Learning about Climate Change Actions

By Alexis Goslin

When I first started this class, I hoped to get out of it a better understanding of sustainability and the branches off it. One example of a branch from sustainability could be the climate crisis. But besides some specific research for a couple writing pieces for other classes I had very limited knowledge on this matter. And that is what made this class and the "Reaching the Turning Point: The Youth Climate Movement and Our Election" conference so beneficial for me so far.

I learned a lot about how information is gathered about climate change using ice cores, tree rings and pollen distribution. And how information is used or talked about and which ways are more effective ways to talk about the climate crisis. I also listened in on the talk about the youth aspect of the climate crisis. I am inspired by the youth leaders that were on the call and who speak out across the country on the climate crisis. As a youth myself, it is refreshing to see this.

And one thing I did not fully understand was that youth activism is not something that just started. As I heard about some of the youth movements that Gabrielle Heidrich talked about, I realized I had learned about some of them at separate times in previous classes, so seeing them lined up next to each other gave me a new perspective. I also learned some successes that I was not aware of. For instance, the Youth Climate Movement having the largest climate demonstration in history. And this is just one of many successes that they have accomplished.

I did not realize the specific values that having youth running movements had in causing change. Youth can express greater urgency for change, as well as our generation is extremely diverse which brings many perspectives to the table, and I believe this only helps the cause.

I also did not realize how many different climate organizations there are. I found it interesting that there was talk about allies of the youth climate organization. I had the idea in my head that the youth climate organization was one that just worked with other youth climate organizations. But with the talk about allies and how the youth and their allies can work together, my perspective changed.

So, what did I get out of this conference? I found this experience to be extremely inspiring. I am not currently involved in any youth climate organization or have not attended a climate event (other than a couple of conferences) but moving forward I want to get involved. And I look forward to getting a better understanding through this class, the research for this class, and future events like this one.