The Future is Not Granted - An Update on the Renewable Energy Resolution for LAUSD

 

When I was in middle school, my biggest worries were limited to fashion choices, unrequited crushes, and being on the outs with my too-cool group of friends. I dreamed of growing up and becoming a dancer (which I did),  and rest assured that the world would always be, as it was, for millions of years to come. I took the future for granted. 

 

Today’s kids aren’t so lucky. As the Amazon burns and melting permafrost belches methane into Siberian skies, the future ain’t so bright. Children around the world, including Los Angeles, are skipping school to take to the streets, demanding that we beat our addiction to fossil fuels so that they may have a livable future. They march to chants of What do we want? Climate justice! When do we want it? Now! as teenagers behind gas masks and green-vested Girl Scouts wave poster boards that say- If You Were Smarter We’d Be in School, Change is Coming Are You Ready?,  I’m With Greta, and Our Future or Fossil Fuels. Their mandate is clear.

 

On a recent visit to Thomas Starr King Middle School in Eastern Los Angeles, the energy of the kids vibrated with urgency. Students leaned on the edges of their seats, arms raised, clamoring for answers, revealing the climate anxiety that has become a baseline for those of us plugged into the crisis. 

 

But these kids aren’t waiting for their elders to do what should have been done decades ago. They are leading the charge, taking action, and pressuring their peers to do the same. Members of Save Our Awesome Planet, or S.O.A.P., the student-led environmental group on the King campus, are educating themselves, circulating petitions, and speaking truth to power as the hourglass runs out:

 

“People try to calm or soothe us, but climate change is happening NOW and we must do something about it.”

 

“People say ‘the future is technology or the future is female,’ when in reality, there might not be a future at all.”

 

After the bell rings, the advocacy continues. Kids from high schools in Northeastern L.A. trickle into their weekly meeting for Youth United Towards Environmental Protection at Pacoima Beautiful, organizing their community to ensure a just transition away from fossil fuels.

 

Youth climate activists from across Los Angeles share more than just a mission to save the world. They are bound by perpetual wildfires, smoke-filled skies, and school closures that hijack their education. They are upending business as usual, and calling on the city’s leaders to lead on climate in bold and unprecedented ways. Join us as we amplify their voices by encouraging the LAUSD Board of Education to pass our Renewable Energy Resolution on December 3rd, 2019!

 

Stand behind L.A.’s kids as they urge their Board Members to VOTE YES on transitioning the Los Angeles Unified School District to 100% clean, renewable energy by 2030 for electricity, and by 2040 for HVAC, cooking, and transportation. Led by Climate Reality Los Angeles and and Sierra Club Climate Parents, this resolution has been sanctioned by a host of environmental organizations including The Sunrise Movement and This Is Zero Hour, and has earned the unanimous support of UTLA and the 31st District PTA! 

 

Make history with us! LAUSD is the second largest school district in the country, and largest energy consumer in the City of Los Angeles. If passed, this resolution will have ripple effects across the world!

 

*We have identified a DWP initiative that if implemented, could make the transition revenue neutral for the district and potentially save money on energy costs, which could be used for operations and instruction.

 

 

 

Let’s restore our children’s faith in the future.