Climate Strike prompts walkouts across Washington state

People in cities across the globe walked out of work and classes to take part in the Climate Strike. Washington communities joined them Friday.

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The Seattle Climate Strike event had 1,800 people signed up to attend on Facebook. Another 4,500 people were “interested” in attending. Students at Seattle schools walked out for the strike. The turnout was significant, with hundreds of students marching as early as 9 a.m.

Traffic disruptions were seen around downtown Seattle as the rally made its way to City Hall.

Seattle Climate Strike and beyond

The event started at Cal Anderson Park. It was hosted by 13 organizations, including WA Youth Climate Strike, Got Green, 350 Seattle, UAW Local 4121 (academic student employees) and a range of other environmental groups.

• Seattle’s Climate Strike featured two main parts: a rally and a march.
• Climate Justice Fest went from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at Cal Anderson Park.
• March to Seattle City Hall for another rally: 12:30 p.m. to 3 p.m.
• Amazon employees also took part, instructed to hold their own rally at the Amazon spheres in South Lake Union from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.
• Police closed a block of 7th Avenue in front of the Spheres for the Amazon climate strike gathering.

While there are 10 Climate Strike events scheduled for Seattle, it was only one out of many such events being held across Washington on Friday and throughout the following week. Nearby, there were also events taking place on Mercer Island and in Kirkland and Kitsap County.

See a full list of Washington events here.

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Communities from Orcas Island to Vancouver and Wenatchee are also holding their own rallies and marches, though not all are being held on Friday. A Climate Emergency Gathering is scheduled at the state capitol building in Olympia on Sept. 24 from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. (another climate walk is slated for Friday in Olympia). There are three climate events scheduled for Tacoma, including a rally and a march on Friday, and an art event on Friday, Sept. 27.

The September 2019 Climate Strike is a global event, spanning more than 150 countries and at 4,500 sites. It was initially inspired by 16-year-old Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg. This is the third year the event has taken place. They are scheduled to occur shortly before the United Nations Climate Summit.

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