By Kyra (15) and Charlie (15), students at Sonoma Academy and editors of the S4CA newsletter
For many climate activists, Joe Biden’s election victory brings hope for the future in our country's environmental preservation. Only hours after his inauguration, President Joe Biden was already hard at work, signing a record number of executive orders on stimulus checks, vaccine supply, COVID-19 testing, minimum wage, immigration policies…and climate change. After the dust settled, 37 executive orders were signed after just one week in office. Included in these actions were rejoining the Paris climate accord (a process that will take 30 days) and cancelling the Keystone XL pipeline operation, while directing agencies to review and reverse more than 100 Trump actions on the environment.
Paris Agreement
The Paris climate accord (or simply the Paris Agreement) is an international treaty on climate change, signed in 2016 by many parties of the United Nations. The main goal is to limit this century’s global temperature rise to (preferably) 1.5℃ (34.7℉). Currently 189 countries have joined the Paris Agreement, including China (the number one largest carbon emitter), India, North Korea, and the European Union. Each participating country agrees to mitigate climate change and sets a goal for their future greenhouse gas emissions as countries around the world collaborate and do their part to limit their carbon footprint. When Trump pulled the US out of the Paris Agreement on June 1, 2017, the repercussions weren’t immediate, but rather became consequences for later generations and shortened our climate timeline. Not only did this decision slow climate progress in the US, but because the US is the biggest economy in the world and a huge supporter of the Agreement, when the US withdrew, there was a noticeable lack of morale and motivation for other countries once there was no longer an example to follow. It started to look like their efforts had been in vain, as many smaller countries had to pay the price for the US’ increased, reckless emissions. Fortunately China stepped up as the new climate leader in the absence of the US, otherwise we might have seen the union crumble under the lack of leadership and frustration. Biden’s inauguration and the rejoining of the Paris Agreement is a huge relief. The Agreement holds countries accountable and ensures that each country does their part in limiting their carbon emissions. It lets us work together to solve this climate crisis that affects us all, instead of pushing the blame and responsibility onto each other.
Keystone XL Pipeline Project
Proposed in 2008, the energy infrastructure company, TC Energy, introduced the Keystone XL Pipeline Project (KXL) in hopes of transporting and marketing one of the world’s most destructive, filthy fossil fuels—Canadian tar sands. A crude oil, the shipment and fuel extraction of this substance would create great threats to the environment. The transportation of this fuel source already presents an abundance of environmental risks, especially to drinking sources and various ecosystems. The oil’s highly acidic and corrosive nature increases the likelihood of pipe leakage, which had been proven by a dozen spills spanning the project, one of the largest seen in 2019 with a 378,000 gallon spill in North Dakota. With regards to the actual environmental repercussions of using the fuel, the research conducted in 2014 by the US Environmental Protection Agency had previously claimed a 17% increase in greenhouse emissions. However, three years later, a revised study further investigated this claim, and estimated that the increase would be greater by a margin of 5-20%. This means that the upcoming years could be looking at a fossil fuel emission increase of between 22% and 37%.
Obama’s administration, although originally vetoing this project proposal, was cast aside by Trump’s legislation when he approved the KXL pipeline plan during his presidential term. This decision was extremely costly and damaging to the environment, and surely undermined the progress already made by climate action advocates. Fortunately, one of Biden’s first actions as the newly elected president was the cancellation of this program. Biden hopes to combat the repercussive effects of this operation by establishing multiple environmental initiatives, including projects geared towards the dismantling of major fossil fuel sources and the promotion of renewable and clean energy.
Biden’s Future Goals
Taking a look at Biden’s climate goals and plans, the future looks bright. He aims for carbon-free electricity by 2035, hopes to get the nation to net-zero emissions and 100% clean energy by 2050, and wants to upgrade millions of buildings to be more energy efficient, plug abandoned oil and gas wells, and reclaim mines. Working together with his new Cabinet climate team, the odds are high that he will reach these ambitious goals. “Climate change, global warming, is an existential threat to humanity. We have a moral obligation to deal with it!" (President Joe Biden).
New Webinar Series!
Schools for Climate Action (S4CA) is hosting a new series of webinars! The first installment is scheduled for January 29th at 5 pm PST and will cover what S4CA does, and how students from other districts can pass resolutions and encourage their school to take a bold stand for climate action. If you’re curious about climate action and don’t know where to start, we would love to have you! We are always looking for more passionate young people who want to create change in the midst of this climate crisis. The goal of these upcoming webinars is to further educate about S4CA's mission and to teach students how to pass a resolution, start their own climate action chapter, and get involved in environmental advocacy. We hope to see you there!
Congressional Meeting with Tahoe Expeditionary Academy
By Ella (16), student at Sonoma Academy and member of S4CA
Last Wednesday, I got to help a group of students from Tahoe Expeditionary Learning Academy meet with staff from their representative, Tom McClintock’s office. While the representative has a dismal voting record on climate policy, we recognized that it is important to start conversations with all members of Congress and find common ground to push climate action. As an organization, S4CA sees that it is important to unite people of different political backgrounds over the issue of climate change, because the health of our planet is something that everyone has a stake in. We do this through the lens of caring for future generations, because everyone can agree they want to do what’s best for the children. While we disagree with McClintock’s take on climate science and his climate policy, we think it’s incredibly important for his office to meet with young constituents who urge him to pursue bold action in Congress to protect current and future students.
Fossil Free California
In our newsletter we love to highlight the work of organizations that are working to protect current and future students from the negative impacts of climate change. Check out Fossil Free California’s campaign to divest the pension fund of CalSTRS from fossil fuels. The California State Teachers Retirement System is the 2nd largest pension fund in the US, with $210 billion supporting nearly 1 million teachers. Not only are investments in fossil fuels furthering the climate crisis, but if CalSTRS had divested 10 years ago, they may have increased their profits by 5.5 billion! Fossil fuels are considered a declining industry, as there is no financial future in these destructive resources. Check out their recorded webinar for information on how to pass a divestment resolution.
Have you already passed a climate resolution?
One encouraging outcome from the pandemic is the normalization of virtual meetings, which has helped us connect students and adult allies to their members of Congress to advocate for corrective climate action. We’d love to help you meet with your representative virtually! Please fill out this form and we’ll contact you and answer any questions you may have about meeting with your representative. Our team of youth leaders will help set up the meeting and assist the meeting preparation & planning with your team for a meaningful advocacy experience.
Except where specifically stated, opinions expressed in this newsletter do not necessarily reflect the opinion of Schools for Climate Action.
Schools for Climate Action is a non-partisan, grassroots, youth-adult campaign with a mission to empower schools to speak up for climate action. We advocate for elected officials to to combat the climate crisis in order to protect current and future generations.
