This fall, over 350 students in my West Saint Paul, Minnesota school district created video-taped position statements about what they want to see happen at COP21. Student voices are a key component of climate action that motivates world leaders to listen and act. While preparing for COP21, many of my students asked frustrated questions, such as "Why doesn't anyone care'" and "Why won't they do anything'" These disheartening questions reflect what students have seen and experienced over and over again with our political system. I am struck by the disconnect I see between the international climate actions taking place in Paris and the climate denial that festers in the U.S. At COP21, I'm participating in an event where 40,000 people from around the world have come together to have a dialogue around solutions to climate change. Here, people seem hopeful, innovative, and willing to work for an agreement. Conversely, the news from the U.S. is steeped in the climate denial espoused by the Republican Party, and refusals by Congress to act on any outcome of COP21. There are countries here at COP21 that have long ago publicly recognized climate change as a problem and have stepped up to make ambitious goals in the COP21 agreement (the "role models" of the Climate Action Tracker). Meanwhile, in the U.S., politicians are still arguing about whether it's even a problem. My students' questions are valid in light of the current political efforts in the U.S. to dismiss climate change as a political or economic ploy.What is ignored in all of this political propaganda is the morality of the problem, and our responsibility to our children. Children from West Saint Paul and around the world care about their families, communities, and beautiful natural places. They care about the quality of their water, and wonder if they'll always have enough to drink. They worry about other children in other parts of the world who already lack access to basic resources like food and water. My students in Minnesota care about wildlife, citing notable Minnesota species such as the moose, common loon, and walleye, and also show concern for far-away wildlife such as Bengal tigers, pandas, polar bears, and penguins. When kids, concerned for their future, are taking civic action, it is a moral obligation to set aside the political agenda and listen.Today I ran into a youth leader from the Sierra Club, who recorded a message to my students. The message was this: keep telling your stories until someone listens.What I want to say to students today is this: don't be stopped by a political system that seems like it doesn't care. Your voice matters. I encourage you to continue learning about our environment and standing up in its defense, because it is all of our homes.Minneapolis-based nonprofit, Climate Generation: A Will Steger Legacy, is leading a delegation of 10 Education Ambassadors to COP21 through their Window Into Paris program, December 5-11. These 10 teachers - representing diverse subject areas, grade levels, and school communities from Denver, Atlanta, upstate New York, western North Carolina and Minnesota - are connecting their students to climate policy in action, helping to build both climate literacy and the relevance of this issue in their students' lives. Follow their stories via their blogs and daily digests. -- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.
Click here to read full news..
