A mid-October Civiqs poll of 1,333 adults has found that 53% of respondents said yes when asked if they agreed with the wave of global strikes and other protests that school students participated in last month to demand stronger action in dealing with the climate crisis:
Even more encouraging would be if that figure were 83%. This was not, however, a tally of Democratic opinion but of the whole nation, which makes that majority view impressive. Especially since effective climate action will require persuading a big hunk of that majority not merely to support young climate activists but also to become participants in the growing efforts to confront those governments and corporations that are dragging their feet on confronting the crisis.
Vox reported 4 million youth participated in the actions.The Guardian said 6 million. The climate action group 350.org put the turnout at 7.6 million. A spokesperson for FridaysForFuture told Guardian reporters that “This week was a demonstration of the power of our movement. People power is more powerful than the people in power. It was the biggest ever climate mobilisation, and it’s only the beginning. The momentum is on our side and we are not going anywhere.”
Said May Boeve of 350.org, one of the organizers of the protests, “We will keep fighting until the politicians stop ignoring the science, and the fossil fuel companies are held responsible for their crimes against our future, as they should have been decades ago.”
Given the never-ending stream of assessments about where the climate crisis is taking us—like this one on sea-level rise or this one on melting permafrost—more activism is clearly going to be needed to bump off their perch those government and corporate leaders who think the climate crisis is not happening, is happening but no big deal, can be dealt with modest tweaks, or can wait until “more important” issues are resolved.