Monday was Climate Emergency Day. It’s an international call for action over the next five years to prevent catastrophic global warming. Wisconsin was represented. Nine rallies were staged throughout the state, including at the Capitol. One small but passionate contingent carpooled from Milwaukee to Madison to participate in the rally.
Marco Marquez was among the rallyers. Marquez is the state director of Action for the Climate Emergency (ACE) and says the climate crisis can’t be put off. “Today is the day marking that we have five years left in order to address this issue before we’ve reach the point of no return,” Marquez says.
Marquez admits wrapping your brain around the global issue of climate change can be overwhelming. “Of course, we know there’s deforestation happening in the Congo and in the Amazon. I can’t control what’s happening in Brazil or in the Congo, but I can try and control what’s happening right here in the United States, and right here in Wisconsin, here in Milwaukee or Madison,” Marquez says.
He says ACE is all about empowering young people to lead climate action.
Corbeau Martin Caldwell shows up wearing his ACE t-shirt and an air of determination. He’s about to begin his senior year at Rufus King High School. “In five years, I’ll only be 21, and that’s a very short amount of time, so as a young person, I feel now is the time to take drastic climate action,” Martin Caldwell says.
Climate Emergency Day predicts we have just under five years to prevent catastrophic global warming.
ACE is a nonpartisan organization. It doesn’t endorse candidates, but Martin Caldwell says what candidates say they’ll do and what they actually do once elected counts.
He says take President Biden, “We’ve seen President Biden take both favorable and unfavorable climate actions. Obviously, he’s dropped out now, but if Kamala Harris ends up being the Democrats nominee, her policy would be much better than Trump because he doesn’t seem to grasp the reality behind the situation,” Martin Caldwell says.
He won’t yet be old enough to vote in November, but Martin Caldwell considers the election infinitely important.
Fellow ACE youth leader and recent Pius High School graduate Jariel Ramos agrees. “It’s been hard to navigate the waters right now. Recently, with everything that’s happening. It’s really anxiety-inducing for young people – confused about who they should vote for or what’s happening. But all of that aside, one thing remains true is that the climate crisis is still a crisis, and it’s running rampant. And it’s something that should be at our top focus,” Ramos says.
Ramos will vote in November by which time he’ll be in college. He hopes to contribute to climate and social justice solutions. “I want to run for some sort of office or work for an office. It can be divisive for some, but for me it’s something that I’m passionate about. I love listening to people on both sides. I love finding solutions to problems for all people and I really think that’s what we need right now,” Ramos says.
Fellow Pius graduate Macy Edelen-Berry says she’s here because of Jariel Ramos . “He just messages me to come out and I go out with him,” Edelen-Berry says.
But long before her classmate’s nudge, Edelen-Berry developed what she calls "a strong liking of nature." For that she credits her mom.
“It started off with me doing this like conservation-like camp because my mom knew that I hated bugs and then she sent me on this camp to go experience nature for like three months. We would go on a camping trip. We would meet up at one park and then go cut down branches and go look at nature and stuff,” she says.
It worked.
Edelen-Berry now likes jumping spiders and centipedes, “Because I know they don’t want to hurt people. They just want to eat the bugs in our houses,” she says. Edelen-Berry is eager to add her unique voice and experience to the call for climate action.
“I want to choose the person who can tell me I’ll help the climate this way. I want to choose that candidate instead of the candidate who’s like, ‘It’s going to be fine.’ When it’s not,” she says. Edelen-Berry admits while she feels increasingly more involved and politically aware, figuring out who to cast her vote for is confusing, “Because there’s a lot going on right now,” she says.
Snacks distributed and final instructions shared, the small caravan takes off for Madison — hoping their voices, combined with more and more, compel the people we elect to act boldly on the climate crisis.
