Thurston youth perform die-in over climate response during Olympia City Council meeting
The Olympia City Council chambers floor was covered in student demonstrators lying still in protest of the city’s response to the climate crisis.
More than a dozen representatives of the Thurston Youth Climate Coalition spoke during public comment at the Tuesday, May 24 city council meeting after rallying in the lobby beforehand.
Louisa Saviert said the National Academy of Sciences has projected a sea level rise of 78 inches by the year 2100. It would result in a loss of 690,000 square miles of land, displacing 2.5% of the world’s population.
She said as climate change is rapidly increasing, farms won’t be able to support the same crops or sustain the same level of production. By 2050, she said 500,000 people could die from food insecurity as a direct result of climate change.
“According to the World Health Organization, climate change is estimated to kill 5 million people between 2030 and 2050, and 83 million by 2100,” she said. “When youth imagine our future this is what we have to look forward to. We are terrified of what the world could look like when we are older, not even your ages.”
As she spoke, students dropped one by one to the ground until they all were lying together. They stayed there through the entire public comment period.
Saviert said the group felt heard, seen and understood after the city council adopted the Thurston Climate Mitigation Plan. She said they thought that elected officials were going to take necessary action to protect them and the climate. But they feel let down now.
Saviert then handed the council a report card for their action on the climate mitigation plan so far. Overall the city’s grade is a C, she said.
“We need you to act on this now,” she said. “We need you to fund it, because otherwise, we don’t know what will be left for us.”
Council members commented on how they had received a C- in the past on their work in climate mitigation.
“We don’t want to be average here in Olympia,” said council member Dani Madrone. “We want to do really good things, especially when it comes to climate change, so thank you for keeping this on the forefront and for being with us tonight.”
Council member Lisa Parshley invited members of the youth coalition to submit an application to the Thurston Climate Mitigation Plan climate advisory work group because they’re looking for youth representation.
Council members Dontae Payne and Yến Huỳnh said they were surprised by the group’s demonstration. Huỳnh said seeing people visibly dropping to the ground was a startling image so soon after mass shootings in the national news. Though she said she understands climate change is happening on a daily basis, the world doesn’t quite see its impact in the way the students showed it.
“It was very powerful,” Huỳnh said. “I’m also impressed with your ability to stay on the ground in those same positions.”
She said she will do everything she can to further the conversation, not only for Olympia but for the rest of the county as well.
“Just trying to partner with our local governments and on the state level as well to do what we can,” Huỳnh said.
This story was originally published May 24, 2022 at 9:29 PM.
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