Wednesday, April 24, 2019
Young people are on the front lines in raising concerns over climate change and we meet some local teens who are part of a global movement to encourage leaders to take action on our warming planet.
On this post-Earth Day edition of Charlotte Talks, we hear what some local young people are doing to bring more attention to climate change. Fourteen-year-old climate activist Mary Ellis Stevens has been skipping school and striking outside of the Charlotte Mecklenburg Government Center for the past eight Fridays. She’s part of a global movement to encourage our elected leaders to address the warming planet.
Stevens told Charlotte Talks about her concerns and why she's striking:
"It’s all very terrifying – the prospects that I will grow up and my children, and grandchildren, in a world that’s being devastated by natural disasters. And depending on how much action is taken – there is the prospect of global war and food and water crises. In simple terms, I’m scared for my future."
We talk with her and others involved in the movement about their goals and hear about the next nationwide Youth Climate Strike scheduled for May 3.
Guests
Mary Ellis Stevens, 14-year-old climate activist
Lucia Paulsen, 13-year-old climate activist
Kate Harrison, 13-year-old climate activist
