by Kerul Dyer

Last Friday, a large group of high school students and their allies walked out of classes and marched to downtown Ashland to announce the launch of the Ashland Youth Electrification Campaign at a rally. The immediate goal of the campaign is to press for climate action by the Ashland City Council through the adoption of an ordinance that would require all new construction projects in the city be fully electric.

“The City of Ashland needs to pass an ordinance that requires all new buildings in our community to be 100 percent electric for the climate, public health, and affordability,” said Anya Moore, a senior at Ashland High School. “If we don’t act now, it will be more costly for our community down the line when retrofits are necessary.”

Several of the speakers at the rally Friday pressed residents of Ashland to support the campaign through signing an online petition and by providing testimony at next Tuesday’s Ashland City Council meeting. 

“We watch as our water, our air, our forests, and our homes are polluted and destroyed by the effects of climate change,” said Ashland High School Senior Gabriel Hernandez, the co-president of the Ashland High Latin Student Union and speaker at the rally. “Today, I implore you to stand with the students you see in this crowd and to take action. Join local campaigns. Bug the heck out of your policy makers and get involved. Because, if we are to save our planet and our future, it is going to take every last one of us.”

The effort has been organized through the Rogue Climate Action Team (RCAT), a “youth-led team focused on making change within their communities,” according to the Rogue Climate website.  

“Youth have grown up with the impacts of climate change as our reality, and we’re tired of it. We’re asking adults to make decisions that will protect our futures and future generations,” said Te Maia Wiki, a Yurok Tribal member and senior at Ashland High. “Seeing rivers dammed, fish die, and fires spread in California and Oregon; the climate crisis is not a phrase I can define, but an experience I live everyday.”

The Ashland City Council will hear testimony from the public beginning at 5:45 p.m. Tuesday, March 21, and the online petition can be found here.