By Suzy Schlosberg, Chicago Youth Alliance for Climate Action
This fall has been an important season for youth climate activists in Chicago, with the Global Youth Climate Strike on September 20 drawing out record numbers of supporters, shortly followed by Extinction Rebellion and Illinois Youth Climate Strike’s coordinated youth die-in at City Hall on October 7. Dozens of young students dressed in black, led by the Illinois Youth Climate Strike team, marched from Trump Tower to the Federal Plaza, right across from City Hall, and staged a die-in on the ground for eleven minutes, with adults and other allies standing in a circle around the youth. These eleven minutes of silence represented the 11 years (according to a 2018 IPCC report) we have left to take concrete action about climate change before the worst of the crisis begins. After the die-in ended, students joined adults and allies on the streets for a rally demanding that City Hall declare a climate emergency.
The momentum of these youth actions continued through to the Clean Energy Lobby Day on October 29. Twenty students joined volunteers from the Sierra Club, the Illinois Environmental Council, Faith in Place, and other social and environmental organizations on a bus trip to the State Capitol in Springfield and lobbied for the Clean Energy Jobs Act (CEJA). This began as an educational field trip about political advocacy and environmental legislation, sponsored by the AP Environmental Science teacher at my school. When it became likely that the strike would continue into Tuesday, we turned the trip into a non-school-affiliated trip to visit our state representatives and senators. CEJA is a key piece of legislation for achieving 100% renewable energy in our state, with actions expanding energy efficiency, transportation electrification, new green jobs, and equitable economic development. We all believed that, with or without school, we wanted to be advocates for this bill.
At 6:30 a.m. on Clean Energy Lobby Day, while the sky was still dark, we met outside of the main entrance of Whitney Young High School, where our bus was waiting to pick us up. On our three-and-a-half-hour journey to Springfield, I distributed snacks and munchkins, passed out informational packets about CEJA and elevator pitches, connected students to their team guides for meeting with legislators, and napped along with most of the bus. We were all sleepy on an early Tuesday morning, but we were also all excited when we finally arrived at Springfield around 10 a.m. 
Once at the Capitol, we met up with our team guides, who had arranged meetings with our legislators (assigned based on where we lived). I went with a group of six or seven other volunteers to meet with Senator Patricia Van Pelt, who I had never met before but who is a co-sponsor of CEJA. Our primary goal in this meeting was to thank her for her support and encourage her to vote similarly for future legislations. Senator Van Pelt saw us in her office for a few minutes between sessions, thanked us for our dedication, and then took a photo with us. We left feeling happy that we’d been able to meet with her, and after taking a lunch break, joined everyone at the rally in the rotunda, the center of the Capitol building.
At the rally, powerful speakers shared stories about how they became climate advocates, stressed the importance of CEJA, and encouraged us to continue working on a renewable energy future. Naomi Davis, founder of Blacks in Green, was the MC. She introduced the lineup of speakers, including organizers from environmental justice communities and directors of renewable energy companies. Youth activist Lina Avalos capped off the rally by calling for the start of the youth action. Forty students headed up the steps of the rotunda to Governor Pritzker’s office, where we stood and delivered a mailbox of letters written by youth all around the state urging Governor Pritzker to support CEJA and take firmer climate action.
By the time we arrived back in Chicago, it was 6:30 p.m., we were all exhausted from our long day, but we all felt a great sense of satisfaction that we had made our presence known that day. We slowly disembarked the bus, thanked our wonderful bus driver, and went home, knowing that soon we would be getting ready for another day of action.
October 29 was a day off for CPS students due to the CTU strike, so what would motivate us to spend it trekking to Springfield and back? Our future is at stake. As young students in this city, we are the generation which will inherit the lasting damage of climate change for decades to come, so please leave us a healthy and resilient Chicago.