A bright red poster board emblazoned with stylized flames drew eyes on the New Haven Green last Friday afternoon.
High school and college students gathered around the poster with signs of their own, eager to march to City Hall in protest of fossil fuel use in New Haven.
The New Haven Climate Movement, a youth-led grassroots organization pushing for local climate change action, held a “Fridays for Future” rally to stir up support ahead of last Sunday’s March to End Fossil Fuels in New York City. Students from New Haven high schools and Yale gave speeches emphasizing the urgency of enacting new climate policies. At Friday’s rally on the Green, New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker declared that the city would recognize Sept. 17, 2023 as Climate Action Day.
“We in New Haven have come a long way but we have so much work to do,” Elicker said in his speech at the march. “We have a goal of climate neutrality by 2030, and when you look at our projected progress, we have a lot more work to do.”
The rally comes after heat waves spread throughout the Eastern United States earlier this month. Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont activated Connecticut’s extreme hot weather protocol from Sept. 5 to 7 as temperatures rose to over 90 degrees.
Suprya Sarkar, a junior at Mark T. Sheehan High School in Wallingford and one of the student organizers of the rally, said that public school closures amid the heat wave have prompted conversations among students and teachers about climate change.
“During the past few days I have heard a lot of discussion because there was such a drastic change with schools being closed or having half-days,” Sarkar said.
Sarkar added that she wishes her school would offer more classes relating to the climate and climate change, which is one of the NHCM’s goals. The organization’s priorities include urging the Mayor, the Board of Alders, and the Board of Education to electrify more buildings, incentivize sustainable transportation habits and increase climate education in schools.
NHCM leaders estimate that there are 30 active members of the organization. Most are students from high schools in or near New Haven.
Sophia Rivkin and Toni Odom, both seniors at Cooperative Arts and Humanities High School, spoke passionately before the rally about how they joined the NHCM with little knowledge of climate issues and were taught about climate change prevention policies and how to advocate for them.
“I think oftentimes, students my age feel powerless, and for good reason,” Rivkin said. “Realizing that there are mechanisms in which we can have the voice and we can have the say is just so important.”
The New Haven León Sister City Project, a grassroots organization working to create connections between New Haven and León, Nicaragua, created the NHCM in 2015 when the organization grew concerned about the effect of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions on their projects combating food insecurity and mining in León, said Sister City Project Director Chris Schweitzer.
The organization is focused on the impact of U.S. foreign policy and lifestyle choices on Latin America. The Sister City Project has existed as a nonprofit since June 1992, according to their tax records.
“Climate change is undermining all the work that’s been done about poverty,” Schweitzer said. “It’s a continuation of colonial imposition in saying ‘if we want to burn fossil fuels we’re going to keep doing it.’”
Schweitzer expressed optimism about the role of local policies in achieving broader goals of halting climate change. However, he told the News he worries that staffing shortages and a lack of funding are thwarting New Haven’s climate objectives.
On Friday, Elicker pointed to recent advances in national climate change mitigation policies. At the same time, he acknowledged that to achieve New Haven’s goal of reaching climate neutrality seven years from now, he hopes to secure more subsidies from both the state and federal government.
“I think we saw a huge step forward with the Inflation Reduction Act where we’re seeing more money than ever come in from the federal government specific to environmental initiatives and climate initiatives, but even so that is not enough,” Elicker told the News.
The city of New Haven established an Office of Climate and Sustainability in Dec. 2022, hiring two full-time employees to carry out its climate mitigation initiatives.
Steven Winter ’11, the executive director of the Office, said that he has been working with the NHCM in his role and that the organization has been a source of enthusiasm and knowledge.
“We’ve met with them consistently since the office started and want to be receptive to any ideas they have,” Winter added.
Two days after the New Haven rally, many of the student leaders took the Sunday morning train to New York City to join the March to End Fossil Fuels. Some members of the Yale Student Environmental Coalition joined. Organizers of the march in New York estimated crowd sizes reached between 50,000 and 75,000 protesters.
The group that marched in New Haven last Friday numbered 38 when protesters reached City Hall. Although a fraction of the New York protest’s crowd, their megaphone-boosted cries –– “What do we want? Climate Justice! When do we want it? Now!” –– echoed across the downtown area and attracted locals who joined in and peeled off the march along the way.
City Hall is located at 165 Church St.