Stephanie Jimenez, 20, stood on Downtown’s Grant Street on Saturday afternoon, holding a megaphone and demanding that Republican Sen. Pat Toomey stand up for climate action.
“We are tired of accepting the worst from our leaders,” said Ms. Jimenez, who was speaking on behalf of the University of Pittsburgh’s Latinx Student Association. “There are intensified hurricanes in Puerto Rico and the Caribbean, increased flooding, extended droughts, difficult growing seasons and above all, extremely poor policies.
"This isn’t just happening in Puerto Rico, this is happening in the U.S. in California and Houston, and I bet you it will happen here in Pittsburgh.”
In a statement, Steve Kelly, a spokesman for Mr. Toomey, said, “Senator Toomey believes climate change is real and he has voted to affirm this. The main issue before us is how to address it in ways that both protect the environment and promote economic growth.
“Senator Toomey supports the First Amendment rights of every American to voice their opinion, regardless of whether he agrees. It's his hope that public discourse is rooted in truth, conducted with civility, and designed to make actual progress.”
Ms. Jimenez joined roughly 100 activists for Pittsburgh’s “Zero Hour” Youth Climate March, one of nearly two dozen sister marches across the U.S. and United Kingdom related to a larger event being held in Washington, D.C., on the same day.
“We’re all about mobilizing our age group,” said Krista Lee, 21, of the local chapter of the clean energy advocacy organization NextGen America, one of the march sponsors. Ms. Lee, a Pitt environmental studies major, works to register voters on her college campus. “The people who are supposed to represent us, they should also represent our ideas and what we want to see in the future. That is clean air, that is no more cracker plants in Western Pennsylvania, that is clean water.”
Youth Climate marchers approaching City-County building@PittsburghPG pic.twitter.com/Bvk0YZ6VSS
— Ashley Murray (@Ashley__Murray) July 21, 2018
The local protesters began outside of Mr. Toomey’s Grant Street office and stopped along the route in front of the City-County Building and the Allegheny County Courthouse. They urged Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald to stop the expansion of fracking in the county and Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto to speak out against the Shell cracker plant under construction in Beaver County.
“Right now [Mr. Peduto] claims that’s it’s outside of his jurisdiction and it’s not something he could effect,” said Anais Peterson, 20, a march organizer with 350Pittsburgh. Ms. Peterson and other marchers shared concerns that “all the toxins coming out of it are going to hit us right here.”
Like NextGen America, 350Pittsburgh, a renewable energy advocacy group, was one of eight local sponsors of the march. The others were Fossil Free Pitt Coalition, Marcellus Outreach Butler, the Center for Coalfield Justice, PennEnvironment, Free the Plant and the Youth Power Collective.
National organizers have dubbed the movement “Zero Hour” to signify that this is “the last generation that can do something about climate change,” according to its guiding principles document.
On the steps of the courthouse, Jay Walker, 27, of the Pittsburgh Democratic Socialists of America and the Green Party of Allegheny County, criticized state officials for their bipartisan support of a $1.6 billion tax incentive for the Shell cracker plant, in Potter Township, Beaver County.
“The best way to combat this is to shine a light on it. And you know who has the brightest light in the region? Our mayor, Bill Peduto," Mr. Walker said. "Bill Peduto is famous worldwide for his opposition to Donald Trump’s Pittsburgh-not-Paris claims. He broadly states that our city will commit to the Paris climate accord. We need him to use the spotlight that he gained because of climate leadership to help bring attention to what’s happening next door."
Mr. Peduto and Mr. Fitzgerald did not respond to requests for comment.
Ashley Murray: amurray@post-gazette.com. This story has been updated to add reaction from a spokesman for Sen. Pat Toomey.
First Published: July 21, 2018, 4:50 p.m.