Students protest in favor of Warrant Article 21
Students gather in front of a sign reading “Gas is the Past,” outside of the Roberts-Dubbs Auditorium. Members of Amnesty International and the Environmental Action Club assembled in order to advocate for Warrant Article 21 and greater community involvement in the movement against climate change.
A special town meeting session convened on Wednesday, Nov. 20 and passed Warrant Article 21, amid other propositions. This warrant article outlaws the usage of fossil fuel piping in future town construction projects, with the goal of reducing net overall carbon emissions to zero by the year 2050. Prior to the vote, high school students lined up along the hallway with posters and signs and encouraged Brookline community members to support the Warrant Article.
The Sagamore interviewed students about what climate change meant to them, as well as their motivations for striking.
“At least for me, I have always loved winter; since winter is being threatened, it’s almost as if my memories and my childhood are being threatened. But on a larger scale, I know that all the social problems we have, with race and gender and just equality in general, they are all very pertinent. But I think that climate change is the one issue that sort of affects everyone on the planet, no matter what age, what race, what gender, what sexuality. And it even affects the world around us. We can see with hurricanes and more extreme weather in different places, habitats being destroyed. And I just think that all of our social problems that humans have created, those, when compared to the planet, when we only have one––and this sounds cliché––it’s more pressing because it’s the only planet we have to live. And it’s just something we can’t replace.” -Linden Niedeck, junior
