Climate Activists Bring Message Home to US State Department

Climate activists are using civil disobedience tactics today in order to get the attention of the U.S. State Department. This action, which includes 12 young protesters reading the names of 11 million petition signers, is a show of solidarity for yesterday's sit-in at the Bella Centre in Copenhagen by 19 international youth delegates.

In another cross-town protest, four Greenpeace activists are sitting in at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, a site they have deemed a 'climate crime scene.' The trio of youth-driven acts are partly in response to a clarion from former Vice President Al Gore and others.

On Wednesday, Gore spoke to an enthusiastic crowd at the Clinton Global Initiative and proclaimed, "If you're a young person looking at the future of this planet and looking at what is being done right now, and not done, I believe we have reached the stage where it is time for civil disobedience to prevent the construction of new coal plants that do not have carbon capture and sequestration."

In addition to Gore, New York Times' columnist Thomas Friedman called out to the youth of Generation Q in 2007 saying, “That’s what twentysomethings are for — to light a fire under the country.”