PORTLAND, Maine — More than 1,000 students and adults gathered on the steps of City Hall at noon on Friday demanding state and national leaders take action on climate change. Similar school walkouts and demonstrations were scheduled across the state in locations including Bangor, Bar Harbor, Belfast, Farmington, Unity and Waterville.
In Bangor, Ijeoma Obi, a senior at Bangor High School and lead organizer for the climate strike at Broadway Park, said she’s always been interested in climate change and became inspired to take action after moving to Bangor from Washington, D.C., five years ago.
Here, the environment is beautiful and it inspired me to make a difference,” she said. “I think today will convince people, informing them how important it is to care about the environment around them.”
In Belfast, more than 50 demonstrators rallied at Main and High streets on Friday afternoon. They stood on all corners of the intersection with signs and encouraged cars to honk in support of their cause.
Lindsey Piper, of Belfast, came out to demonstrate with her wife and children. She held a sign with a photo of the Earth that was engulfed in flames. It read “Our house is on fire.”
The international movement began with Greta Thunberg, a 16-year-old in Sweden, who skipped school every Friday to protest climate change in front of her nation’s parliament. Thurnburg led a huge rally in New York City on Friday.
