Midwest group march. photo: Christine Irvine
photo: Christine IrvineWhat it took to get off my ass.
I didn’t get truly involved in the youth climate change movement until the beginning of this year. It wasn’t as if I didn’t know it was out there. On the contrary, I knew Billy Parish early on – when Energy Action and the Campus Climate Challenge were just a glimmer in his eye. We had our own paths – I was working on environmental issues – but aside from my work in mine reclamation, it was in an entirely different capacity. Our work was linked, but not necessarily collaborative or even synchronous.
Part of my work shifted in February 2008. I had more opportunities to work on climate change issues – through new clients and a growing base of friends and colleagues feverish for the issues.
I didn’t find the movement. The movement found me.
I wasn’t aware how big and how connected this entire movement was until I called Richard at Energy Action in February. I was specifically looking for a contact in Australia to fill me in on what universities were doing down und
er in regards to climate change. President Levin from Yale University had just finished speaking at DAVOS on Yale’s climate change policies and was headed to Australia to get other universities to follow their lead. It occurred to me that I knew very little of what was going on in Australia.
In enters Anna Rose, 24: a vivacious young woman and founder of the Australian Youth Climate Coalition. Richard directed me to Energy Action’s Google excel sheet of Climate Change organizers and told me to reach out to her.
Perhaps a name and a contact on a virtual spreadsheet do not mean much in this day and age, but it was at that point that I suddenly felt connected to the movement at large. All of a sudden my work for Yale in the U.S. was being connected to the work on the ground in Australia. For some that may not seem so huge, but for me it was a revelation: A revelation that the next greatest movement was underfoot and I had just dipped my toe in the water.
I’ve never met Anna Rose. One e-mail and one phone call with her, however, brought me a step closer to the movement. All of a sudden I started to feel…ownership.
A sense of ownership…That’s the key to revolutionary movements: tapping the power of peer relationships, feeling a sense of responsibility – like you are “one of the team.” If you’ve ever played sports, you’ll know what I mean. Did you ever miss the last basket – or conversely hit the three-point shot in the last two seconds – to win the game? That sense of loss or gain, that sense of camaraderie you felt with the other team members – is because you have stake in something that you care about.
My sense of ownership in the youth climate movement may have waned quickly if it weren’t for another significant moment. (Just goes to show you that sometimes you need a few kicks in the pants to get your ass out of bed). That particular event was an e-mail from Billy Parish. I wish I had saved it. It was simple. It was straightforward. Someone reading over my shoulder may have found it to be insignificant. I found it to be monumental. It was in regards to Power Shift. He and the group just decided that they couldn’t wait until next year to do the conference. The time was now. The e-mail said something like this:
“What would you do if you had 5,000 youth at your fingertips?”
Damn that Billy Parish. (And I mean that in the most loving of terms).
This is the stuff dreams are made of. I met Billy in 2003. We both received Udall Scholarships that year and were flown along with seventy eight other scholars to Tucson, AZ for the awards ceremony. I remember him gathering about two or three dozen of us in the conference hall and telling us his desire to build a campus-wide climate change movement. I doubted him. I thought to myself: “Yeah, you say this now, but as the intoxication and energy from meeting everyone comes to an end and people go their separate ways, it’ll be a hard sell.” I was wrong.
The more I spoke with Billy, the more I realized he is a force of nature. I mean really, this kid dropped out of Yale because he was moved by this movement. He realized that this stuff isn’t going to wait for us to graduate.
Shit man, did you read the news today? The Northwest Passage is melted. Polar bears will be a dying species by 2050. Africa continues to get drier. Hurricanes continue to hit harder. It’s not a time to be lazy. It’s a time for action.
Energy Action and The Campus Climate Challenge, (whether you realize it or not), have emerged as a powerful force in this movement. Most of us in it don’t realize it yet. We don’t realize the capacity that we have – as individuals and as a revolutionary movement. I know my own energy and enthusiasm – transferred from Anna’s and Billy’s and others, has been passed on. I know I have given others a sense of empowerment, and in turn, other young leaders are emerging and their willpower and energy serve as fuel for other new leaders. It’s infectious. It’s contagious. It’s inevitable. That’s what keeps me waking up bright and early every day. That’s what makes me believe that this is what I was always meant to do. It’s the most powerful positive feedback loop I’ve ever seen and felt, except this one has the potential to spiral out to infinity.
