back -- fuel economy, he wants to remove the united states of america from our -- the landmark international climate accord that was forged in paris. [crowd boos] on the other side of inaction alley you've got the united states senate that is controlled by the g.o.p. [crowd boos] you know what g.o.p. stands for? grand oil party. but your generation is demanding that this congress take action. isn't that right? [cheers and applause] this week we had a historic hearing here on the house side where we had greta thunberg and other youth climate activists come. [cheers and applause]

you know what she told us? she said follow the science. [cheers and applause] it's not that difficult. follow the science. so that's what this congress needs to do. it was the house of representatives that took the first major step when it comes to climate action in a decade when a few months ago we passed my bill, the clay mat action now act, that simply says we're going to stay in the paris climate agreement. [cheers and applause] but that's not good enough is it? that's the bare minimum, isn't it so here's what we got to do. we are developing the climate action plan for the congress, we're going to roll it out in march of 2020, it's going to borrow from the green new deal, it's going to incorporate all of your ideas. we need your help. we need your help to move inaction alley into action alley.

sheike greta thunberg said, said and i look down here to the lincoln memorial and she said that this time, and this place, reminds her of what dr. martin luther king and our colleague john lewis had to say when they marched for justice. decades ago. it was a youth movement. just like this is today. [cheers and applause] you know, a lot of people say that you give them hope and that's great and all. but what you are doing, you're actually giving us a job to do. and that job is bold climate ction. this congress this president, to all of the policymakers here in washington, this generation is rising to the challenge of the

climate crisis. we need to rise with them. [cheers and applause] crowd chanting green new deal] >> thank you all very much. congressman jerry nadler. mr. nadler: thank you very much. we talk about a climate crisis and indeed it is a climate crisis. the people have no idea how great a crisis it is or how pressing it is. people think well, the sea levels are rising. it will cost us $100 billion to relocate, few million people will drown in bangladesh and india. but it's much, much worse.

much, much worse. i have a 13 month old granddaughter and i look at her, i get terrified because i don't know if human life will survive 50 years. we may face the climate scientists tell us that we may face the mass distinction in the history of the globe. theye oceans acidify which are beginning to do, it will destroy the entire food chain and all that will be left will be bacteria and maybe some plants. and none of us, none of our children, no mammals, no animals except ameba. this is what the scientists tell us we face in the next 50 years. we have to stop this. the green new deal, absolutely. we have to do that.

[cheers and applause] mr. nadler: i'm glad to see all of you here today because we have to start the pressure campaign to get rid of those in ignoramus in the chief in the white house. donald trump says he knows better than all the scientists. he knows better than all the scientists, his gut tells him better. but what if he's wrong? is he willing to gamble all of human life on his gut instincts? the answer is yes, he is and that's why among other reasons we have to change who's there in the white house and we have to make sure that people feel the immediasy of this crisis which is approach us much more rapidly

worse. we are facing a crisis. we had a world war, god forbid. the country would mobilize. the country must mobilize and the world must mobilize. thank you. cheers and applause] thank you [crowd chanting anti-trump] >> we are grateful for congressman nadler and congresswoman castor and all the other members of congress who joined us today. we had many more who wanted to be here and because of their schedule, we couldn't get everyone. we hope more will be arriving.

we send a huge thank you for being with the youth today. [cheers and applause] >> next up, i would like to ntroduce a very special man, reynaldo pierce son. on august 6, he started marching in atlanta, georgia, and he walked from atlanta to 49 days n d.c. and now later, he is here, he is ready, he is with the youth and he is with the movement and ready to work with us. thank you. cheers and applause] ♪ and the one thing we do right

was the way we started the fight put your eyes on the prize old on hold on , keep your eyes on the prize hold on ♪ >> that's one of the rallying freedom songs of the civil rights movement. [cheers and applause] >> and you know there have been many parallels drawn between the civil rights movement that formed our organizing today for better or worse, but there is

one major distinction i have to make. they were organizing under a moral urgency. but today, for the first time, we are organizing not just with a moral urgency, but with with enshal. so that's why among other reasons i have decided to dial 911 on american democracy. [cheers and applause] >> dial 911 on political corruption before it kills us. [cheers and applause] >> that's why i started on tuesday, august 6, in atlanta, georgia, because that was the 54th anniversary of the voting

rights act. but it's important to note in 2013, the supreme court gutted the voting rights act. which makes our generation the first generation to witness merica become less democratic. so that's why i have walked now from 1.5 million steps, over 700 iles because no matter -- [cheers and applause] >> my ankles and my body are very fired. i have quite the tan line as you can see. it's important, why? because no democratic struggles in american history from the american revolution to the civil rights movement to -- no democratic struggle in american

history has been won without the weapons that dr. king called the word that heals, nonviolent, direct action. [cheers and applause] >> and more to the point, there is something called this declaration of independence where we see it talks about right after that famous line in pursuit of happiness, any point where our safety or happiness is compromised by those in power who get their power from the consent of the governed, then we, the people, have the power to abolish or alter. [cheers and applause] >> so i've got to say as i walked the backcountry roads through georgia, south carolina, north carolina, virginia, there

were a few things that challenged my hope. i note the rich irony of dialing 911 on our broken and corrupt democracy but more times, dialing 911 -- [indiscernible] >> but when i heard about this climate strike, when i heard about p how generations and millenials were coming together to strike across the world, it gave me so much pep in my step and boosted my spirit and i decided that i would have to add a few miles to my journey every day. [cheers and applause] >> they call our generation lazy and entitled.

