Locals attend climate rally in Palmer

PALMER — In pouring rain and chilling cold, more than 80 people gathered on the Ken Soule Field in downtown Palmer to join people worldwide in rallying for climate change on Friday. Climate protestors gathered at the park and stuck out the cold, wet conditions to battle for what they believe in, combating the earth’s rapid warming due to pollution.

“The whole theme is climate change and many of us know something about what we can do to help, but many people don’t know how important our diet is,” said President of the Alaska Vegan Society Delisa Renideo. “Our diet has a huge impact because we get our food from all different places and we get our climate from all different places as well. It’s not just that Alaskan choices affect Alaska, so anything that we can do that will protect our environment is going to protect us in Alaska.”

Dozens huddled onto the field initially, holding signs and talking to their fellow protestors about what could be done locally to combat climate change. As the crowd grew, speakers talked to the protestors about how energy costs could be saved and alternative ways to decrease dependency on plastics. While the 80 people who gathered at the ballfield joined the over 4 million people who rallied against climate change on Friday, they were not even the largest climate protest in Palmer. Palmer High student Annika Gagnon coordinated with PHS administration on the climate rally at Palmer High on Friday. Rather than orchestrate a walkout that would disrupt the education of the more than one hundred students who attended, Gagnon coordinated walkouts during lunch hours, minimizing the impact on the students’ academic day. Gagnon led Palmer students in a moment of silence for those who have already been affected by climate change, such as the village of Kivalina.

“It might sound a little naive, but I really do believe that our generation is the generation that’s going to make a big turnaround policy wise,” said Gagnon.

Gagnon pointed to Greta Thunberg as an inspiring figure in the fight against our warming planet, and said that she hopes to represent Alaska on the Arctic Council someday. Gagnon took college courses over the summer where she read political philosophy from Elinor Ostrom.

“In a smaller community, people really want to work together because people care about each other. So I think that this sort of participation has really demonstrated Ostrom’s philosophy that people of Palmer, we really are a community and in that we are kind of a family and I think that’s really beautiful,” said Gagnon.

After the crowd heard speeches and discussion from local members of the community, two Palmer High musicians played John Lennon’s ‘Imagine’ to the delight of those in attendance at the climate rally.

“The ways that I choose to engage with the world, I see protection of the environment and being conscious of how you engage with the environment,” said Auberin Strickland. “Whether it’s resource extraction or everyday transportation or everyday decisions, all of that kind of contributes to impacting the environment and it’s important.”

Despite the cold temperatures and constantly drizzling rain, more than 80 protestors made their voices heard that they will do what they can to reverse the effects of climate change. Lee Henrikson and Mike Chmielewski brought their zero-emission Nissan Leaf to display to protestors as a step in the right direction. Henrikson noted how her neighbors’ gardens are blooming later and later and that the USDA is offering disaster relief for Mat-Su Valley farmers due to the summer drought.

“It changes the pattern of our life a little bit and I was a little concerned about that, but it’s actually been an easier adjustment than I thought,” said Henrikson. “I wondered when I was going to clean the windows of my car because I do it at the gas station and I don’t go to the gas station anymore.”

The climate rally on Friday, September 20 happened in 161 countries with more than 4 million people.