Watch CBS News

Jane Fonda Leads Hundreds In LA's First-Ever 'Fire Drill Friday' Climate Change Protest

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA/AP) – Ahead of this Sunday's Oscar ceremony, activists and celebrities joined actress Jane Fonda for downtown Los Angeles' first ever "Fire Drill Friday" event, a peaceful protest against global warming.

Jane Fonda's Fire Drill Friday
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - FEBRUARY 07: (L-R) Jane Fonda and Norman Lear participate in Jane Fonda's Fire Drill Friday at Los Angeles City Hall on February 07, 2020 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Rachel Luna/Getty Images)

The rally, which drew a crowd of a few hundred to the steps of L.A. City Hall, was the 15th that the 82-year-old Fonda has held since last fall. The first 14 were in Washington, D.C., where she and others have been arrested multiple times.

"This is the frontline of the climate crisis here in California," Fonda told the crowd. "And literally what happens here, can impact the rest of the country and the rest of the world."

After rallying at City Hall, the crowd then marched to Pershing Square, where legendary television writer and producer Norman Lear explained why the issue of climate change is so important to him.

US-POLITICS-ENVIORNMENT-FONDA
US actress Jane Fonda speaks during the Fonda-Fire Drill Friday's fossil fuel protest outside City Hall in downtown Los Angeles, California on February 7, 2020. (Photo by Frederic J. BROWN / AFP) (Photo by FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images)

"I have six kids from 25 to 73," Lear said. "And the 25-year-old needs as good an America and as clean a planet as their father enjoyed all these years."

Other actors on hand included Joaquin Phoenix, Fonda's "Grace and Frankie" costars Brooklyn Decker and June Diane Raphael, as well as Bonnie Wright.

The march continued to the Paul Hastings Tower, where about 20 people held a sit-in. The sit-in ended around 3:30 p.m. with no arrests.

Jane Fonda's Fire Drill Friday
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - FEBRUARY 07: Joaquin Phoenix participates in Jane Fonda's Fire Drill Friday climate change rally at Los Angeles City Hall on February 07, 2020 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Rachel Luna/Getty Images)

Charlie Prater and his wife Laura of Orange County told CBS2 they have been to half-a-dozen Fire Drill Fridays.

"My wife and I are here because of our concerns for the climate, especially for our grandchildren," Prater said.

Fonda, a prominent activist since her early 1970s opposition to the Vietnam War, asked the crowd to demand among other things a 50 percent reduction in fossil fuel emissions over the next 10 years. She wants that followed by a phase-out of the fossil fuel infrastructure over the rest of the century.

"We marched together and we protested together and chanted and sang together and we got arrested together," Fonda said. "The purpose was to raise awareness of the urgency of the climate crisis."

(© Copyright 2020 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.