Energy & Environment

Thunberg to join Los Angeles oil drilling protest

Teenage environmental activist Greta Thunberg will join a Los Angeles school strike on Friday to protest drilling.

The Los Angeles Times reported that Thunberg, 16, will join almost a dozen California teenagers and college students who want state and local authorities to work to end fossil fuel production. 

They are reportedly demanding a suspension of new oil drilling and a 2,500 foot distance between drilling locations and homes. 

“We’re not going to stop striking until they start listening to us,” organizer Chandini Brennan Agarwal, 16, told the Times. “Even though our focus this time is oil wells in California, we’re still trying to send a message about the climate crisis to politicians worldwide.”  {mosads}

Thunberg, who is from Sweden, has risen to prominence as a leading climate activist. She has traveled to various countries to spread her message and has led school strikes during which students protest for action on climate change instead of going to class. 

According to the Times, she is expected to be the last speaker at Friday’s rally, which is scheduled to start at noon. 

The Trump administration last month approved a plan to open up hundreds of thousands of acres of land in California to oil and gas drilling. The plan was recently challenged in a lawsuit.