Power Shift and Youth Involvement on Climate Change
What's NEW here? Check it out!Climate change is often thought of as a political issue mostly discussed and dealt with by adults in the confines of a congressional house or the United Nations. But global warming is something that affects everyone, not just politicians. Young people will be especially affected because they will live longer and experience the more severe effects of global warming, since it is only getting worse.
Many youths have realized this and decided to take action. Some are being galvanized by the organizations Energy Action Coalition and Power Shift. Both seek to increase youth involvement with the movement to mitigate climate change.
One major event organized by Power Shift was a march in Washington, DC. The big push was on April 18, 2011, in which thousands of youths marched to make their voices heard on climate change. Check out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4F5969FaW7w for some footage of the march.
But the action is by no means over. Youths are finding more and more ways to get involved, including contacting politicians, working to spread awareness in their communities, and on-the-ground work such as energy efficiency projects and installing solar panels.
Check out the website to see how you can get involved.
Sources:
Power Shift, http://www.wearepowershift.org/
James Henn, “Power Shift 2011: 10,000 take on Big Polluters in DC”, Huffington Post
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Comments
Posted by RevEarlW Koteen on August 18, 2011 7:34 am
As a late middle-ager, I'm also pleased and touched to see the activism of young adults on this issue.
Posted by Vincent Pawlowski on September 15, 2011 10:59 am
At the beginning and end of Powershift 2011, young people hit the streets. On April 15, nine youth activists were arrested singing an Earth friendly version of the Star Spangled Banner in the U.S. House gallery.
During a larger march on the big oil lobbying organization, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, 300 young people split off from the main march and entered the U.S. Department of Interior. They occupied the main lobby for hours, with a marching band, until finally 21 were arrested.