I call Massimo (a good friend, climate change psychologist at CRED, and one of the members on Power Shift’s communication team) weekly and our energy and enthusiasm transfers so much back-and-forth over the phone that I’m afraid the both of us are going to hop out of our skins from excitement. You need people like this in your life because there are so many naysayers out there who tell you “No, No, No,” “I don’t know,” or “That’s probably not going to happen” all the time. It can wear you down. Frankly, I don’t even care if all of Massimo’s and my ideas get off the ground for Power Shift – but it’s the moment of dreaming up all the possibilities that are rejuvenating. All of them may not get done, but the few that will…are going to be spectacular.
This is the most important thing you will ever do in your life.
If you don’t believe that, then you don’t deserve to be in this movement.
I mean that.
I came to that conclusion over a Power Shift communications call a couple months ago. Someone (I don’t remember who) made the statement that we shouldn’t hold the march on Monday because students would have to go back to school. She wasn’t just speaking for herself, she was speaking for what was on the mind of other students like her. I can’t be angry at a statement like that, because I felt that way at some point in time too. But at that moment, however, I had a raging fit of passion that has not subsided because I have come to the conclusion that this is the most important thing that we will ever do in our lifetime. If you do not think that this is more important than an 8AM biology class, then what on God’s not-so-green earth are you doing? We have got to believe that this is significant because if we don’t, then who else will? How will we inspire others if we cannot lead by example? How will we get people to take ownership if we don’t show them that they can be a part of the solution?
I’ve spent quite a bit of time over the last eight months connecting with people, seeing more colleges sign up to the President’s Climate Commitment, watching the Power Shift story shapeshift with each contribution. The youth climate movement is roiling, boiling magma coursing deep underneath the technological crust of wikis, google docs, e-mail strings, and social networks. We are all little volcanoes – blogging, organizing, speaking, writing, lobbying – from Australia to North America, China to Europe – connected by this magmatic movement.
This is in real time. The movement is alive. It breathes. It’s a story and an action coursing through all of us, waiting to be unleashed. Think about all that untapped energy that lies in each of us still waiting to be opened like Pandora’s Box. My question to you: When will you wake up and realize that we are what fuels the change?
Power Shift is our opportunity to unleash what lays dormant inside of us. We are the movement. We are the people we have been waiting for. This is what we were meant to do.
November 2-5, 2007 – Maryland University, College Park; I’ll see you there.
I didn’t get truly involved in the youth climate change movement until the beginning of this year. It wasn’t as if I didn’t know it was out there. On the contrary, I knew Billy Parish early on – when Energy Action and the Campus Climate Challenge were just a glimmer in his eye. We had our own paths – I was working on environmental issues – but aside from my work in mine reclamation, it was in an entirely different capacity. Our work was linked, but not necessarily collaborative or even synchronous.
Part of my work shifted in February 2008. I had more opportunities to work on climate change issues – through new clients and a growing base of friends and colleagues feverish for the issues.
I didn’t find the movement. The movement found me.
I wasn’t aware how big and how connected this entire movement was until I called Richard at Energy Action in February. I was specifically looking for a contact in Australia to fill me in on what universities were doing down und
er in regards to climate change. President Levin from Yale University had just finished speaking at DAVOS on Yale’s climate change policies and was headed to Australia to get other universities to follow their lead. It occurred to me that I knew very little of what was going on in Australia.In enters Anna Rose, 24: a vivacious young woman and founder of the Australian Youth Climate Coalition. Richard directed me to Energy Action’s Google excel sheet of Climate Change organizers and told me to reach out to her.
Perhaps a name and a contact on a virtual spreadsheet do not mean much in this day and age, but it was at that point that I suddenly felt connected to the movement at large. All of a sudden my work for Yale in the U.S. was being connected to the work on the ground in Australia. For some that may not seem so huge, but for me it was a revelation: A revelation that the next greatest movement was underfoot and I had just dipped my toe in the water.
I’ve never met Anna Rose. One e-mail and one phone call with her, however, brought me a step closer to the movement. All of a sudden I started to feel…ownership.
A sense of ownership…That’s the key to revolutionary movements: tapping the power of peer relationships, feeling a sense of responsibility – like you are “one of the team.” If you’ve ever played sports, you’ll know what I mean. Did you ever miss the last basket – or conversely hit the three-point shot in the last two seconds – to win the game? That sense of loss or gain, that sense of camaraderie you felt with the other team members – is because you have stake in something that you care about.
