Another school strike for the climate in Nelson brought out roughly 200 students and their supporters again on Friday.
15-year-old LV Rogers student Daniel Reilly says his message to his fellow students was to keep up their efforts.
“To not stop fighting because it’s so important. If we continue to do what we’re doing and release green house gas emissions, then by the time I’m at my dad’s age now, I’m not going to want to have kids because we’ll be at the point of no return,” he said in an interview after the event.
He used the word terrified to describe how he feels at times when thinking about the future, but was hugely inspired by a video of Greta Thunberg that one of his teachers showed in class.
“It absolutely changed my life,” Reilly explained. “That was the day I started, I was like, I need to do something right now so then, just that day, I looked up and searched all these things about Greta Thunberg and what she does and about climate, and then I got e-mails from people and we started a group.”
Thunberg’s climate demonstrations have sparked student strikes all over the world.
Nelson city council is paying attention to their actions and students met with Mayor John Dooley on Friday morning. Councillor Rik Logtenberg also attended the event.
“It’s a reminder. It’s a constant exclamation point on the work that we’re already doing. And also, it’s a call to staff as well as council,” said Logtenberg.
Although work is being done, he feels the student’s efforts push staff and council to do more.
A couple recent examples of work being done by council is joining the Kootenay Carshare Cooperative. Three councillors carpooled down to the Association of Kootenay Boundary Local Governments Convention last weekend in Castlegar.
It’s one way council can lead by example and reduce green house gas emissions, according to Logtenberg.
This year the City is also hiring a climate change coordinator.
“We’re reducing our green house gas emissions both in the City’s operations, but also in partnership with other municipalities across the region and in really trying to activate our community to help. Everybody has a role to play and this climate change coordinator is going to help spark that action,” Logtenberg added.