Same time each Friday: Local group gathers weekly at Auburn City Hall for climate change

Fridays for Future wants residents in Auburn and Placer County to know they can be seen every week. Since 2019, the group, which wants to raise awareness about climate change, has been meeting in front of Auburn City Hall on Lincoln Way every Friday from noon to 1 p.m. "Same old Friday for Fridays for Future," said Mike Davis, who oversees the group's weekly march. The local group, which is based in various cities in the United States, was created in August 2018 when Greta Thunberg, then a 15-year-old teen, protested outside the Swedish parliament about international climate movement. "She got upset about the condition of the environment and the fact that we weren't doing enough to fix things," Davis said. "It's a world-wide movement. She's had a hell of an impact." Thunberg, in 2018, started skipping school on Fridays to voice her displeasure. "It became an international event," Davis said. The group's goal is to demand action from political leaders to prevent climate change and transition the fossil fuel industry into renewable energy. Last Friday, Dec. 6, there were a dozen people from the group, all of whom live in Placer and El Dorado counties, holding various signs that post their stance on climate change. "It's a diverse group," Davis said. During their hour-long stance Friday, motorists driving east and west on Lincoln Way and coming off and entering east and westbound Interstate 80 honked their horns and waved in support of the group's cause. One passenger sitting in the backseat of a small vehicle, a male who appeared to be in his 20s, voiced an expletive toward the group. But that doesn't chase the group away from wanting to state their case. "A very good response," Davis said about motorists honking and waving. "I think people are starting to realize that we're pushing up prices. We need to encourage our leaders to take action. Things like solar panels, wherever you can put up wind power. Even hydro electric if we have to." Davis stated the group would like to see carbon dioxide taken out of the atmosphere. "With electric vehicles, these heat-pump water heaters, with solar panels, all of those are clean sources of energy that use electricity," Davis said. "As long as that is generated by solar, then it's a clean loop, you know." To learn more about the group, visit its website at https://enviroalliance.org/events/fridays-for-future-auburn/