Activists Call for Urgent Action Ahead of Climate Crisis Hearing in Boulder

Early Thursday morning, a climate crisis rally was held outside the Wolf Law Building at the University of Colorado Boulder preceding the U.S. House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis Hearing. Various environmental advocacy and anti-fracking organizations were joined by community members to sing and share ideas before the hearing. Their message to the committee and other politicians was clear.

“Right now we’re on track for a three degree Celsius temperature rise. That’s a planet we don’t want to live on and we don’t want our kids to live on. We need leaders with courage and integrity who are willing to say it’s time to leave fossil fuels in the ground, it’s time for a ban on fracking,” said one speaker to the crowd.

The University of Colorado was chosen for the first field hearing of the special congressional committee because of its leadership in climate change research. Speakers at the rally talked about how the crisis would affect future generations in Colorado. One mom, Leora Frankel, brought her four children to the event for this reason.

“Our only chance is to get people to understand there’s a climate emergency. Our politicians are very slow and very beholden to donors so unfortunately I have to come here with my kids to try to make a point, because no one is hearing us,” she explains.

Her son expresses hope that the Select Committee on the Climate Crisis will produce legislation and tangible progress, saying

“I’m hoping to see actual change—not just talk, not just political jargon, but to actually see people coming forward to make a difference.”