Climate activists shut San Francisco the f**k down.

cross-posted from the San Francisco Chronicle

Photo Credit: Mary Spadaro

‘It’s spectacular’: Climate activists paint stunning mural on two blocks of Montgomery St.

Updated

Climate activists painted a two-block-long stretch of San Francisco’s Montgomery Street Wednesday, creating a stunning mural of patterns and colors.

The mural is part of protest called the “Strike for Climate Justice” that has taken over the Financial District and is calling for urgent action on climate change and demanding companies stop supporting the fossil fuel industry.

“The mural is painted on the street, curb-to-curb, all along the entire width of Montgomery Street between Sacramento and Pine Streets,” Mary Spadaro, who watched the mural being painted from her office in a building on Montgomery. “It’s pretty spectacular. Somebody had to plan this out pretty carefully and measure it. It’s incredible how quickly they painted this.”

The mural features 14 separate designs, each meant to convey a vision of a “resilient, sustainable, and safe world necessary for survival,” according to the “Strike for Climate Justice” website.

Demonstrations started at 7 a.m. and are expected to continue until 5 p.m. At least four major intersections will be blocked throughout the day and

motorists are advised to avoid the Financial District.

In addition to painting the mural, protestors also blocked traffic and stood outside of banks holding signs demanding that banks divest from the fossil-fuel industry and invest only in companies focused “on technologies that have ecological renewal,” according to KRON-TV.

Demonstrators’ signs featured messages reading “Leave the oil in the soil” and “Stand up to big oil.”

The protest comes after Friday’s worldwide youth-led Climate March with thousands of students walking down Market Street.

Amy Graff is a digital editor for SFGATE. Email: agraff@sfgate.com

Media Release: Climate Activists to Disrupt San Francisco’s Wall Street West

For Immediate Release

CONTACT: Nancy Roberts, 415-342-8405, NRobertsSF@gmail.com

On Sept. 25, Climate Activists to Target San Francisco’s Wall Street West

Demanding Divestment in Climate Destruction & Investment in Ecological Renewal

As Part of Global Climate Strike Week

San Francisco — Building on the momentum of the millions in the streets around the world at last Friday’s Youth Climate Strike, financial institutions and government organizations around Montgomery Street in downtown San Francisco will be the targets for colorful activities and protests on Wednesday, September 25, 2019 as part of the Global Climate Strike week. Activist organizations are demanding that businesses of “Wall Street West” divest immediately from fossil fuels and other climate-damaging activities and instead invest in the technologies and organizations that are focused on ecological renewal.

The day’s actions at multiple locations aim to draw public attention to the inequities and idiocies of climate-destroying  investments in fossil fuel production,  pipelines and fracking by major banks and organizations, while also proposing solutions. The September 25 Strike for Climate Justice SF is a coalition initiated by Idle No More SFBay, Diablo Rising Tide, 1000 Grandmothers, Society of Fearless Grandmothers, and Extinction Rebellion SFBay; public participation is encouraged.

The action will involve blocking streets, a dozen giant street murals, live music of different genres, ceremonies, street theater, speakers, and rallies. The recently formed XRSFBay Red Rebel Brigade, dressed in elaborate red costumes, will walk in a ritualized procession to embody the deep emotions around the climate emergency that are rarely expressed: grief, anger, defiance, and love for the life we see threatened.

Following the lead of the millions around the world who participated in last Friday’s Youth Climate Strike, the activists on Wednesday are carrying the message that Extraction of fossil fuels is leading to Extinction. The urgency cannot be denied:

  • The World Bank has estimated there will be 140 million climate refugees by 2050
  • A study in the New England Journal of Medicine finds that the WHO’s prediction of 250,000 deaths a year by 2030 from climate crisis is “a conservative estimate.”
  • A 2019 report from the U.N. states that some 1 million plant and animal species are on the verge of extinction, with perilous consequences for the human species.

ClimateJusticeSF will be active for the entire business day, to maximize attention from the businesses whose immediate divestment can make a difference.

Follow Hashtags: #GlobalClimateStrike #ClimateCrisis #ExtinctionRebellion #StrikeForClimateJustice #XRSFBay #ClimateStrike #ClimateEmergency

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