SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 6 (Xinhua) -- Hundreds of youth activists from the Bay Area on Friday demonstrated in downtown San Francisco, demanding climate justice and diversion from fossil fuels to save the planet.
The young protesters staged their demonstration outside the San Francisco headquarters of BlackRock Inc., an American global asset management company based in New York City, urging it to stop funding fossil fuels and help fight climate change.
The protesters said BlackRock, which oversees 6.4 trillion U.S. dollars in assets, is a major contributor to the global climate crisis as it has invested in sectors that contribute to the destruction of the environment, including deforestation in Brazil's Amazon rainforest.
With the support of a number of adult allies, the protesters chanted "No more coal, no more oil; keep the carbon in the soil," among other pro-climate messages.
Alex Morrison is a volunteer with the Sunrise Movement, an American youth-led movement coordinated by Sunrise, a non-profit organization which advocates political action on climate change.
He said BlackRock is the largest investment firm to have invested in the deforestation of the Amazon and has blocked action on climate change. "We're trying to send a message that it's unacceptable to keep doing that," Morrison explained.
"This protest is really against BlackRock and the inaction of the politicians that are supposed to be leading us and leading our generation to ensure we have a livable future," he added.
Sarah Wrinkle, a 17-year-old student at Berkeley High School in the Bay Area, told Xinhua that she has given up her dreams of becoming a professional dancer to go to college to study (environmental) sustainability because of her worries about climate change.
"If I can make that kind of sacrifice, so can BlackRock," she said. "I am utterly disappointed in the incompetence of these people who continue to invest in deforestation of the Amazon."
Julia Zeitlin, a student at Castilleja School in Silicon Valley, said she attended the demonstration to tell BlackRock to stop building new infrastructure and investing in fossil fuels.
"Major industry players like BlackRock are investing in fossil fuel that is contributing to the climate crisis and making it hard for new generations to live on this planet," she said.
"We definitely need a transition from all those companies to a more green and sustainable way," she added.
The protesters also voiced their support for the Green New Deal, a bold plan introduced by U.S. Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Senator Edward Markey to get the United States to completely transition to renewable energy by 2030.
They insisted that the new deal would focus on creating a "green economy" through a "just transition" that ensures the U.S. economy will no longer rely on the fossil fuel industry.
After the protest, the activists marched through downtown San Francisco to the office of U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein, urging her to support the Green New Deal and fight for the future of younger generations.
The protest was organized by Youth Vs. Apocalypse, a Bay Area-based group of young climate activists.
