Today is the first day of the global climate strike. Led by schoolkids, people all around the world are going to protest to demand action on climate change. New Zealand isn't doing it till next Friday (join us!), but if you want to get active early, there's plenty to do in Wellington over the next week, starting with a climate assembly at the Aro Valley Community Centre at 17:30 tonight. And there'll be plenty to do after that as well. (There may be other stuff happening elsewhere in the country, but I haven't been paying attention to that).
In a democracy, a protest is a threat: a threat to de-elect politicians and make them get real jobs if they don't give in. The bigger the numbers, the bigger the threat. So, please turn up next Friday. The more people who demand action, the greater the push for the government to act, and the stronger its hand against its regressive coalition partner. And who knows: if there are enough people, maybe even National will stop and consider whether denial, foot-dragging, and pandering to polluters is a sensible strategy for political survival.
And in the meantime, the photos from Australia are pretty inspiring. I hope Scott Morrison and the rest of his coal-clique are thinking hard about their future.