My sense of ownership in the youth climate movement may have waned quickly if it weren’t for another significant moment. (Just goes to show you that sometimes you need a few kicks in the pants to get your ass out of bed). That particular event was an e-mail from Billy Parish. I wish I had saved it. It was simple. It was straightforward. Someone reading over my shoulder may have found it to be insignificant. I found it to be monumental. It was in regards to Power Shift. He and the group just decided that they couldn’t wait until next year to do the conference. The time was now. The e-mail said something like this:
“What would you do if you had 5,000 youth at your fingertips?”
Damn that Billy Parish. (And I mean that in the most loving of terms).
This is the stuff dreams are made of. I met Billy in 2003. We both received Udall Scholarships that year and were flown along with seventy eight other scholars to Tucson, AZ for the awards ceremony. I remember him gathering about two or three dozen of us in the conference hall and telling us his desire to build a campus-wide climate change movement. I doubted him. I thought to myself: “Yeah, you say this now, but as the intoxication and energy from meeting everyone comes to an end and people go their separate ways, it’ll be a hard sell.” I was wrong.
The more I spoke with Billy, the more I realized he is a force of nature. I mean really, this kid dropped out of Yale because he was moved by this movement. He realized that this stuff isn’t going to wait for us to graduate.
Shit man, did you read the news today? The Northwest Passage is melted. Polar bears will be a dying species by 2050. Africa continues to get drier. Hurricanes continue to hit harder. It’s not a time to be lazy. It’s a time for action.
Energy Action and The Campus Climate Challenge, (whether you realize it or not), have emerged as a powerful force in this movement. Most of us in it don’t realize it yet. We don’t realize the capacity that we have – as individuals and as a revolutionary movement. I know my own energy and enthusiasm – transferred from Anna’s and Billy’s and others, has been passed on. I know I have given others a sense of empowerment, and in turn, other young leaders are emerging and their willpower and energy serve as fuel for other new leaders. It’s infectious. It’s contagious. It’s inevitable. That’s what keeps me waking up bright and early every day. That’s what makes me believe that this is what I was always meant to do. It’s the most powerful positive feedback loop I’ve ever seen and felt, except this one has the potential to spiral out to infinity.
I call Massimo (a good friend, climate change psychologist at CRED, and one of the members on Power Shift’s communication team) weekly and our energy and enthusiasm transfers so much back-and-forth over the phone that I’m afraid the both of us are going to hop out of our skins from excitement. You need people like this in your life because there are so many naysayers out there who tell you “No, No, No,” “I don’t know,” or “That’s probably not going to happen” all the time. It can wear you down. Frankly, I don’t even care if all of Massimo’s and my ideas get off the ground for Power Shift – but it’s the moment of dreaming up all the possibilities that are rejuvenating. All of them may not get done, but the few that will…are going to be spectacular.
This is the most important thing you will ever do in your life.
If you don’t believe that, then you don’t deserve to be in this movement.
I mean that.
I came to that conclusion over a Power Shift communications call a couple months ago. Someone (I don’t remember who) made the statement that we shouldn’t hold the march on Monday because students would have to go back to school. She wasn’t just speaking for herself, she was speaking for what was on the mind of other students like her. I can’t be angry at a statement like that, because I felt that way at some point in time too. But at that moment, however, I had a raging fit of passion that has not subsided because I have come to the conclusion that this is the most important thing that we will ever do in our lifetime. If you do not think that this is more important than an 8AM biology class, then what on God’s not-so-green earth are you doing? We have got to believe that this is significant because if we don’t, then who else will? How will we inspire others if we cannot lead by example? How will we get people to take ownership if we don’t show them that they can be a part of the solution?
I’ve spent quite a bit of time over the last eight months connecting with people, seeing more colleges sign up to the President’s Climate Commitment, watching the Power Shift story shapeshift with each contribution. The youth climate movement is roiling, boiling magma coursing deep underneath the technological crust of wikis, google docs, e-mail strings, and social networks. We are all little volcanoes – blogging, organizing, speaking, writing, lobbying – from Australia to North America, China to Europe – connected by this magmatic movement.
This is in real time. The movement is alive. It breathes. It’s a story and an action coursing through all of us, waiting to be unleashed. Think about all that untapped energy that lies in each of us still waiting to be opened like Pandora’s Box. My question to you: When will you wake up and realize that we are what fuels the change?
Power Shift is our opportunity to unleash what lays dormant inside of us. We are the movement. We are the people we have been waiting for. This is what we were meant to do.