but i walked 700 miles and you guys are striking right now. it just came out recently that it was our generation for the first time outnumbered every voter. so we are here to remind those in power, those in power that the power of the people always, always, always outpowers the people in power. [cheers and applause] >> and i'm here to remind you that yes, this is an emergency, but no matter what the issue is, no matter what treatment is, it cannot be addressed until we address the pre-existing conditions of our broken and corrupt democracy.

that's why tomorrow at 2:00 p.m., i will be sitting with others sitting on the steps on the other side of this capitol, movementn civil rights style until washington heeds this emergency to protect our , to make our elections secure and competitive -- [cheers and applause] >> and to end political corruption. [cheers and applause] >> i don't have to tell you that lobbyists of the fossil fuel industry, have spent $1 billion since 2015 to block climate action. to the point that even now you have young republicans who are we ing their leaders that

are sick and tired of republicans spent on climate change. no matter what your issue, no atter what, we can't face this threat until we fix this democracy, that is to say all of these issues assume we have a fully functional democracy intact to address this. if youave you with this, meet me tomorrow at 1 p.m. on the other side of these steps tomorrow, we will make history this e largest action century. cheers and applause] leave you with

this quote, the world is equally balanced between good and evil. your next act will tip the scales. thank you. [cheers and applause] >> thank you for that. >> i thank all of you for coming out. the climate crisis is a personal issue. there are names behind each disaster, there are names behind each death and behind each climate policies and put your signs up and chanting out the names why. 'm striking for my mom, nadia, aurie. everyone put your signs up. why are you striking? why are you striking?

scream at the top of youfer lungs? why are you striking? climate justice now! . don't hear you guys louder! i want you to all acknowledge that this is history. this will be in the books. his is a pivotal moment in the climate moment. introduce our next speaker -- -- phia indiscernible] >> i would like to apologize. there has been a lot of screaming these past few weeks. my voice is a little hoarse.

i'm speaking for my life. i'm a coordinator. and i would like to send my love to the future strikers around the world who planned with us and built a movement with us. today is the day that we make history and today is the day we take back our futures. [cheers and applause] >> i'm looking out over this amazing crowd, i was freaking out. m so, so thankful that i'm standing in solidarity with so many people who understand the severity of this crisis and understand there are lives hanging in the balance and we have no more time. this is the moment our future will be decided. this is the moment we as a country and world can choose to sit back and see the climate crisis reach a breaking point or

we can jump into action. we can claim that the lives lost , we can claim that those lives are in danger or we can choose to stand up for our futures and stand with those on the front lines of the climate crisis. we can fight back with everything that we have. for too long, the people fighting this crisis have been ignored. but now, together, we finally have a voice and we cannot let this moment go. today we have proven our government may be powerful but the real power in this country lies in the hands of the people. we are the ones with the power and we are the ones in the streets and we are the ones making change. [cheers and applause] >> many of our world leaders think we need to find a middle

and etween middle rights padding the pockets of the privileged few. they think they can buy their time and sell their futures to the fossil fuel companies. but the millions of people marching around the world today. they know better. the people standing here today, we know better. we know that the change that we need cannot be found within the confines of our broken bias system. we need change and beyond party or party lines or policy and legislation, we need change that will shape the very foundations of our society. this change will be unsubble, maybe even scary, but this is the kind of change our only option and this is why we are here today and we take action every single friday. why do we take to the streets

and why we have come back here today, why we will keep coming back until we are not ignored any longer. this is the kind of change that can't happen in just one fight. we need you to join us every single friday. [cheers and applause] >> we need you to join us whether it be striking from school or in school or silent striking or yelling in the streets. we need you. usual isnd business as a death sentence and lives will be ruined. we are striking for our lives and we will not be stopped. [cheers and applause] >> everyone who is interested about all the specific things, there is a vote that is happening right now and hopefully it's time works out, they will be coming but it's

because votes have been. it was supposed to end at 11:00. >> we apologize that happening. next we have two sisters, they are part of our organizing group. we have eleanor and rosey. hi, i'm rosey, i'm 11 years old. we are here because our trying to save our planet. greta inspired us. fires and droughts fueled by climate changes are killing people all over the globe. we are choking our children and mass extinction is well under way and the government does nothing. our schools don't teach us and

our parents are sigh lept. we only have 11 years left to avoid a climate catastrophe. we need to have zero carbon emissions by 200 when i'm 21. i'm asking you to do three things. first start planning for the future at your school. it's more than a walkout but a teach-in. this is what you say to your friends might be the only thing they know about climate change. limate activates need to support other social business. the fight for justice is your fight, too. [cheers and applause] > kids rally for gun safety or lgbtq rights or living wages, get your butt out there and support them. nd they will support you, too.

