“Our house is on fire and we need to act on it!” said Greta Thunberg and with this simple idea the Fire Drill Friday movement was inspired. Fire Drill Friday is being led by veteran actor and campaigner Jane Fonda. She has vowed to lead this campaign and to lead the protest every week for as long as it takes.
Fire Drill Friday is a demonstration that takes place every Friday on Capitol Hill Washington to bring the global climate change crisis to the attention of the world and to the US President. Donald Trump is well known as a climate change denier so bringing Fire Drill Friday to the epicentre of US government and to his attention is paramount.
The threat of climate change is now upon us and we can’t afford to wait until later. According to many scientists we have only another ten years in which to act so unless, we all pull together now, the Earth will reach the point of no return and we will be heading for catastrophe.
It is already happening. The ice caps are melting and the temperature is rising and with it we have the adverse weather conditions, threatening every continent from Australia to the UK and the USA. We can’t afford to wait. As Greta Thunberg days, the house is on fire now and we can’t afford to ignore it.
Jane Fonda has come up with a plan of action. The basic premise of Fire Drill Friday is to call for the transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy and to change the way the economy in the USA actually operates.
Jane Fonda says,
“In a Just Transition to a clean energy economy, we need programs and policies that provide wage, benefits, pension and collective bargaining guarantees for workers and retirees who have devoted their entire lives to producing the fuel, electricity, and products responsible for sustaining America’s economic prosperity.”
The aims of Fire Drill Friday have been put together by the Jane Fonda and a group of women known as the Ted Women Planet Protectors and they propose some common sense ways to tackle climate change in the USA.
These include, awarding legal protection personhood to the water supply so that water can be kept available and clean for everyone.
By 2100 scientists estimate that 180 million people will become displaced because they will not longer be able to live in climatically affected areas.
South Louisiana, Florida and the Gulf Coast are already suffering and in the future we are going to see climate refugees leaving their homes and of course this will cause problems for the areas and communities that receive them.
The only chance we have is to address the problems now so we can plan for the future.
The movement is growing. Fire Drill Fridays are being held in other areas with the aim of supporting climate change advocacy in local areas. Thinking about each local area, rather than the big global picture enables local changes to be implemented at source.
Sally Field was arrested on the steps of the US Capitol. Jane Fonda has also been arrested multiple times. Every week the growing band of celebrities, economists and activists is growing.
The idea of Fire Drill Friday is one of hope. Next year in October 2020 there is a global intuitive called Countdown to create a year of focused engagement and impact around climate. Countdown will take place on October 10, 2020 in Bergen, Norway with community initiatives lead by TEDx organizers around the world.
None of us can flight climate change on our own. But Fire Drill Friday and similar campaigns such as Extinction Rebellion all add to the growing movement.
If we all pull together, these small acts which may seem unimportant on a local level, suddenly become part of something that is just too big to be ignored. This is not a drill!