About a hundred people gathered around the bell tower on capitol grounds, carrying signs in support of the Clean Economy Act, Clean Car Standards and membership in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative or RGGI.
Noting the governor had campaigned on a platform of restoring parents’ rights in schools, Senator Rip Sullivan argued climate was the ultimate family issue.
“Are you worried about your children’s future?" he asked the crowd. "Yes!" they shouted. "Are you worried about their world ten years from now, 20 years from now, 30 years from now? We need to take back this parents’ narrative. Let’s make sure we make our voices heard constantly, and don’t forget! Tell him it’s because you’re a parent. Maybe he’ll listen.”
And Senator Creigh Deeds offered a spirited pledge to defend green policies in the Senate where Democrats still enjoy a majority. Membership in RGGI -- a cap and trade program that requires polluters to purchase carbon credits – has, so far, raised $525 million for Virginia.
“The governor wants to replace that with a couple of hundred million dollars in the budget that he would take from K-12 education, from healthcare, from public safety -- from things that matter to you and me. We’re not going to let him do it!” Deeds pledged.
And community organizers like LaTwyla Mathias with Progress Virginia urged the crowd to multiply its messages.
“We need you to show up to the committee hearings. We need you to call your representatives. We need you to watch the livestream, to make some TikToks, to tell Kylie your hairdresser, to tell Reverend Berry to put it in the church bulletin, to call Auntie Susan who lives in Virginia Beach and so on and so forth until progress is made.”
A retired artist wearing a giant green paper mache gas mask, wandered through the crowd with a sign that read: Fools for Fossil Fuels, but the headliner of the day was a 14-year-old Richmond girl named Callie Coffey.
“Climate anxiety is the hardest thing I’ve had to grapple with, cycling through guilt at not doing more, furious anger at those who did this and grief for what we are losing – what has been stolen from us," she explained. "When I was in elementary school I first took an interest in climate, forming a loose concept of how burning coal makes the earth get hotter, and that’s bad for the polar bears, and the solution to this I was told was to use less hot water and turn off the light switch when I leave the room.”
Later she realized the situation was far more dangerous and complex.
“Exxon-Mobil was doing climate research almost five decades ago and making surprisingly accurate predictions, then continuing to fulfill those predictions. There is no excuse for the apathy toward the on-coming apocalyptic disasters, and yet commonsense policies are considered radical. There is more concern for maintaining the status quo than maintaining a livable future.”
At times she confessed it was tempting to give up, but she told the crowd she would – in fact – keep fighting.
“Because giving up is not an option. So I turn to the delegates and I say, ‘We will hold you accountable, and you’re not doing enough, and you need to step up!’”
Republicans have submitted dozens of bills intended to overturn measures approved during Ralph Northam’s years as governor, and while Democrats feel confident the senate will block them this session, the state will elect a new general assembly in November, possibly setting the stage for more successful efforts by the GOP in 2024.
