 And seeing you all here today, freezing your asses off, makes me think one thing. Change is possible. Being here today, you are sacrificing your own personal comfort. For that, I commend you. Selflessness is a solution. A first step towards the future that we are calling for here today. We gather and we cry out on the steps of our state houses for bold climate legislation, like the Ram-Hinsdale-Polina Amendment to the Clean Heat Standard Bill, which will cap the use of biofuels at 10%. Our leaders to listen to our cries, we continue to be ignored. So we say, stop ignoring us. This isn't about just you. This is about all of us. This is about our right to life, and it's right to life and health. We say, seems to inspire our leadership to choose the hard work necessary to make change. Seem to sacrifice their personal comfort, even for those they vow to protect. Which is why now, more than ever, making real change is up to each and every one of us. Until our elected officials realize it's time for them to step up, this crisis is in our hands. So let's continue to make the change we hope to see, the change we need to see. We will continue to gather. We will do the heavy lifting. We will make sacrifices because we care, be easy or comfortable, and we don't expect it to be. Because we understand the climate crisis is bigger than ourselves. How we eat, how we buy, how we play, how we learn, and how we live are just some of the things we can alter in order to make a difference. We can't demand change without changing ourselves first. We will change because we refuse to allow ourselves to remain an unsolvable problem. Let's inspire our leadership to take action. Let's show them how sacrifice and selflessness can be a solution. Let's remind politicians who they work for to change right now together. Thank you. I want to thank you all for coming out here today. It's pretty cold, it's also very pretty out. So, hi everyone. My name is Merrick Moden and I'm a junior at Montpelier High School. And like many of you, I realize that climate change is here. But the question is, what happens next? The first scenario that could happen is the one we are currently predicted to deal with and live through. And it is the one in this world where climate change remains largely unaddressed. Oceans rise, temperatures warm, and inequalities worsen. The costs of climate change are often spoken about. But once again, just how bad can this get? Well, we are already seeing the start of this unfortunate future. In the United States, major storms, floods, wildfires, and other extreme weather events produce around $120 billion in damages every year. Climate change is not only increasing the intensity of these extreme weather events, but the frequency of them as well. Every year, we hear the stories from hurricane and wildfire victims. And we are only going to continue hearing these stories if climate change is left unabated. In fact, according to our own government, by the end of the century, climate change will have cost our country $2 trillion annually. That's a lot of money. But these costs, many of which will have to come from disaster relief and increased spending on government programs, is money that will have been taken from somewhere else. This money could have instead been invested into our communities. What's more, the last seven years have all been the hottest on record. Not only is this trend concerning, but it is a snapshot of what is to come. As climate change rapidly accelerates, we are going to see even more harms. And although we are all at risk, vulnerable communities will feel an even more substantial impact from climate change. For example, it is predicted that there will be 1.2 billion climate refugees by 2050. Imagine having to leave your home because of a preventable future. But how did we get here? There are many reasons, but a simple answer is political inaction. What has been done to address climate change over the past few decades? Well, if you are the oil industry, you've embarked on a decades-long campaign of deception with the goal of undermining environmental science. And if you're the oil industry, your goal has unfortunately worked. Little has occurred to prevent the disasters that our world— As a result, a UN report now states that a certain amount of global warming is locked in and is irreversible. This means within the next two decades, global temperatures are likely to rise 1.5 degrees Celsius. A critical limit in the fight against climate change. But there is hope, and I'm looking at it right now. It has often been said that it will be up to future generations to deal with the consequences of climate change. Well, we are that generation, and we are more than willing to pick up the mantle. But that doesn't mean it is acceptable for everyone to turn to us when those who are actually in power are not using it to bring about the change we need for our future to succeed. Pipeline we build, every new oil rig, every new coal plant here or anywhere else in the world directly harms us all. We cannot stop climate change if the roots continue to grow deeper and deeper. Every fraction of a degree will make it that much harder. We need to ask ourselves, is that pipeline really worth it? And underneath all the crushing figures and scary studies, the truth is we are not past the point of no return for our world. The progress needed in the fight against climate change is clearly growing. We may have not seen the institutional changes that will be needed to stop climate change yet, but just by doing what all of you are now, coming out here, being educated, showing what you feel strongly about, you are doing a lot more than