being a high school student, a gen zer, a zoomer, a kid — whatever you want to call me (though please do not call me a zoomer) — has given me perspective on the issues that we face as a nation and around the world in a rather different way. just about everyone at my school knows that they have the ability to make a difference, both in awareness and their personal lives, to combat climate change. 

less and less do i see people simply dismiss our world’s health by saying, “what i do won’t even make a dent.” instead, i see individuals posting daily on their social media, talking about it with the people around them, reducing their waste, engaging in campaigns, starting those campaigns, and many more small activities that actually make a difference. 

as kids, we all felt climate change. we felt every summer hotter than the last, we watched feet of snow (as recently as 2012!) become winters that barely dip below freezing, we saw this nation politicize climate change. this is a fight i have been fighting since i can remember, and i know it is the same for countless other members of my generation.

so why am i, a vastly underqualified, naïve, out of my place high schooler who does not even have his learner’s permit writing an article for planet forward? well, i feel that there is something a bit different about my generation. starting from how the “normal” world we grew up in is one unfathomable to those who lived before us. 

our parents have raised us in a world where we know that if we do not change, we, along with future generations, could suffer. examples of people my age fighting for social and environmental change are everywhere. sweden’s 17-year-old greta thunberg garnered international attention after her school strikes aimed at convincing the swedish government to lower carbon emissions, and reached superstar status after sailing all the way to north america to attend the un climate action summit. not to mention seattle’s jamie margolin, who started organizing lobbying efforts and protests to promote environmental change at the age of fourteen. three years later, margolin has made it onto the bbc’s 100 women of 2019 and co-founded the globally recognized, youth-led nonprofit zero hour. 

our awareness and acceptance of global warming and all of the other effects of climate change are only bolstered by our ability to use the internet. i have heard many people describe my generation as one that is and always has been hooked on the internet, and characterized it as a bad thing. 

the truth, however, is that we are not “hooked.” we have just created a strong virtual community where we can be supported and learn about our interests. the way that social media is set up allows for any person to cultivate a strong, supportive feed that focuses on the most important matters that face us today. if i open instagram right now, i will without a doubt be greeted with a bare minimum of five posts or stories about how we can change the world for the better. it is amazing what some people can do with their online platform.

it’s these characteristics of my generation that make me supremely proud of being a member of “gen z” (or whatever you want to call it). i am inspired by members of my class who, like me, are striving for positive change. in the end, that fact is what makes me want to share the stories of my generation with you. we want environmental change, and planet forward is a platform to share the inspiring stories of my generation’s leaders and movements. in the coming weeks, look for stories about how high schoolers are fighting to make a difference, and what can be learned from that. 

environmentalism, often seen as an older version of climate policy, was not always partisan. according to a washington post article in 2014, environmentalism was a bipartisan issue until recently. for example, the clean air act of 1970 was passed with only one member of congress voting no. whether it was president roosevelt and his repartee with conservation or george w. bush’s campaign to expand the clean air act, all parties have supported some form of sustainability. despite the seemingly high tension between both parties in terms of climate policy, there is a hope to get back to what this country once was: cooperative and unified.

i began an internship this semester for the house of representatives’ select committee on the climate crisis. this committee was established via house resolution 6 and was finally adopted in january of 2019 by speaker nancy pelosi. under this resolution, the sole authority of the committee “shall be to investigate, study, make findings, and develop recommendations on policies, strategies, and innovations to achieve substantial and permanent reductions in pollution and other activities that contribute to the climate crisis which will honor our responsibility to be good stewards of the planet for future generations.” if congress follows these recommendations when they are brought to the floor in march, systemic reform can commence.

these past few months have allowed me the opportunity to witness change on the front lines of congress as well as meet and talk to some of the most relevant names in recent climate policy discussions. whether i meet a liberal, conservative, libertarian, or any political faction, each experience has taught me to approach climate with a youth’s perspective.

in mid-september, one of the most prominent faces in climate activism came to the u.s to provide a witness testimony on climate activism in a hearing. greta thunberg sparked an entire generation to fight climate change and now our committee was holding a hearing for her and other youth activists. excitement aside, this experience proved invaluable to me because it opened my thinking up to bipartisanship.

coming from a rural town in new jersey, political support always was divided between republicans and democrats. thus, it’s safe to say everybody loves to argue and i was used to this harsh political division because it seemed normal. however, when i helped put together the hearing i read the witness list that included people like benji backer (a youth conservative from appleton, wisconsin), jamie margolin (founder of the zero hour movement in washington who uses writing to spread climate awareness), vic barrett (a new yorker who fights for climate justice), and of course, thunberg. i was excited to see what they had to say, but i was skeptical that young people could actually enact any kind of tangible change. i found out very quickly that i was wrong. 

margolin and barrett were both phenomenal in how they presented themselves, but they had pretty similar views to what i had already held. for instance, ensuring social inclusion as well as encouraging lawmakers to institute an ambitious goal for a climate solution were both on my agenda already, but nonetheless it was impactful to hear them told to members of congress. however, thunberg and backer provided insights that have since expanded my thinking to bipartisanship.

backer, the president and founder of the american conservation coalition, ended up being someone i look up to and idolize. at first, i was ashamed that a conservative was “going to try and ruin climate progress” and even worse, he was going to encourage fellow students to do the same. in reality, he came into the hearing room with one goal: find a climate solution that works for all. as he questioned the government’s inability to act on the issue, i began to find myself intrigued that a person, whom i thought did not believe climate change was real, could actually bring everyone together. 

