SUNRISE BURLINGTON AND LOCAL LEADERS DISCUSS CLIMATE CRISIS
BURLINGTON, VT: After a semester of organizing, Sunrise Movement Burlington held a town hall as part the national ‘Road to a Green New Deal Tour’ on Monday. Organizers Maggie Friel, Emma Page, and Clarissa Sprague say they have built a strong local base of student activists, and have tapped into local networks of climate and social justice activists, all pressing for climate action.
The culmination of months of organizing came today at 6pm at the Fletcher Free Library in downtown Burlington. The conversation featuring panelists David Zuckerman and Selene Colburn centered on issues surrounding a federal Green New Deal and a proposed “Green Mountain Deal”.
Youth leaders started the event with personal stories of what the climate crisis means to them, and presented on the Green New Deal. “The Green New Deal is the only national plan that addresses the impacts of the climate crisis on frontline communities, takes into account economic and racial justice, and works on the timeline and scale of the crisis,” said Maggie Friel. “The Green New Deal is the only plan that envisions a fair, democratic, and equitable transition to a Green America. This policy would be life changing for all of us-- but especially low income workers, indigenous communities, people of color, migrants, the unhoused, the formerly incarcerated, and people with disabilities.”
“I’m here because I don’t want to hurt the thing that has given us life and our beautiful land,” Emma Page said during her personal story. “At the end of the day, I think the love and awareness we have for our planet is the only thing strong enough to save it.” Tica Drury expressed the level of her concern, “This grand risk of doing nothing about the climate crisis that we are toying with is not at all worth it. That is what keeps me going and why I am here today.”
Clarissa Sprague and her fellow activists say that they are in for the long haul, that the climate crisis is only getting worse, and that their advocacy for change will only escalate.
Clarissa, who hails from Oregon and has seen the effects of the climate crisis first hand, offered up the sentiment that, “The line is no longer drawn between those who believe in climate change and those who do not, it is no longer drawn across party lines, or class or race. It is drawn between those who will be affected in their lifetimes and those who will not. Young people feel this urgency so strongly because we can see it right in front of us.”
Sunrise Burlington members were joined by Lieutenant Governor David Zuckerman, Representative Selene Colburn, UVM Professor of Ecological Economics Josh Farley, 350Vermont, Burlington Progressives, Vermont Youth Lobby, VPIRG, Energy Independent Vermont, Extinction Rebellion, Ben & Jerry’s, the Peace & Justice Center, College Democrats of Vermont, Patagonia Burlington, Seventh Generation, Rights & Democracy, Migrant Justice, and Sunrise Movement Middlebury. Haley Pero, Senator Bernie Sanders’ Outreach Staff attended the event on behalf of Senator Sanders, bringing by proxy his support for the Green New Deal and youth climate activism.
Event at 6pm at the Fletcher Free Library. Spokespeople from Sunrise will be able to speak to press after the action, approximately 8:15pm in Fletcher Free Library.
ABOUT SUNRISE BURLINGTON:
The Sunrise Movement is a youth led climate activist network, fighting to stop the climate crisis using the power of people and our elected officials. Sunrise fights for the rights of marginalized communities most affected by the climate crisis, and is leading the charge to radically reform our energy infrastructure by 2030, while creating thousands of jobs in the process. Sunrise Movement is a national movement with local hubs across the country. The Sunrise Movement Burlington Hub was started by UVM first year Maggie Friel, who was then joined by co-coordinators and UVM students Emma Page (class of 2022) and Clarissa Sprague (class of 2021). Sunrise has amassed a group of young activists who are enthusiastic to take part in our fight against the climate crisis and corruption in the fossil fuel industry.
Supporting Organizations:
MIGRANT JUSTICE
Migrant Justice build the voice, capacity, and power of the Vermont farmworker community and engage community partners to organize for economic justice and human rights. They gather the farmworker community to discuss and analyze shared problems and to envision collective solutions. Through this ongoing investment in leadership development, members deepen their skills in community education and organizing for long-term systemic change. From this basis their members have defined community problems as a denial of rights and dignity and have prioritized building a movement to secure these fundamental human rights to: 1) Dignified Work and Quality Housing; 2) Freedom of Movement and Access to Transportation; 3) Freedom from discrimination; 4) Access to Health Care.
For more information, visit https://migrantjustice.net
350VERMONT
350Vermont is a statewide organization in Vermont working to build a grassroots movement to reverse climate change. 350Vermont’s mission is to organize, educate, and support people in Vermont to work together for climate justice - resisting fossil fuels, building momentum for alternatives, and transforming our communities toward justice and resilience. Although we are an affiliated group of 350.org with a similar mission, 350VT is an independent organization, with local campaigns to divest from fossil fuel investments, advocate for a carbon pollution tax, and stop any expansion of fossil fuel infrastructure.
VPIRG
Founded in 1972, VPIRG is the largest nonprofit consumer and environmental advocacy organization in Vermont, with over 50,000 members and supporters. In 1975, the Vermont Public Interest Research and Education Fund (VPIREF) was established as VPIRG’s 501(c)3 outreach and education arm. For over 40 years, VPIRG has brought the voice of average Vermont citizens to public policy debates concerning the environment, health care, consumer protection and democracy.
SUNRISE MOVEMENT MIDDLEBURY
Sunrise is a movement to stop climate change and create millions of good jobs in the process. They are building an army of young people to make climate change an urgent priority across America, end the corrupting influence of fossil fuel executives on our politics, and elect leaders who stand up for the health and wellbeing of all people. They are ordinary young people who are scared about what the climate crisis means for the people and places they love. They are not looking to the right or left. They look forward. Sunrise Middlebury and UVM are new hubs in the Sunrise Movement.
BURLINGTON PROGRESSIVES
The VPP is the most successful independent party in the US. We currently have eight members in the Vermont Legislature. Progressives have been elected to the Vermont Legislature, without interruption, for 20 years. Progressive’s strong voices keeps their issues on the forefront and forces all the candidates to take positions on them.
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