Ellie Trost-Rekich, of Palatine, chants with other climate and environmental activists in front of Chase Tower in downtown Chicago during a rally on April 19, 2024. Teenage activists held a rally Friday afternoon demanding urgent action from government officials to slow climate change, calling it a “public health emergency that affects every breath we take and every sip we drink.”
Young demonstrators carried signs that read “Don’t be a climate fool” and “End climate change” while chanting “The tides are rising, so are we.” “Youth voices are the most powerful in calling for change,” said Natasha Bhatia, one of the Chicago chapter’s founders. “Everyone has a climate story. When we share them, when we speak out together, we truly have the power to create change and protect our planet.”
“I just knew that I wanted to use my voice to make a change,” she said, adding that she sometimes coordinates permits during her lunch break. For Mahima Krishnan, 15, it’s important to protest and “make the right people listen” to fight for a future that isn’t characterized by poor economic outcomes and quality of life due to climate change. She called for investment in clean energy, sustainable transportation and resilient infrastructure., White House officials recently renewed talks to invoke a national climate emergency in a move that could unlock federal powers to stifle oil development.