As youth activists, we have seen the disproportionate impact of climate change on different communities and have joined phone banking events to fight for the New Jersey Clean Energy Act (aka, 100% Clean Energy Bill; S237/A1480), which would transition New Jersey to net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2045. We hope that other young people also join this movement to protect the Earth—our current and future home. The Clean Energy Act would support renewable energy development until our state’s total power supply has reached net zero greenhouse gas emissions.
As students and young people, we often take a clean environment for granted, but that is no longer a luxury we can afford. Our generation has the most to suffer from climate change if we fail to work with proactive policies and other efforts to mitigate this peril. As students and activists, we plead with our fellow youth to join the environmental movement and support the Clean Energy Act.
Phone Banking Was a Positive Experience
On March 20, 2024, the Sierra Club Youth Committee, with the guidance of Sierra Club Senior Field Organizer Tiziana Bottino, participated in a phone banking event to garner support for the Clean Energy Act. This event was a challenging and novel experience for many of us. However, the adrenaline rush of being able to connect with even a few NJ residents and motivate them to call their legislators more than made up for the rejections we had to face while calling.
Through phone banking, the Sierra Club Youth Committee was able to amplify the message to legislators that the Clean Energy Act is essential to address climate change in New Jersey. Youth Committee member Shriyaa Madineni described phone banking for this cause as a transformative experience:
“At first, I was hesitant about reaching out to strangers and potentially engaging in difficult conversations since you never know what to expect on the other side. However, in the process, I discovered a sense of empowerment and connection that I hadn’t expected. Each call became an opportunity to listen, learn, and make a difference, whether by raising awareness about these important issues or by encouraging voter participation,” she said.
Youth Committee Member Nidhi Karnik Reflects
“Growing up, I was not exposed to climate-change discussions,” said Youth Committee member Nidhi Karnik. “Climate change was a term I heard sometimes, but I never talked about it with my friends or in my classes. Then, during the pandemic, I found that I had a lot of time on my hands. I began to read the news and learn so much more about climate and social justice issues. I even learned about how a local Native American community was being disproportionately impacted by air pollution: A company’s toxic waste dump on their land led to poor air quality and caused them to contract diseases.
“Learning about the impacts of climate injustice made me feel upset and hopeless; I wanted to help but did not even know where to start. Once I discovered youth advocacy organizations, including the Sierra Club Youth Committee, I realized that I could take action to make a difference. I have been able to connect with many like-minded individuals and work toward making positive change in my community. I was able to set up voter registration events and even begin advocating for policies like the Clean Energy Act and Green Amendments—which make a clean environment a constitutional right for state residents.”
In March, the NJ Senate Environment and Energy Committee voted in favor of a Green Amendment bill and moved it further along in the legislative approval process.
An Environmental Justice Perspective
It is important to our Youth Committee that we acknowledge and understand the communities that are disproportionately impacted by climate change and how policies such as the Clean Energy Act could improve health and safety.
Industrial facilities, notably processing and chemical plants, are often located in “sacrifice zones”—areas with disproportionate amounts of environmental degradation. These are often low-income communities of color. Especially in underserved communities in New Jersey, polluters such as incinerators continue to rely on nonrenewable sources of energy. A GEOS-Chem study estimated that 18.1% of deaths in New Jersey in 2012 were caused by fine particulate matter (PM 2.5) pollution from fossil fuel combustion, or 17,646 of 97,747 mortalities from all causes.
Closing Note
We hope that today’s young people realize that they, too, can be a part of the solution. Every action, no matter how small, helps create a brighter, cleaner future. The Clean Energy Act, if adopted, could promote development of our state’s incipient offshore wind industry, notes Mukesh Shukla, an energy transition and decarbonization consultant:
“Wind technology faces engineering, bureaucratic, and logistical challenges, but if deployed at scale, the technology could be a major, consistent power source to coastal communities,” he said.