Report On The #ClimateStrike In Salt Lake City

Who would have guessed that Greta Thunburg, a 16-year-old Swedish girl on the autism spectrum would be the one to successfully get the world’s focused attention on climate change? Today, she rallied untold millions of people around the world on every continent and in almost every country to skip school or work to rally for policies to fight climate change.

Here in Utah where recent polls have suggesed a majority of people are skeptical of climate change, I wasn’t sure what to expect.

At noon, I drove (my electric car) past the Salt Lake City and County Building where the rally was to be organized for a march up to the Utah State Capitol building. Only a few hundred people were there waiting in the rain for the march to begin at 1:00.

With a plan to film the march from the Capitol steps, I parked my car and walked up the hill the marchers would use and set up my camera to catch the march. Maybe a hundred people were already there chanting away. For what seemed like forever, the marchers did not appear. I feared the little band of a few hundred might have been discouraged by the bad weather.

Before we could see the marchers, we heard them coming up State Street to the Capitol. I shot over 150 photos of activists and their signs. You can see them all here. (Note that this wasn’t a church service and some of the signs are likely to offend some people.)

Below are a few of my favorites.

I’m not sure that America ever was “Greta” before but I certainly appreciated the sentiment.

Make America Greta Again

This little guy shares a message that is distinctly local.

Save our snow so my kids can ski Utah!

Anywhere else, I suspect this sign would have read a bit differently; “pooping” is a comfortable word in the state with the highest birthrate.

“Denying climate change is like pooping in your pants: temporarily convenient, ultimately devastating.”

This sign might well be the most correct.

“The greatest threat to our planet is the belief that someone else will save it.”

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