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Central Michigan University holds climate teach-in as part of global climate strike

Central Michigan University students held a climate teach-in today to help raise awareness about the need for action around climate change.

The events on CMU’s campus are part of a global climate strike - events being held worldwide demanding action to curb emissions and reduce the impacts of climate change.

Sam Racalla is a student at CMU and self described climate activist who organized the event. He said he spent much of his summer on the streets of Grand Rapids, sometimes with friends, trying to raise awareness.

“We would carry signs all around. It wasn’t just standing around city hall we would walk around for a couple of hours trying to get people's attention,” he said. “We got a lot of appreciation through that. Mainly people coming to us.”

Roughly 50 students, faculty, and local residents joined in the march

Racalla said for him, taking action has helped ease his climate anxiety.

The teach-in features ten groups helping to educate people on a variety of climate change related topics.

Taylor Brook works with the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe. She said she’s here to educate people about the work the tribe is doing around sustainability.

“We’re here just demonstrating boots on the ground efforts that are going on here locally to reduce our local footprint on climate change and just to be more sustainable with our processes and our work in general,” she said.

Sam Racalla leads the climate march

Other groups included CMU’s Sustainability Coalition and the Citizens Climate Lobby.

Racalla said the message of the event is that the time for action is now.

“We need an equitable transition to renewable energy, to 100% renewable energy,” he said. “For that to happen we need to adopt the Green New Deal or something very similar to that.”

As part of the day, organizers held a recycling demonstration and marched around the University campus.