Youth Leading on Climate Action

Chris Carnevale | July 3, 2018 | Climate Change, Energy Policy

Young people have been leading the fight against climate change in impressive and inspiring ways in recent months. To highlight the work of young people working on climate action, SACE has organized a mini webinar series to profile the work of two organizations in particular that are engaging youth and making an impact on the national dialogue on climate action.

We held the first of these two webinars last week, when we hosted Students for Carbon Dividends (S4CD), which is a coalition of  more than 30 Republican, Democratic, and environmental college student groups advocating for putting a price on carbon. S4CD’s president, Alex Posner, joined us for the webinar to talk about their work and what they hope to achieve. You can watch a recording of the webinar on our Youtube channel here or click on the embedded video below. S4CD launched this spring in order to help propel the Baker-Shultz carbon dividends plan into the national spotlight, and the group’s launch received extensive media coverage. Alex explained that the Baker-Shultz carbon dividends plan is one specific type of carbon dividends plan that is more appealing to conservatives because it would simultaneously put a price on carbon but also eliminate federal regulations on carbon pollution, whereas other carbon dividends plans do not necessarily address federal carbon regulations [editorial note: SACE does not endorse any specific carbon pricing plan, but presents different options for public education]. Through its work, S4CD is hoping to build a popular base of support among young people, and especially young conservatives, to support a national policy to put a price on carbon.

The second of our mini webinar series featuring youth leadership on climate action will be held on August 8, when we host Our Children’s Trust to discuss lawsuits youth have filed against states and the federal government to demand climate action. Young people have filed legal action in all 50 states and against the federal government to demand the enactment of science-based climate recovery plans, arguing that the government is violating the youngest generation’s constitutional rights to life, liberty, and property, and has caused harm to essential public trust resources. The webinar will focus on the landmark national Juliana v. United States case which will begin trial later this year on October 29th, as well as state-level cases in Florida and North Carolina. Please join the webinar (register here) to learn about these cases and how youth and adults can get involved and support this important work.

Chris Carnevale
Chris is SACE’s Climate Advocacy Director. Chris joined the SACE staff in 2011 to help with building public understanding and engagement around clean energy solutions to the climate crisis. Chris…
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