What does the rise of millennials mean for climate action? Will this plugged-in generation make climate change a priority? Can they find common ground between liberals and conservatives to solve this issue collectively?
Millennials are on the brink of becoming the largest generational cohort in America (or they already are, depending on how you measure it). That means they will have an enormous impact on U.S. politics in the years ahead. In fact, they’re having an impact on politics already.
In this episode of Political Climate we talk to millennials who are channeling their concerns about climate change into action — inclusive and bipartisan action.
We speak to Benji Backer, president and founder of the American Conservation Coalition, a nonprofit focused on rallying young conservatives around environmental policy reform; and to Lydia Avila, executive director of the Power Shift Network, an organization working to mobilize the collective power of young people to mitigate climate change and create a just, clean energy future.
But first, we address the latest climate news from Capitol Hill: Congressman Carlos Curbelo’s new carbon tax bill, plus a House resolution denouncing the idea of a carbon tax altogether.
Just how hopeful for climate action should Americans be?
Recommended reading:
- Guardian: Republican Lawmaker Pitches Carbon Tax in Defiance of Party Stance
- Inside Climate: House Votes to Denounce Carbon Taxes. Where Was the Climate Solutions Caucus?
- GTM: Reading Republicans on Climate a Decade After America’s Cap-and-Trade Collapse
- Teen Vogue: Pennsylvania Gubernatorial Candidate Scott Wagner Called Me “Young and Naive”
- Pew: Millennials Projected to Overtake Baby Boomers as America’s Largest Generation
- American Conservation Coalition
- Power Shift Network
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