On Friday, September 20th, millions of people across the world participated in a walkout in support of climate change reform. Climate change has become one of the most talked about topics in recent years because of the effects it’s having on the earth and how it could make the planet uninhabitable in the future. Many people are upset about the lack of regulations that have been made to limit climate change from becoming even worse, and this led to the mass walkout on September 20th. 

Many students at Charlottesville High School participated in the climate change walkout as well, and it seems that the overwhelming majority of students feel that the United States needs to be doing more in terms of legislation that would limit our negative impacts on the environment. Many participants walked down to the downtown mall wielding signs and shirts advocating for environmental changes. They gathered at the far end of the downtown mall, and different speakers came up and spoke about what needed to be done in our country to oppose climate change. There was a large contingent of middle school and even elementary school students as well, holding up signs that showed their support for policy changes to benefit our environment. Citizens of all walks of life banded together for a few hours in order to reach a common goal, and hope to see some changes in government as a result of it. 

While millions of people participated in the climate change walkout on September 20th, one of the main reasons that some people did not join in was that they felt that it would not have an effect on how the government decided to deal with climate change. When asked about whether the walkout would have any effect on government reforms, the majority of C.H.S. students felt that it wouldn’t. 

When asked about what changes needed to be made in the United States to limit our national contributions to climate change, a freshman at CH.S. stated “I think that the United States has a very large carbon footprint that can be reduced in many ways. One way is for there to be more renewable energy based vehicles…another way is to reduce our meat consumption.” 

One senior, Cleo Engle, brought up another viewpoint on the crisis when stating, “I don’t think our current administration is going to do anything.” It has been made evident to the American people that President Trump is not a proprietor of environmental legislation, which is another reason Americans feel so inclined to speak out about the issue. They feel that their President will not do anything without a strong push from the public. 

While there are different viewpoints about climate change, one overwhelming truth has become clear: climate change is an issue that is not going to go away without significant change in our society today, and it’s paramount that we act on it now.