Climate Strike In Santa Monica Is About To Begin

SANTA MONICA, CA — In an effort to draw greater attention to the global climate crisis, youth from around the world and across the United States will stage a strike on Friday, Sept. 20 to demand an end to fossil fuels and reductions in corporate pollution and environmental destruction.

The event is expected to be one of the largest environmental protests ever.

Millions of people are expected to walk out of their schools, workplaces, and homes in solidarity, and organizers in Santa Monica have scheduled the strike to take place on Friday, Sept. 20 at these locations:

• 8 a.m. at New Roads School, 3131 Olympic Blvd, Santa Monica, CA 90404
• 11 a.m. at Burton Snowboards, 1460 4th Street, Santa Monica, CA 90401
  • Host Contact Info: AaronF@Burton.com
• 10 a.m. at Ocean Park & Bernard Way, Beach Park #1, Santa Monica, CA 90405Santa Monica Climate Strike
  • Host Contact Info: deirdre.r2012@gmail.com

Event details and updates are provided for our protest by the ActionNetwork.

Patagonia’s Santa Monica store will open late at 1 p.m. Friday, September 20, so that employees may participate in the strike.

"This is part of Patagonia’s global Climate Week campaign, inspired by the courageous youth activists around the world demanding government leaders take action," a Patagonia representative told Patch. "In most locations where we have stores or offices and there is a strike, we will shut down for a few hours in solidarity with the youth climate activists. We will join them in peacefully striking for climate action, making the case that there is no room in government for climate deniers and that their inaction is killing us."

Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District Superintendent Dr. Ben Drati said SMMUSD has implemented a district-wide sustainability plan, and the Board of Education approved a resolution in March that calls for action on climate change. However, SMMUSD schools are not "sanctioning, coordinating or facilitating any planned student walkouts," he said.

"There are many ways our schools may participate and support this movement. Several of our schools are planning in-school educational activities on Friday, which we support," Drati said in an email. "We are unable to support various strikes or protests, as this would be a big disruption to our teaching and learning programming on our campuses."

"We do not have the capacity to supervise or monitor students who choose to leave school for this purpose and want to help parents understand that we cannot be responsible for your student outside of school, during an unauthorized walk out," he continued.

The international protest comes days before the United Nations Climate Action Summit taking place on Sept. 23 in New York City, where leaders from government, business, and civil society are expected to address the global climate emergency.

“Together, we will sound the alarm and show our politicians that business as usual is no longer an option,” reads the official Global Climate Strike Page. “The climate crisis won’t wait, so neither will we.”