a lot of our country's leaders, and much more than many lawmakers in Congress. This is our future, and we must keep it safe by taking climate action now. Thank you everyone. My name is Brodie Moran, and I am a senior at Cabot High School. Earth's existence onto a 24-hour clock. The human race has only been around for drumroll three seconds. And look at what we have done. We have mined, cut down, killed, taken over, blown up, and destroyed every part of this place we call home. Do we deserve to call it that, though? A home is something you cherish, take care of, clean when messes are made and never take for granted. Why should we treat our planet any different? If a house burns down, we can build it again, but we only have one permanent home. We like to think that there is no life without the human race. But for over three billion years, the organisms on this Earth not only survived, but thrived. In those three seconds that I stated earlier, we have put 30% of species at risk for extinction. Let's sit together and count to three. Everyone, count to three. One, two, three. It's unimaginable, right? That so much destruction can be done in such a short amount of time. Nearly every animal that we grew up idolizing are undergoing extinction at unprecedented rates. Tigers, cheetahs, polar bears, plus pretty much every other stuffed animal that you have on your bed right now, are at risk for extinction by the year 2050. We as humans like to think that climate change doesn't affect us. But I can promise you, it has, does, and will continue to. Our goal today is to make sure that the future will not only be survivable for all, but thriveable for all. The rate at which we are headed, though, will not result in this way. Which is why we, as the coming generations, rally together to solve these problems. It has taken decades for humans to put their words where their mouths are. That the world is actually something we want to see progress into the future. There are just three more quick points I want to say before I pass the mic onto another amazing student leader who I am proud to join adulthood with. One, the world will survive without humans. Us living is only beneficial to us as people. So let's treat it with respect and appreciation. There is no money without an earth. In order to have a successful economy, we need this beautiful blue marble. So let's treat it with respect and appreciation. And finally, number three. I want to end my speech with a quote that was given by Greta Thunberg, one of my most influential heroes, as I am also autistic. My message is that we'll be watching you. This is all wrong. I shouldn't be up here. I should be back in school on the other side of the ocean. Yet, you all come to us, people, for young people, for hope. How dare you? You have stolen my dreams and childhood with your empty words, and I'm one of the lucky ones. People are suffering. People are dying. Entire ecosystems are collapsing. We are in the beginning of a mass extinction, and all you can talk about is money and fairy tales of internal economic growth. How dare you? You are failing us, but the young people are starting to understand your betrayal. The eyes of all future generations are upon you, and if you choose to fail us, I say we will never forgive you. We will not let you get away with this. Right here, right now, is where we draw the line. The world is waking up and changes coming whether you like it or not. Thank you. We're out here today. My name is Laura, and I'm a senior at Potchum High School. We are past the point of recognition. Our generation cannot recognize the patterns of snowfall that our parents saw. We are getting used to the fact that Vermont's winters are now frozen for three weeks less than in 1960, and the precipitation has increased 21% since 1900. It rains in February now. But what we get used to is what we accept is unchangeable. As students and as incoming stewards of the Earth, we have a responsibility to be critical of what we accept. So how do we refuse to accept current carbon emissions? We can start with our everyday choices. Every step we take away from fossil fuel reliance puts pressure on our political and economic system to adapt to our priorities. It could be as simple as turning down the thermostat when you leave the house or as big scale as installing solar panels. Climate action does not have to be expensive. We can all do what our ability allows. We can urge policymakers to support financial incentives on things like beverage container recycling, clean heating and weatherization, wind and solar energy. We can educate ourselves on our own impacts, how our participation, or lack thereof in an economy that values quick gains, can affect the fossil fuel used to produce our consumer goods. We can organize groups in our schools, like youth lobby, that find the connections between what we buy, the policies that govern raw materials and what the Earth is left with. We can acknowledge that mending our relationship with the materials we use also means making access to heat, transportation and food more equitable. The climate crisis is not a purely scientific one. To slow environmental disaster, we first have to address the environment we create. Discrimination, income disparity, and lack of jobs, these too we find unacceptable. If America is going to use carbon, oil and water more responsibly, then we need to adapt the economic systems that value quick mass production over sustainable growth. As students, we can use our votes, our voices, and our time to bring these ideas to our schools and families. As humans, we can help our communities become more sustainable by advocating for small steps towards clean energy and manufacturing. We can research, we can adapt, and we can change. