Earth Day Celebration

April 20, 2022

What do today’s youth think of humanity’s response so far to the Climate Crisis?  Plenty!  The Sierra Club York River Group’s program on April 20, 2022 featured several students from regional high schools, colleges, and universities. They described concerns they have and actions they are taking.  We also heard about an organization for people over 60 who “back up the great work of younger people, and make good trouble of their own.”

After some inspiring introductory remarks from Caleb Rogers and Glen Besa, Kimberly Willis (Staff Attorney of Our Children’s Trust) described the lawsuit: Layla H. v. Commonwealth of Virginia.  Represented by Our Children's Trust, this lawsuit alleges that the permitting of fossil fuel infrastructure by Virginia and Virginia agencies and officials violated youth plaintiffs' rights under the Virginia Constitution.  We then heard from two of the youth plaintiffs, who described their thoughts, fears, how their lives have been affected, and their excitement in connecting with other like-minded youth on this important endeavor.

The group then heard from Javan Santos about The Climate Initiative, which seeks to educate, empower, and activate youth to advance climate action, sometimes through legislative initiatives at the local level.  For example, the organization tries to make legislative and policy processes easier to understand and navigate.  They encourage youth and adults to become TCI Ambassadors for Change.

Philip Ignatoff described the Citizen’s Climate Lobby, a nonprofit, nonpartisan climate change organization that exists to create the political will for a livable world by enabling individual breakthroughs in the exercise of personal and political power.  One of their goals is to generate the political will necessary for passage of the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act. Linking up with others with the same passion for the environment and talking regularly in our every day lives about climate problems and solutions is crucial.

Other youth then spoke about how the Climate Crisis is impacting their lives, and what they are trying to do about it.  One pointed to an excellent book that inspired her: “Under the Sky We Make (How to be Human in a Warming World)” by Kimberly Nicholas, G.P. Putnam’s Sons, New York.  Another said: “Climate change is here and real, and we can make a difference!”

The final speaker was Deborah Kusher, who introduced Third Act, a group for people over the age of 60 who are determined to change the world for the better. They “muster political and economic power to move Washington and Wall Street in the name of a fairer, more sustainable society and planet.”  A big initiative of Third Act is to get banks to divest from fossil fuels. (Despite the climate crisis, our biggest banks are huge funders of fossil fuel companies.)  Third Act is asking people of all ages to sign a pledge to remove money and cut up credit cards from offending banks at the end of 2022, if the banks continue to invest in climate-destroying fossil fuel projects.

The bottom line: numbers count and allies matter.  Yes, the climate situation on this Earth Day 2022 is dire, but let us stand together and we can make a change.  Act!

Here is a list of the invited speakers at the event:

  • Caleb Rogers is a Council Member in the City of Williamsburg.
  • Glen Besa is the past Director or the Virginia Chapter Sierra Club.
  • Kimberly Willis is a staff attorney for Our Children’s Trust.
  • The two youth plaintiffs are Layla, a 17-year old from Vienna, VA, and Ava, a 17-year old from Blacksburg, VA.
  • Javan Santos, policy manager for The Climate Initiative, is from the island of Guam.
  • Philip Ignatoff, a Junior at the College of William and Mary and co-leader of Citizens Climate Lobby chapter, engages other students on climate change.
  • Virginia Mead is a Senior at the University of Richmond majoring in Environmental Science.
  • Abril Lopez is a Junior at Virginia Commonwealth University majoring in Environmental Science.
  • Deborah Kushner is an active volunteer for Third Act Virginia.

Here is a summary of some of the websites linked in this blog, as well as one focused on climate action resources in the Hampton Roads area:

https://www.ourchildrenstrust.org/ (Our Children’s Trust, Youth v. Gov)

https://www.theclimateinitiative.org/ (The Climate Initiative (TCI))

https://citizensclimatelobby.org/ (Citizen’s Climate Lobby)

https://thirdact.org/ (Third Act)

https://www.hrclimatehub.org/ (Hampton Roads Climate Action Hub Resources)