Week 1: Speech-Drafting and Book-Reading
Elsa B -
Welcome to my blog’s first week, and thanks for following along! This week I’ve started preparing my speech for tomorrow’s hearing on the bill, and did more research on the “why” of a youth climate advisory council.
I’m in the stage of my project where I start advocating for the bill at public hearings. So, I’m joining a call tomorrow with DC Councilmember Charles Allen and the Department of Energy and the Environment to give my ideas on what the council should look like. It’s just a preliminary hearing before the big one on March 31st, and it’s been planned as a way for DC youth to share their ideas on what exactly the climate council would entail. As a result, I’ve been working on what I want to say, the key points I want to convey. I’m planning on focusing on how the set-up of the council should reflect the voices of youth from all wards and schools across the city, the importance of both giving youth a voice and getting them interested in climate issues amidst the climate crisis, and the democratic values that this council would support.
I’ve also been reading Project Drawdown, which talks about the importance of education in combating the climate crisis. This made me think about how the council wouldn’t just play a role in hearing youth voices–it would provide youth an opportunity to educate themselves on the climate crisis. Part of that is making youth feel like we can make a change–that we aren’t simply being ignored by our government. This could combat disillusionment in a political sphere where youth often feel like making a change is impossible.
I’ll give updates on how this call goes next week, taking lessons from what goes well and what doesn’t to create a more detailed reference on how to civically engage as a youth! Meanwhile, I’ll continue learning more about the principles behind a youth climate council, and how youth climate advocacy has been able to succeed or fail historically.
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