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. We're doing projects such as weatherization and get graduates the training to do work for green jobs. There is a worker shortage right now and it's stopping very important work that needs to be done. This is the solution. Be the solution. Let's create a green future together. Hearing section, one of the climate changes is real. It's the biggest threat to our generation and our species. But until recently, only a portion of climate change that we have failed to recognize is the intense intersection between climate change and all of the other social issues our communities face. Because something that is just as real as climate change is the way that environmental and economic impacts of it are systemically placed onto people and communities that are already marginalized and oppressed. And to the end, some people have disregarded this fact and called for climate action that would allow us to continue life as the status quo. Climate action that's aimed at maintaining what we have now, but I think that's fundamentally the wrong approach. Because it's the oppression and overconsumption created by our current reality that got us into this problem and a solution that doesn't account for the fact that people are facing urgent crises in their lives. Other than climate change, we'll only save a few. So the problem is that climate injustice is a very real issue about as real as climate change and the solution must be justice that we create together. We cannot take climate action and push off the justice piece for later. Push off the equity component for after we've solved the climate crisis, because even though this crisis is something we face together, it is not something that impacts us all equally. We need revolutionary change to our communities. To finally pass, but more than that, we need investment in frontline communities, the creation of green jobs and livable wages, and the creation of renewable energy sources here in Vermont so that we are not outsourcing what should be our transition. And we need to focus on environmental and climate justice and all that that entails because without it, our climate action will fail. So that brings us to now. That brings us to here. When hopefully legislators behind us are working to pass the environmental justice bill and other crucial legislation and passing an impressive 200 million for climate, which is great. But it's still not enough. We know it's not enough and that's why we're all here because we need to change the way our societies work. But when everyone stands together, you and me and every single one of us here, we will never, we will make change. We can do this together. We need to remember the forming our societies and without centering justice. But when we all come together and stand together like this, I know that we can make it happen. Thank you. Thank you. I'm Gabe Groveman. I'm a senior at Montpelier High School with the Vermont Youth Lobby. And I'd like to take this time to celebrate all the hard work that went into making today happen and to recognize just how impactful we as youth are when we come together. I first got involved with the Vermont Youth Lobby while in the eighth grade after the 2018 school shooting in Parkland, igniting an explosion of youth activism across the country. After the shooting, another active gun violence was narrowly avoided in Fairhaven, Vermont, which further emboldened young people in the state to take action. Yet despite the counter protesting by the end of the session, Governor Scott stood on this very lawn and signed multiple pieces of comprehensive gun legislation, something that almost nobody would have seen possible a year before. That's all thanks to youth activism. Then, in the following years, youth continue to occupy the State House to demand climate action through testifying, holding press conferences, and meeting one-on-one with our leaders. While working with the Vermont Youth Lobby, I have seen firsthand the process of having our ideas actually become laws. For example, we held the Youth Climate Congress here at the State House and issued demands. We spread those demands across the State House and highlighted specific pieces of legislation that addressed our concerns. And then lobbied for things like the Global Warming Solutions Act, and then watched them actually get passed. We fought against the veto, we protested attempts by the Scott administration to offer exemption to the plan, and we were at every step of the process there to make sure that our ideas were realized. We made the impossible, the impossible possible. This worked. So at the rally for the planet exactly about four years ago, I watched as fellow students came up on the stage and explained how we need to act on climate. One year later at our last rally after the 2018 IPCC report, students echoed the message that we had only 11 years to potentially lower our carbon emissions. We're reaching a major tipping point. And now as we stand here today, we only have eight years until 2030. As we've met here each year to rally for the future of our planet, we've been with an increasingly grim state of the world. Yet I hope my words bring you hope. We can change. We must change. We are the hope and we are the future. So keep showing up. Thank you. Yeah, so that's it. Thank you everyone. We have a reminder that if you are making prints with the shirts, if it's been about 15 to 20 minutes, you should check up on that. They should be dry. And all of us who are here today joining us in this work. So thank you so much.