as backer concluded his bold testimony, thunberg began to speak. she rolled her eyes over talk of politics and her braveness to sit in her chair with disgust over inaction on climate legislation could not be matched. before the hearing, a few congressmen had an opportunity to meet all the witnesses, but only thunberg refused. she had no desire to talk to people that use gridlock as an excuse for not solving the climate crisis. it was relieving to see that someone young and without much bias shrugged at the idea of political competition over a potential catastrophe.                                       

as i continued my work on the hill, the craziness never seemed to stop. i witnessed a climate protest in front of the capitol, saw the fire drill fridays cause in action with jane fonda as their fearless leader, and ran across rep. alexandria ocasio-cortez talking about her green new deal. all of these experiences allowed me to not only witness first-hand political frustration, but also have hope for the future of bipartisanship. at the climate protest, the speakers emphasized the need for cooperation among all and preached inclusivity to solve the issue at hand. a man in the crowd said to me: “people are always ahead of the government; we can fix climate change, but gridlock is preventing solutions.” sadly, money and power make the world go around, but it is going to take accountability, cooperation, and government efficiency to solve this.

fonda, often seen as a symbol of protest or a meme, surprised me with how she approached the climate crisis. her passion was not about attention or personal gain. she wanted systematic change because she felt that young people had been disadvantaged by their predecessors. i asked the officer nearby if he thought she was doing it for attention, and he offered a valuable insight. the officer told me that she only got arrested the first week and while it looked like a publicity stunt, she has yet to get arrested since, but still comes. fonda has not stopped protesting and she even goes back every friday, week after week. also, she almost always marches with students and supports a youth’s vision for a climate solution. this proved that if people are so concerned that they are willing to sacrifice that amount of time for protest, maybe some money and a party label are not so important.

toward the end of my internship i saw the youthful leader who everyone knows as “aoc.” getting lost attending a briefing at the capitol i saw a woman much shorter than me, in glasses, and with a camera in her face strut by me with confidence. once my excitement settled over seeing an idol, i sat close by in the hall to hear what rep. ocasio-cortez was talking about. she was discussing recent backlash by republicans over her famous green new deal. rather than being radical as some portray her to be, she admitted that a solution will be bold, ambitious, and very expensive. despite all things wrong with her plan, democrats cannot fund or solve this problem on their own.

in sum, my experiences working for the select committee on the climate crisis were beneficial in aiding my understanding of one of the most critical issues of our time. the climate crisis does not have an easy solution, and obstacles are expected to rise in the future. at first, youth activists taught me the power that young people have in uniting the parties, then protests shaped my perspective of the people the government should be protecting, and finally a famous member of congress solidified my support for bipartisanship.  

half of a solution is not going to work. it is not going to save future generations or preserve resources. it is not going to protect vulnerable groups. it is not going to promote economic development or be sustainable. unity, compromise, and cooperation are going to fix the climate and help society adapt to change; this requires both parties.  

an estimated 7 million people worldwide flooded the streets in the largest uprising for the climate in the history of humanity. starting with the youth climate strike on sept. 20, days prior to the united nations climate summit, young people led the world in a crucial discussion on the catastrophic consequences of policy inaction. with the goal of motivating world leaders, young people have drawn universal attention to global warming in ways that decades of scientific progress could not. 

i had the honor not only to march alongside greta thunberg and other fascinating young adults from all over the world but also to attend high-level meetings in preparation for the general assembly week. witnessing the rallies and demonstrations — from canberra, australia, to kabul, afghanistan; and cape town, south africa, to mcmurdo station in the antarctic — i couldn’t help but think about the impact that my generation is having on climate rhetoric. whether motivated by fear or hope, young people were able to transform the climate conversation in its entirety. unsatisfied by the profound injustice of an existential threat to our generation, we have fueled a wave of activism that is hard to ignore. 

through multiple discussions with demonstrators in new york, i have found yet another common trait: young people have not had to suddenly adapt their worldview to issues of climate change. instead, it serves as a somber backdrop to our dreams throughout our existence.

“this is an emergency. our house is on fire,” greta thunberg said, addressing the crowd of about 300,000 people on sept. 20, proclaiming the notion told by hundreds of scientists previously warning the world.

the empty promises of our world leaders and inaction of those we empowered have accumulated anger that is hard to contain. the fear, anger and hope will only be satisfied once the demands are heard: an immediate end of the extraction and consumption of fossil fuels, prioritization of the frontline communities, workers, and those least responsible for the climate crisis, as well as the accountability from fossil fuel executives and the global north. a just transition to renewable energy is the only outcome that will satisfy generation z, which refuses to become the last generation living on earth, as its title suggests. 

as a result, more than 75 leaders pledged to eliminate their countries’ carbon emissions by 2050, and plenty of european countries committed to spending billions to fund renewable transition for developing nations. the world’s largest economies, however, abstained from making such promises.

“how dare you,” is the message that thunberg and other brave young people communicate to the world.

“it is only the beginning,” they keep chanting.

“the ticket to enter today’s united nations climate action summit is not a beautiful speech, but a concrete plan,” agreed the united nations secretary-general antónio guterres. 

the planet forward series “faces of the climate march” aims to shed light on a handful of those young people who brought hope to all of us, and who will not stop even if, temporarily, their demands were left unmet.