By Anna Siegel
Youth Day of Action 2024 was an incredible event. I feel like it is cliché to say it gets better every year, but I truly think it does as legislators increasingly recognize the power of the youth climate movement. Over 150 students rallied at the State House on Tuesday, April 9th, some still awe-struck from the eclipse and others exhausted from the traffic after traveling back south from the path of totality. Students were present from Yarmouth High School, Chewonki Semester School, UMaine Orono, and other schools from across the state. It was a perfectly clear and sunny day. The demands, chants, and speeches during the rally echoed over the steps in front of the State House as speakers discussed the importance of climate education, tribal sovereignty, and the need for bold climate action. Youth photographers and adults from the press made sure that the day would be memorialized.
After the rally, some students went to a panel on careers in the climate science and advocacy fields while others went to a workshop with the youth representatives on the Maine Climate Council. I prepared for lobbying with other MYA volunteers and high school students where we discussed our current environmental justice priorities and learned more about what issues are going through the Maine Legislature. We met with our Representative Bell, as other students met with their own legislators, before a lunch of networking and connections. It was a truly inspiring day.