Orlando’s next ‘Fridays for Future’ climate strike planned for Dec. 6 at City Hall

Regional climate activists are returning to Orlando City Hall to hold a “Fridays for Future” protest, once again calling for policy changes to address climate change.

The first protest in September saw around 3oo people, said IDEAS For Us, an Orlando-based environmental nonprofit. The local effort was part of a simultaneous international protest that organizers say saw some 600,000 nationally and over 4 million globally.

Central Florida environmentalists led by IDEAS and Fridays For Future Orlando are going back to Orlando City Hall Dec. 6 from 12 noon to 3 p.m.

Speakers will address the gathered crowd, and participants will once again hold recycled, hand-painted signs and march through downtown Orlando, said organizers.

“Environmental change is not possible without strength in numbers, and in Orlando, we are gaining those numbers to call for climate action in Florida,” said Caroline Chomanics, chief administrative officer of IDEAS For Us.
At the protest, the group will also air demands for the city of Orlando, the state of Florida and the U.S. government, it said in a release, to “include setting a goal of 100 percent renewable energy for Orlando by 2035; Florida passing [Florida Senate bill] SB 318 to ban the sale of sunscreens with oxybenzone and octinoxate that kill coral reefs; and the U.S. declaring a Climate Emergency.”

Organizers say the Fridays for Future protests, started by Swedish teenage activist Greta Thunberg, has ballooned to include activists from over 150 countries. Local environmentalists, like Chomanics and Orlando’s state Rep. Anna Eskamani, feel Florida can be a leader in taking measures to curb climate change.

“Florida is at a pivotal moment in taking on the climate crisis and has the opportunity to finally set a 100% renewable energy goal,” said Eskamani in the release. “This — combined with energy efficiency goals — is instrumental to crafting a new clean energy economy, one that moves away from fossil fuels and toward a more sustainable future for all.”
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This article appears in Holiday Events Guide 2019.