200 people, young to old, joined Global Climate Strike in South Lake Tahoe

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - As the Global Climate Strike was taking place around the world will millions of people participating, approximately 200 people in South Lake Tahoe held their own on the shores of Lake Tahoe at Lakeview Commons.

Several speakers addressed the crowd, one bigger than organizers imagined.

"This is a fantastic turnout," said organizer Stephen Wright of South Lake Tahoe. "Kids even left school."

Wright was referring to a group of students who walked from South Tahoe High to Lakeview Commons (a 4-mile trek) to join in.

11th grader Venture Bruner was one of the group.

"It's our future at stake so it starts with us," she said. "We want to make change."

Four students from South Tahoe Middle School also attended with their parents.

"We have to stand up for action on climate change," said 8th-grader Rosie Friedrich who was there with mom and dad, John and Kim.

In organizing the South Lake Tahoe event, Wright said he was inspired by 16-year-old Swedish activist Greta Thunberg. She spearheaded the motion of millions of people across the world to participate in a climate change event between Sept. 20-27. The United Nations is holding a Climate Action Summit on September 23, something she'll be attending.

Her age and message are inspiring a whole new generation of people who are aware of the risks posed by climate change, and who want to hold politicians accountable for their lack of action on the climate crisis.

As the speakers stirred up the crowd, the common thread was to not just talk about climate change but to also start putting actions into motion.

"There is real change we can make," said one of those speaking.

Climate advocate Nick Exline told everyone to "be brave today and stick up for our planet. We're not gonna let it down."

Exline has long been at the local forefront when talking about climate change, something he said he was laughed at ten years ago. Now, more people understand what is happening.

He said to make the politicians, leaders, school officials and others feel uncomfortable "so they will do something."

"This is real change we can make," said Exline. "Everyone will have to be vigilant.

Local members from the nationwide Sunrise Movement also participated. The group's mission - We're building an army of young people to stop climate change and create millions of good jobs in the process.

They encouraged everyone to take action and vote for people who take action.

One person with opposite opinions on climate change came out from the crowd with a bullhorn, but words were not clear due to the large response of "boo" from all others.

"This is an amazing turnout and it's great to see the youth of our community taking action and bringing awareness," said South Lake Tahoe City Councilman Devin Middlebrook. "The City of SLT is 100 percent committed to fighting climate change."