What Happened at Student Climate Strike 2019?

I was pleased to be among hundreds of Sarasotians who gathered to support the Sarasota Students 4 Climate rally. This rally scheduled to coincide with similar and much larger gatherings worldwide, is one of hundreds of such rallies that are both growing and becoming more shrill in their demands.

The Sarasota event was organized and led entirely by students. The event’s grassroots character was evident in the poor quality of the sound system, that proved no match for traffic noise and breeze. That said, the speeches were excellent and heartfelt.

The event had a festival atmosphere. There were no police in sight. The participants were jovial. Today’s gathering was a far cry from the more disruptive tactics used by Extinction Rebellion, which does not have much going on in the United States. It appears that we have surrendered leadership in climate justice to more astute groups around the world.

I attend such events with a guilty feeling that kids shouldn’t have to carry the responsibility to fix global warming. When I was a teen I enjoyed the marvelous luxury of being able to focus on myself, my future, and my fun. Most of my peers had the same freedom. During my adulthood, I worked on my career and prepared for my retirement. In the process I took my tiny place in the generation that would put half of the human-contributed CO2 into the atmosphere.

I didn’t do this single-handedly. But I belonged to the generation that did it and allowed it to happen. Now I live securely with a guaranteed income and a nice life. Much of it can be traced to wealth powered by fossil fuels.

Sometimes people say that other countries are at fault. And it is true that some developing nations, notably China, have sped past the United States in carbon emissions. But this is a recent development. Historically, the biggest chunk of the CO2 in the earth’s atmosphere was put there by the good old USA. And we put more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere per capita than practically anyone else.

And it happened during my adulthood. I’m to blame. The Boomers and “Greatest” generations are the primary culprits. Now my grandchildren are looking at a retirement that won’t be spent on the golf course or around the pool but in a savage struggle for survival.

Am I okay with that?

Hardly. That’s why I drag myself to these events and why I’m intent on learning what I can about our climate crisis.

I do this not only as a grandfather and global citizen, but also as a minister. As with the greatest crises in the past, the world is in desperate need of moral and spiritual truths necessary to mobilize humanity’s ability and willingness to change course. A large swath of the Christian Church lags behind secular leaders in calling for action to redress the problem.

Thankfully, my denomination, the Presbyterian Church (USA), together with other old line denominations and the Roman Catholic Church, have helped to sound the alarm about the world climate crisis.

Some Christian groups are not only bringing up the rear in sounding the climate alarm, but actively lying to their members about what is going on. Readers can find stunning examples of misleading religious “guidance” here and here. Frankly, much of the vitriol being heaped on religion in social media and from thought-leaders is deserved.

The students who organized today’s climate rally in downtown Sarasota, together with their peers around the World, are far more sophisticated and great-hearted than the religious shepherds who keep their flocks well-corralled in ignorance.

I look forward to wave after wave of demonstrations like today’s, together with political leadership, technological development, and a good dose of the grace of God that will pull humanity off of this cliff.