November 2-5, 2007 – Maryland University, College Park; I’ll see you there.
Labels: climate change, global warming, Power Shift 07, youth climate change, youth climate change movement
Send 22 Youth Delegates to Bali, Indonesia for the Climate Change Negotiations
Published by SROmgmt.
$10 will go a long way.
The next climate change talks will be happening in Bali, Indonesia this December and we want to make sure we have enough youth delegates there to have a unified voice on the climate crisis. There is a competition sponsored by the Network for Good/6 degrees charity group. The top 6 charities to have the most NUMBER of donations (minimum $10) will have their money matched (up to $10,000). We need about 108 more donations. Competition ends TODAY (September 16) at 11:59PM. And it's a non-profit - so your donation is tax-deductible. I just got home and donated, so try to donate today to be part of the "matching competition."
Donate here: http://sustainus.org/donatebali
The next climate change talks will be happening in Bali, Indonesia this December and we want to make sure we have enough youth delegates there to have a unified voice on the climate crisis. There is a competition sponsored by the Network for Good/6 degrees charity group. The top 6 charities to have the most NUMBER of donations (minimum $10) will have their money matched (up to $10,000). We need about 108 more donations. Competition ends TODAY (September 16) at 11:59PM. And it's a non-profit - so your donation is tax-deductible. I just got home and donated, so try to donate today to be part of the "matching competition."
Donate here: http://sustainus.org/donatebali
Check out Kevin Bacon's 6 Degrees Organization here:
Labels: Campus Climate Challenge, climate negotitations, Climate talks, Donate Bali, Energy Action, youth climate change, youth climate change movement
HEyOkA mAgAzInE online interviews Summer Rayne on Sustainable Fashion, American Indian culture, and Clean Energy Solutions
Published Thursday, August 16, 2007 by SROmgmt.
HEyOkA Magazine interview with Summer Rayne:John LeKay: Can you please tell me about your interest in Native American culture and how this came about?
My early artwork was inspired by the striking portraits of Edward S. Curtis. Over the course of a few years, I probably had purchased 50 or 60 books on American Indian culture. When I went to college, I took some amazing classes with what some may call a "radical" professor. Then in 2004, I worked on a project mapping invasive species throughout the Akwesasne Reservation and river delta.
I haven't worked on specific programs since then, but I’d love to revisit some more indigenous issues as my work matures.
JL: What do you believe is one of the most serious environmental issues we face today in the
Summer Rayne Oakes: I'd be quick to say "global warming," but I really think its human engagement, which is the foundation for change. What is the inflection point when awareness turns into hardcore action? There are a number of psychological and personal challenges that need to be overcome to reach that point. Open your mind. Consider other tactics, viewpoints, lifestyles, and personal struggles; that’s a start in influencing change.
JL: What are your thoughts on alternative energies?
Summer Rayne Oakes: I'm becoming more and more vocal in this area as my work unfolds. I've written letters to my state Senators urging them to stop the $50 billion in loan guarantees for nuclear energy and voiced my concerns on coal. We need individuals, communities and the federal government behind clean renewables. The amount of subsidies and loan guarantees still supporting dirty energy is absolutely mind-boggling!
On the clean energy front, I like to put most of own energies into positive movements. Over the last few months, I've been working with a number of young leaders on PowerShift 2007, which is the first national youth Climate Summit headed by Energy Action and the Campus Climate Challenge. The organizations have really been the backbone of much of the climate change actions, like Step it Up, Focus the Nation, and the President’s Climate Commitment. I feel invigorated when the youth take the lead in getting their campuses and communities to start taking progressive steps in reducing their carbon footprint.
Read more of the interview here..
Labels: "Summer Rayne Oakes, american indian rights, clean energy, climate change, heyoka magazine, Power Shift 2007, youth climate change
Summer Rayne Hosts PowerShift Fundraiser at Project Greenhouse
Published Wednesday, July 18, 2007 by SROmgmt.
Ecorazzi and the New York Observer highlight Summer Rayne's fundraiser & event at Project Greenhouse in East Hampton. An intimate organic, locally-sourced dinner was prepared by Discovery chef, Nathan Lyons for the forty-person crowd. The event brought together a number of people involved in environmental issues, including scientists, entrepreneurs, green marketers, activists, environmental non-profit leaders, climate change psychologists, investors, media, environmental lawyers, and a conscientious fashion crowd.A silent auction was held for the guests to benefit Powershift, the first ever national youth climate conference. Stay tuned to a future site via Yahoo! to bid on the auction items during the month of August and to learn more on how you can be a part of PowerShift 2007 and the climate change movement.
