Global Climate Strike Coming to Palisades

By CHRISTIAN MONTERROSA | Reporter

Local climate change activists are planning to take over the heart of Pacific Palisades as part of a worldwide climate strike on Friday, September 20.

Led by Paul Revere Charter Middle School student Éva Milan Engel, activists are expected to raise awareness and demand action against rapidly deteriorating climate patterns that scientists have predicted will be irreversible if no action is taken to reduce carbon emissions within the next 12 years.

“In other words, when I am 25 years old, it will officially be too late,” Engel said in a statement to the Palisadian-Post.

“Young people are leading this movement, but we are calling on adults to join us on the global day of action … I hope that the people who are worried about the future of the climate and humanity can make it to the protest, and I hope that the people who deny climate science leave us alone to exercise our First Amendment rights.”

The Palisades Village Green Committee, who has previously used the beloved community space to host art shows and fundraisers, denied Engel permission to host the strike there, explaining that such an event was “not in our charter to allow this.”

Instead, Engel applied for and was granted a special event permit by the city of Los Angeles to occupy the public sidewalks that surround the Village Green and a two-block stretch on Sunset Boulevard that reaches Via De La Paz. Instamail Office, a local print shop, also printed fliers for the event at a 50 percent discount.

Climate strikers of all ages will begin assembling in the Village at 4 p.m. in front of Starbucks, according to the event page.

A sound system will be set up to allow for people to speak, and further amplify their thoughts.

Friday’s event will not be Engel’s first time taking on an activist role: She is also a member of the Sunrise Movement, a group of youths advocating for climate change solutions that has won two first-place awards at the Paul Revere Film Festival for a PSA video on gun reform and a documentary on teen stress.

“Despite the efforts of climate deniers, I think the world is moving toward a hopeful future,” Engel said.