the november 2020 election is coming and we need to. find a candidate who is on climate change and go door-to-door and make sure your older siblings vote. hose side are they on. if you fight for the children by demanding that slimet change to get us to zero carbon emissions by 200 and fight for the children by getting involved, we will save the world. [cheers and applause] >> not to my sister eleanor. >> i'm 15 years old. you know?

the fact that we have to be out here doing what our parents and our politicians should have done 30 years ago. shame on them that the government allows dirty energy companies to profit on our future. shame on them that our future holds millions of climate feff few geese. shame on them. i have a message for our parents and po politicians. you can't ignore this crisis. you owe us a moral debt. get out here and stand with us as we fight to get our futures back. [cheers and applause] >> we are striking for climate, or jobs and for justice. ds from stockholm sweden, to seoul, south korea are leading strikes to call for climate action. we are demanding generational

justice by rejecting business as usual. we need to pass a green new deal. millions of good paying in union jobs building energy efficient schools. [cheers and applause] >> this is also a fight for justice because we stand in solidarity with the black and brown communities who are disproportionately affected by the climate and embrace anti-racist policies and restore justice in ethnic communities. and we are going to need enough courage to speak truth to power, enough solidarity to win every strike and vote to keep us going. this is an uprising.

>> we wanted to both make an announcement on behalf of the international youth indenenous council and the national children's campaign, on behalf of those organizations. the politicians, baby boomers, -- we refusepeople to take that and refuse to be the last generation. we are not generation z. we are generation g.n.d., green new deal. we refuse to be the -- shoot, give me a secretary. we refuse to be the last generation to thrive. we are going to give it to the generations to come -- oh, gosh,

i'm done. thank you guys, i'm done. i'm done. i'm done. >> those organizations, we are generation g.n.d. we are announcing the era of the green new deal, on behalf of organizations. we want to focus on elements of the green new deal framework respecting indeng ownous lands and renewable energy, environmental justice and protection of biodiversity and sustainable agriculture. [cheers and applause] so thank you all for listening to us. our next speaker is coordinating. over there, you see a giant parachute. no future, no action.

o action, no future. >> hi, everyone, i'm harry ruben stein and i'm speaking on behalf of the mother earth project. we have been providing all the parachutes that you are seeing today. we started the project in 2015 and did over 2,000 parachutes around the globe. as you can see, parachutes to me decorate their parachute with artwork and individual concerns about the climate crisis. looking at the parachutes is like reading a story. looking at the parachutes is learning about the devastation about defoffersation in zimbabwe and rising waters of the marshall and the defined lings salmon population in oregon and

dwippedling population in african countries. we are here among environmental activists. we are a powerful group demanding changes in our government which is reluctant to listen to the science of the united nations scientific report. when you hold these parachutes today, think of the hope of one person from nigeria who says thank you for hearing from victims of giving us a voice. thank you mother earth project. when you hold these parachutes today, think of action who want to use parachutes to spread environmental action across countries. when you hold these parachutes today, think of kathy from canada who laid out in front of the canadian parliament.

when the government recently passed carbon pricing legislation holding polluters responsible for their actions. today, we are galvanizing and helping to create the largest family in the world. here amongst you are parachutes that speak from all corners of the globe and plead with you to take action both individually and collectively and ask you to open your eyes and see the beauty of their artwork and beauty of mother earth. thank you. cheers and applause]

>> no future, no action, no future, no action. no future. no action. >> what do you want? [crowd chanting]

>> take your trash and all your signs. ake your trash and your signs. ♪ >> please take a parachute and take it over to the corner. thank you so much.

[captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2019] captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org >> there are climate rallies happening across the u.s. jerry nadler said climate change

is real and already here. urgent bold action from our federal government is to ensure a stable climate and we must act on climate this climate friday. i'm in awe participating in its climate strike. from senator leahy tweeted out, the plaza in burlington is overflowing and the energy bringing for the climate strike. and congresswoman presley said young people have grown up in the midst of a climate crisis and it is now time to turn into activism. to my young constituents in boston, i see you, i hear you and i'm fighting for you every day in washington. find the rally on-line at -span.org.

>> for 40 years, the c-span has been providing america of coverage of congress, the white house, the supreme court and public policy events from washington, d.c., and around the country so you can make up your own mind, created by cable in 1979, c-span is brought to you by your local cable or satellite provider. c-span, your unfiltered view of overnment. >> president trump and first lady melania trump will hold the second state dinner of his administration as he welcomes australian prime minister scott more ison. watch guest arrivals at 6:0 p.m. eastern on c-span, online at c-span.org or listen on the free c-span radio app. >> australian