Students, parents and members of the community march on Main Street. (Photo by Henry Leasia)

Students in Haines participated in a protest Wednesday to demand action on climate change. The protest was connected to a global climate strike that occurred on Friday. 

Haines High School Senior Dylan Chapel helped organize the local protest. He said it’s important to show governments across the world that students support immediate action, especially given the effects of climate change that have already been felt across Alaska. 

“I feel that this is the time when something needs to happen. Otherwise, we’re not going to make it,” Chapell said. 

Striking students said they wanted to see stricter regulations on emissions, carbon taxes, and simply more recognition that climate change is a threat.

Although many climate strikes were held around the world last Friday, Chapell scheduled the Haines protest for September 25th so that members of the school’s cross country team could participate. Chapell put up posters around the school and invited the wider Haines community over Facebook. The protest consisted of a student strike and a march around town. 

Haines School Superintendent Roy Getchell said the district was aware of the protest, but took no position on it.

“What we’ve done is put procedures in place to ensure that students that do participate are accounted for and then also that they’re supervised along the way as they march and express their views,” Getchell said. “You know we don’t encourage, we don’t discourage. We stay neutral in these kinds of things and try to provide the boundaries and guardrails for productive conversation.”

Dylan Chapell addresses the crowd at the entrance to the Haines School. (Photo by Henry Leasia)

A little after 11 a.m. a crowd of about 50 gathered at the front steps of the school. After a brief introduction from Chapell, the group of students, parents and members of the community made their way to the center of town. 

Not everyone in Haines was supportive of the protest. Several residents criticized the students’ efforts on social media. During the strike, organizers said that some people made obscene gestures from passing cars. 

Harold Beck from Chilkat Lake yelled, “Drill oil!” as students marched outside the borough administration building. He doesn’t believe human activities contribute to climate change.

“Man has absolutely nothing to do with it,” Beck said. “They ought to be in school learning something about science.”

There is overwhelming consensus among climate scientists that global warming is caused by human activity, but public opinion in the U.S. is more divided. According to a Gallup poll conducted in March, 66% of Americans believe that climate change can be attributed to human activity. 

Brennan Palmieri is a Haines High School student who participated in the strike. He said that conversations between people who fundamentally disagree about climate change can get tense.

“They might start kind of calm, but in my experience, they’ve turned hostile quickly. I think it’s important to deescalate the situation but remain strong in your beliefs,” Palmieri said.  

While the march drew a fairly large crowd, only about seven students spent the day picketing in front of the Haines School. Despite the small size, their efforts did not go unnoticed.