Taking Action
How do young people determine that climate change is a problem that affects them, personally? What kinds of actions do they take, both individually and in community with others? And how do they describe the future they hope for? This episode explores how people make the transition from being concerned about climate change to taking action. You’ll hear from young people across the state, each of whom is taking some kind of action to fight climate change.
Questions
What motivated young people to attend the Sacramento climate strike in September 2019? Consider both their concerns about climate change and their hopes for the future. Which person do you most identify with, and why?
Did this episode change your thoughts and feelings about how your individual behaviors affect climate change? Why or why not?
In the final 20 minutes of the show, you heard from several people who were working to make local institutional changes as part of the larger global fight against climate change. Do you think you’d be willing and able to do what each of these four young people did? Why or why not?
Diego (who spoke at a school district meeting and other climate events)
Mikayla (who worked with her school’s environmental club)
Karissa (who founded an environmental club)
Isha (who co-founded a climate justice organization)
Isha describes herself as a climate justice activist. What does this mean? Do you think any other people in the show are climate justice activists? Why or why not?
Voices
In order of appearance, the young people I interviewed for this episode were: Supriya, Matthew, Elaro, Marika, Erika, Nick, Denisha, Youlin, Jonathan, Natasha, Sera, Celina, Quintajia, Annika, Aditi, and Kyle (all at the Sacramento protest). Next you hear from Hriday (Livermore), Maddie (Fountain View), Nadine (San Rafael), Amber (San Diego), Zoriana (San Francisco), Domingo (Watsonville), Vince (Santa Cruz), Brooke (Big Pine), Diego (Chula Vista), Mikayla (Windsor), Karissa (Delano), and Isha (Oakland). I also spoke with my scientist-collaborator, Nancy Freitas.
Listening
Want to listen on another platform? You can find Future Imperfect on Apple Podcasts and on Stitcher.
Resources
About the urgency of the problem:
“What Does ’12 Years to Act on Climate Change’ [Now 9 Years] Really Mean?” from Inside Climate News
About the Juliana v. US court case:
“Our Children's Trust: Juliana v. US” from Our Children’s Trust
Xiuhtezcatl Martinez: What is Juliana vs. The United States of America?
“No Ordinary Lawsuit: Juliana v. United States is a Landmark Precedent for Climate Change Legislation” from Jurist
About individual behavioral changes and the scale of the problem:
“Sources of Greenhouse Gas Emissions” from the US Environmental Protection Agency
“How Big Oil Misled The Public Into Believing Plastic Would Be Recycled” from NPR
“The carbon footprint sham” from Mashable
“How plastics contribute to climate change” from Yale Climate Connections
“10 Facts about Single Use Plastic Bags” from Center for Biological Diversity
“A global comparison of the life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions of combustion engine and electric passenger cars” from The International Council on Clean Transportation
Climate activism organizations (referenced in the show):
“Youth vs Coal: Which Side Are You On?” from 350BayArea
“How pollution impacts health in West Oakland” from Environmental Defense Fund
Climate activism organizations I learned about in the process of working on the podcast (not in the show):