Montclair, NJ: Clean Water Action supports the millions of students around the globe, including the many here in New Jersey, who are walking out of school today to demand that world leaders take action to address the climate crisis. Three days before the UN Climate Summit in New York, local students and their allies are joining the Global Climate Strike to push for the political will for transformative actions to halt climate change. “Individual actions are great, but these student organizers know that we can’t stop the climate crisis without political leadership for large-scale collective action,” said Eric Benson, Clean Water Action’s New Jersey campaign director.

New Jersey is already feeling the effects of rapid local average temperature rise. The climate crisis threatens our coastline with rising sea levels and our urban centers with extreme heat. “Our state could, and should, be a leader in addressing the climate crisis, but our elected officials need to treat this like the emergency it is. Governor Murphy ran as a clean energy governor, but our state’s plans and actions are falling short of the level of action that needs to be taken now. At a minimum, we need a moratorium on all new fossil fuel projects in the state. The youth climate strikers are calling attention to this lack of urgency,” added Benson.

In New Jersey, students in communities around the state including Montclair, Morristown, Lambertville, Teaneck, Maplewood, South Orange, Mahwah and others have planned strikes, walk outs, and rallies. Clean Water Action organizers and members will be out in support of the students. Benson explained, “This is a youth-led movement. We will follow their lead. Even my 9 month old daughter will be out with the strikers carrying a tiny sign: I am the future! Fossil fuels are the past!”

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Clean Water Action has more than 150,000 members statewide in New Jersey and is the nation’s largest grassroots group focused on water, energy and environmental health. Since our founding during the campaign to pass the landmark Clean Water Act in 1972, Clean Water Action has worked to win strong health and environmental protections by bringing issue expertise, solution-oriented thinking and people power to the table. We will protect clean water in the face of attacks from a polluter friendly Administration and Congress. www.cleanwater.org/nj