On March 15, more than 1.5 million strikers (both students and adults) attended 2000 strikes in over 100 countries. Our aim was to call on our governments to act on climate change and to do this through not investing in coal, stopping the Adani mine and heading towards a 100 per cent renewable-run country by 2030.
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I organised the Inverell strike and have been faced with heavy, often uninformed, criticism for doing so. I am not alone in this. But such criticism has only made me and my fellow strikers more strong in our convictions that what we are doing is working.
We know striking will not change anything over night but the purpose of employing one of our democratic rights was to call for action, to encourage discussion, and to draw attention to the issue that climate change is happening and our governments aren't doing enough.
A massive thank you to everyone who engaged and got involved in the discussion.
Your comments - whether you meant to inspire, support or degrade - turned the strike into a success. We held your attention and got you talking, and most of all, our politicians are now very aware of us, and some are even a little fearful.
Since our first strike in November last year we have seen politicians show their true colours and we have made waves. We have seen both major parties update their plans on how to tackle climate change as a result of our strikes. It is pretty clear what we are doing is working.
I'd also like to address the common misconception that students are uninformed and misguided.
Over our entire lives we have been taught the skills to analyse and interpret data, how to conduct research, identify credible sources and understand and discuss concepts of our world both scientific, political and philosophical. We have been taught about climate change and the impact humans have on the earth since we were in primary and have had the capacity to do additional research to further understand these things.
I have been involved with programs such as Grass UNE and the National Youth Science Forum where I have personally spoken to scientists in fields that deal with the environment and industry. And I am more inclined to believe the experts over a shock jock radio host or some random on Facebook who hasn't the slightest idea of climate science.
I am going to call it, the students are educated on this one.
Now I have your attention, I want to tell you why it is important that we are all involved in planning and acting on our future.
If you have an interest in fulfilling your main biological function, which is surviving and continuing the human species, then it is in your interest to do something about climate change. Climate change isn't up for debate. It's happening and we know the biggest cause is excess gases such as CO2 and pollutants being released into the atmosphere, which trap heat causing the world to heat up. And the biggest contributor is the burning of fossil fuels.
We need to regulate how much CO2 we are pumping into the atmosphere. Currently we have nothing that does this.
It would be in all of our interests if we had a carbon tax on industry. This would not only make Australia money that could put towards schools and health care, but it would also be an incentive for industry to stop polluting the air we breathe and move to renewables.
Renewable energy is also in your best interest. It is not only able to run the whole country (as found in reports from ANU) but it will be cheaper, and cleaner.
As the demand for coal decreases, prices for coal energy will increase to maintain profits. And as current coal fired power stations begin to reach their expiry date, we will be asked whether we want to invest in new stations that rely on a less efficient energy source for a higher price to that of a renewable energy farm. With the increase of technological developments in renewable energy, the price of renewables will become cheaper and cheaper.
So from the standpoint of economics and basic survival, it is in your best interest to care about climate change and most importantly to vote for someone who does too.
One last thing, I'd like for anyone who reads this to really take the time to think why they are for or against doing something about climate change. Do you really want to have to tell your grandkids you did nothing when given the opportunity to better the world and their future?
Our legacy is what succeeds us, so you'd better make it a good one and make sure you choose to be with us on the right side of history, if not for your sake but for the sake of your children and grandchildren.