Watch the story in an inspiring 2 minute video about Boise's Climate Justice League!
The Idaho Chapter has been leading the call for 100% clean energy in Boise as part of the Sierra Club's highly successful Ready for 100 campaign. Ready for 100 is a campaign asking city leaders to plan for 100% clean, renewable energy in at least one sector of their local economy. To date 77 cities and counting have committed to making the shift to cleaner, more affordable and equitable energy transitions for their communities.
The work in Boise started in 2016 when the Sierra Club first met with city leaders asking for 100% clean energy here in our community. Since then, the City of Boise staff and leadership have put in a tremendous amount of work studying what it would take for Boise to set a communitywide clean energy goal that is both feasible and ambitious. Meanwhile the Sierra Club was leading the public support efforts by talking to community members, faith leaders, and business leaders about the benefits of a 100% clean energy transition.
In the last year a large part of that work was helping to empower student voices in the clean energy conversation through the Climate Justice League, our innovative student leadership program. The yearlong grassroots activist program worked successfully on many successful issues, including their final campaign to ask Boise leaders to publically commit to 100% clean energy.
Read more about the Idaho Climate Justice League and check out the Year in Numbers!
Student Press Conference for 100% Clean Energy
The Climate Justice League students and our local Ready for 100 organizer developed a campaign that collected more than 1,300 postcards from students in the Boise school district thanking city leadership for their work on clean energy and asking for a commitment to 100% clean energy. The students then organized a press conference where they displayed hundreds of the postcards as a press backdrop and students delivered speeches calling for representation by young folks, a commitment to 100% clean energy, and an equitable transition.
More than 40 students attended the press conference in support of the message and watched as Adam Thompson, Emily Her and Therese Etoka handed the postcards over the Boise City Council President Pro-Tem Lauren McLean. McLean accepted the enthusiastically accepted the postcards before thanking the students for all of their work and voicing her own support for 100% clean energy in Boise.
The event was covered by several news outlets and the students were excited to have support from such an important, visible local leader. But, they wanted to the chance to speak with other city leaders as well.
100% Clean Energy at Boise Town Hall
More than a dozen Boise activists attended a Boise Town Hall at the Collister library with the hopes of hearing from other city leaders on their personal support for 100% clean energy. After waiting patiently, student organizer Emily Her stood up to ask her question. Before beginning, Emily asked that everyone in the room that supported a move to 100% clean energy in Boise stand with her as she asked her question. The super majority of folks in the room stood and applause broke from the audience. Council members were noticeably moved by the gesture of support.
Emily, Therese and Solenne all asked questions about the transition to 100% clean energy in Boise. In closing remarks, Council Members Sanchez, Clegg and McLean all voice support for 100% clean energy in Boise while TJ and Scot were supportive but did not directly address 100% as the right move. This was the first time that city leaders aside from McLean publicly expressed support to move to 100% clean energy in Boise.
Read more about these student actions for 100% clean energy here!
Join us as Boise Moves Ahead on Clean Energy
Watch & share the short video about our story and sign up to keep in touch with the efforts for Ready for 100 in Boise and hear about future success of the Climate Justice League.