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<\/a>Students gather outside of Commons before boarding the bus for Portland. (Phyllis Graber Jensen\/Bates College)<\/p><\/div>\n
The Bates students heading to Portland were among the millions of people worldwide who went on strike on Sept. 20 to demand climate action ahead of the Sept. 23 United Nations Climate Action Summit in New York City.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t understand how people can actively oppose this,\u201d said Matt Suslovic \u201921, sitting at the back of the Bates bus. Around him, students crammed three to a seat recounted protests they\u2019d attended and brainstormed slogans to put on their signs.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m striking because at the end of the day I don’t feel confident about anything in my future,\u201d Suslovic said. \u201cI don’t feel confident that I or anyone in my generation will make it to retirement.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/a>A crowd of 2,000 gathered outside of Portland City Hall for the Youth Climate Strike. (Phyllis Graber Jensen\/Bates College)<\/p><\/div>\n
\u201cI do believe that strikes work, especially if you get a critical mass to send signals and make institutions respond,\u201d said Sonja Pieck, associate professor of environmental studies. \u201cI\u2019m in solidarity with people who are younger than I am and will have to sit this out in a different way.\u201d<\/p>\n
For some of the Bates professors in attendance, joining the event reflected their identity as an academic.<\/p>\n
\u201cI talk a lot about the importance of getting engaged and organizing,\u201d said Francis Eanes, visiting assistant professor of environmental studies. \u201cIt\u2019s not good enough to just talk about issues and solutions \u2014 we have to really get involved. I personally would feel like it\u2019s the antithesis of what I\u2019m teaching if I\u2019m not willing to make space for that in my life.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/a>Alexis Hudes ’20 of Owings Mills, Md., holds a sign as she stands with Francis Eanes, visiting assistant professor of environmental studies, at right. (Phyllis Graber Jensen\/Bates College)<\/p><\/div>\n
As the bus rolled up to Portland’s City Hall, activists already crowded around the building began to cheer. The Batesies who had driven their own cars and vans cut through the crowd to meet up with their friends, who took in the crowd with wide eyes.<\/p>\n
The crowd numbered some 2,000, joining others worldwide: 1.4 million people in Germany, 250,000 in New York City, and a handful of researchers in Antarctica.<\/p>\n
Organized by several Maine-based environmental organizations, the event had a strong Bates vibe thanks to the Environmental Coalition’s connections with statewide groups. Of the dozen or so speakers, two were Bates students: Muskan Verma \u201921 of Shimla, India, who is the Lewiston hub contact for the Sunrise Movement, and Environmental Coalition president Dianna Georges ’22 of Clifton, N.H.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not from this country,\u201d Verma said from the steps of City Hall, \u201cbut that shouldn\u2019t matter. This is affecting us all. And whether we like it or not, we have to take action.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/a>Muskan Verma ’21 of Shimla, India, addresses the crowd gathered in front of Portland City Hall. (Phyllis Graber Jensen\/Bates College)<\/p><\/div>\n