Why I protest for climate justice

Pat Mitchell: It's so great
to see you, my friend.

Jane Fonda: Hi Pat.
It's great to be with you.

PM: Jane, for the ones who may not
have seen the extraordinary coverage

around the world of Fire Drill Fridays

and the impact that they have already had,

talk to us about the origin of this idea,

this particular response
to the climate crisis.

JF: I was very inspired by Greta Thunberg,

the Swedish student,

and by the young school climate strikers.

Greta says, we've got to get
out of our comfort zone.

We have to behave like our house
is burning, because it is.

And so she really struck a chord in me,

and then, learning that just about

a hundred percent
of climate scientists agree,

they agree that a drastic
emergency is upon us,

that it is human-caused.

But they said,

we can do something about it.

We have the time, the technology,

the tools.

We have everything we need
except political will

to meet the challenge,
and it's an enormous challenge.

We have 11 years, many say, a decade,

and I thought,

Oh I'm so lucky

that I am healthy and living

in a decade where we who are alive

can actually make the difference.

We can make the difference

as to whether there's going
to be a livable future or not.

What a glorious responsibility we have.

We have to step up to the plate,

and when you're famous,

there's a lot of things that you can do.

You have a bigger platform.

So I decided that, like Greta,

I was going to put my body on the line

and move to the center
of American power, Washington, DC,

and have a rally every Friday
like the students do,

and we work with the students.

They speak at my rallies
and I speak at their rallies,

and that after we speak,

we engage in civil disobedience

and risk getting arrested.

Civil disobedience is a powerful tool

that has changed history many times,

both in the United States

in the '60s during
the Civil Rights Movement,

of course in India with Mahatma Gandhi,

and I didn't know in the beginning
if it was going to work or not,

but it's made me very happy
to see what's happening.

PM: It's also led to your being arrested

multiple times, actually,

spending at least a night or two
in Washington, DC jails,

and while all of us I think recognize
the emergency and the actions

that you so kindly mentioned
others have taken,

I'm not sure that we
would put our bodies at risk,

our lives, our careers,

and our lives on hold

as you have done.

Do you have any concerns
about that at this point?