About the House:
The modern eco-home designed by renowned architect Edvin Karl Stromsten features break-through green energy technology that maintains a heightened sensitivity to its natural environment. Streamlined, stylish and filled with light, this home epitomizes modern “green” architecture.
About the Events:
From June 30 through July 31st, Project GreenHouse will host 4 weekends of intimate, high-profile benefit dinners and special events with celebrity hosts to help raise funds for environmental charities including the Riverkeeper, The Rainforest Foundation, Charity: Water, FEED Bags for the World Food Programme, tar art media to benefit Earth Pledge, and a private affair to benefit PowerShift 2007 hosted by model, entrepreneur and environmental activist, Summer Rayne Oakes. All proceeds go directly to each organization.
Margaret Teich (producer of Lazy Environmentalist) and Natasha give the Peace Sign
Tony Massaro (League of Conservation Voters), Summer Rayne Oakes and Massimo LoBuglio, climate change psychologist launching the BE CARBON NEUTRAL Campaign, part of CRED Institute.
Steve Glass and Monique Pean (eco-jewelry)
Margaret Teich (producer of Lazy Environmentalist) and Natasha give the Peace Sign
Tony Massaro (League of Conservation Voters), Summer Rayne Oakes and Massimo LoBuglio, climate change psychologist launching the BE CARBON NEUTRAL Campaign, part of CRED Institute.
Steve Glass and Monique Pean (eco-jewelry)About PowerShift:
Powershift 2007 is the first national youth Climate Summit headed by Energy Action and the Campus Climate Challenge, a joint project of 23 leading youth environmental and social justice organizations that has expanded into 540 campuses across the U.S. and Canada, exposing more than 1.7 million young people to global warming solutions and getting over 300 colleges to commit to becoming "climate neutral". PowerShift 2007 will be held at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. on October 19-22. The gathering will bring together 3,000-5,000 young people and will be a pivotal moment for the movement. climatechallenge.org
Blake Mycoskie (Toms Shoes) longboards with his crazy plaid pants.Blake striking a pose with Lauren Bush, founder of the Feed Bag program.
PowerShift 2007 Conference Agenda & Components
Trainings: Conference attendees will learn the best practices of climate organizing, including: campaign and event planning,recruitment, media, public speaking, lobbying, leadership development, coalition-building, and meeting with decision-makers.
State/Regional Break-Outs: After splitting into geographically-based groups, youth will identify upcoming state and regional opportunities to realize tangible climate progress and plan coordinated campaigns and events to make them happen. We will also faciliate the coordination of upcoming citizen marches across the country.
Keynote Speakers: Attendees will be energized by leaders of the climate movement, including Al Gore, Van Jones, D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty, Rev. Lenox Yearwood, and more.
Presentations: Diverse speakers will enlighten youth about the connections between Climate and Faith, International Security and Climate Change, How Combating Climate Change Leads to Job Creation, Climate Change from a Native’s Perspective, and many more presentations that will help build our movement and add new perspectives to the discussion.
Rally in D.C.: Youth will learn the true meaning of environmental justice and moral responsibility as they partner with local environmental justice groups and hold a march and rally on local energy justice issues and federal climate policy.
Job Fair: Employers on the cutting edge of our energy transition will meet youth looking for the jobs of tomorrow in non-profit, clean energy, and other sustainably-focused sectors.
Lobby Congress: Youth representing every state will visit their elected representatives to support federal climate policy that would reduce carbon at least 80% by 2050.
2008 and Beyond: Candidates for the Presidency of the United States will speak to their plan to reduce GHG emissions 80% by 2050, providing examples of bold leadership.
Peter Strugatz (CEO of Icestone), Lauren Bush, and Josh Dorfman in the fashion closet
Hostess, Summer Rayne Oakes talks environmental politics all night with Tony Massaro of the League of Conservation Voters. Summer wears an organic cotton + re-created vintage dress by ENAMORELabels: Campus Climate Challenge, climate change, Energy Action, green NY, Hamptons, Powershift, PowerShift 2007, Project Greenhouse, Summer Rayne Oakes, youth climate change
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- From the frontlines: Tracking the latest news, updates, and projects of Summer Rayne Oakes
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