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sunrise movement
Young Climate Activists Are Fueling Hope and Winning Change
While we can’t count on certain stubborn politicians to save our only planet, we can count on the young people at the heart of the climate movement.
Sep 14, 2024
The past 20 years have been critical in the fight for bold and sustainable climate solutions. The next five years will be even more vital—and young people like me are fighting hard to make sure our leaders get it right.
Research shows we have about five years left to avert global warming beyond 1.5°C, the tipping point when even more severe climate disruptions could exacerbate hunger, conflict, and drought worldwide.
Climate change—long-term shifts in temperatures and weather patterns primarily due to the burning of fossil fuels like coal and oil—impacts our livelihoods and our lives. It harms our health and well-being and threatens our access to vital resources, from water to food to housing.
We’re the last generation that can save the world from climate disaster—and we’re giving the fight for our lives and for a better future everything we’ve got.
Communities on the front lines of the climate crisis are already paying the price for inadequate climate action. Pacific islands like Tuvalu are already sinking and expected to be completely submerged in coming years. Meanwhile, scientists predict that rising sea levels will leave 60% of Miami-Dade County under water by 2060.
While we can’t count on certain stubborn politicians to save our only planet, we can count on the young people at the heart of the climate movement.
The global youth-led climate movement has a long history of standing up to corporate giants and their political allies who exacerbate climate change. Despite failed attempts by some politicians to patronize, belittle, or discredit the teenagers and 20-somethings leading protests and driving policy demands, young climate activists are fueling hope—and winning change.
In June 2023, youth climate activists won a landmark lawsuit, Held v. Montana, when a judge ruled that the state’s failure to consider climate change when approving fossil fuel projects was unconstitutional. Similar suits are underway in many other states.
Universities also have a prime role to play in encouraging students to practice sustainability and foster social change. At my university, Virginia Tech, students can participate in a Climate Action Living Laboratory (CALL), where they work with faculty and staff on sustainability projects and research, using our campus and surrounding community networks to work towards the university’s climate action goals.
In my Virginia Tech coursework, I got to harvest food for our dining facilities at our campus farm, compost on an Indigenous farm, visit a local community garden, and tour a food sorting facility—all while working closely with campus partners I wouldn’t have met otherwise.
Across the country, institutions like Colorado State, the University of California at Berkeley, Cornell, Dickinson College, Furman, and the University of Vermont have implemented living learning labs of their own. In addition to advancing sustainability initiatives, these labs combine disciplines and skills—and unite diverse groups of people—to incubate innovative climate solutions.
You can help us grow the movement, too. Consider supporting domestic climate activist youth movements in your local community and organizations like Sunrise D.C., a local branch of the youth climate organization where activists in the nation’s capital get involved at both the local and national level.
We’re the last generation that can save the world from climate disaster—and we’re giving the fight for our lives and for a better future everything we’ve got. Join us.
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Climate Leaders Like This Idea: Jamie Raskin for Attorney General
"A growing number of cities and states are investigating Big Oil for misleading the public about climate change," said the Sunrise Movement, emphasizing the need for a DOJ leader "who's ready to do the same."
Aug 30, 2024
Just over two months away from the U.S. presidential election, one progressive organizer on Friday suggested Congressman Jamie Raskin for attorney general if Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris wins—and some climate leaders enthusiastically welcomed the proposal.
"I know, I know, it's bad luck to talk about personnel decisions before an election," Aaron Regunberg wrote for The New Republic, acknowledging the tight contest between Harris and Republican former President Donald Trump. "And yet, in the wake of last week's Democratic National Convention, discussions about appointments in a potential Harris-Walz administration are already picking up steam, with one position in particular getting attention: attorney general."
"DOJ will be one of the most powerful tools we have to take on Big Oil in a Harris administration, so it's not too early to start thinking about who we'd want to lead the department."
Regunberg cited recent Politicoreporting that the Democratic Party's "political-legal establishment is already buzzing about who might replace" President Joe Biden's attorney general, Merrick Garland. He described Garland's leadership of the U.S. Department of Justice as "disastrous," arguing that "he has acted more like a judge than an advocate and prosecutor," and "consistently prioritized his own personal desire to look apolitical over his duty to, as the DOJ seal requires, 'prosecute on behalf of justice.'"
"The most obvious example is the DOJ's catastrophic handling of Trump's attempts to overturn the 2020 election," he declared.
By contrast, Raskin (D-Md.) is "a brilliant legal scholar" who managed Trump's historic second impeachment, after the Republican's efforts to reverse his loss culminated in him inciting his supporters to storm the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, Regunberg noted. He was also "a prominent leader" on the select committee that investigated the attack.
Raskin is now the ranking member of the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability. Regunberg argued that although he wasn't mentioned in Politico's reporting—which had some "promising names" alongside options that "fail to inspire much confidence"—the former law professor "would be an inspired and inspiring choice to lead the DOJ."
As Regunberg—an advocate of holding fossil fuel giants criminally responsible for extreme weather-related deaths—wrote:
Who better to redeem Garland's failure to hold Trump accountable for January 6 than the lead impeachment manager who prosecuted Trump's high crimes and misdemeanors? Who better to ensure the DOJ stops bowing to fossil fuel industry pressure than the head of the House Oversight Committee's push to hold Big Oil accountable? And who better to tackle the challenge of out-of-control extremist judges and Supreme Court justices than Congress' leading constitutional expert?
Of course, Raskin doesn't cut a moderate profile like Garland does, and all appointment decisions will be shaped by whether Democrats retain control of the Senate—though it's worth noting that he has a record of collaborating effectively with Republicans, and he managed to win the votes of seven Republican senators during Trump's second impeachment.
While, as Regunberg noted, "it's also not clear that Raskin would even want the job," climate advocates still embraced the idea.
"DOJ will be one of the most powerful tools we have to take on Big Oil in a Harris administration, so it's not too early to start thinking about who we'd want to lead the department," said Fossil Free Media director Jamie Henn, a co-founder of the international climate group 350.org.
It's quite clear where Raskin stands on the oil and gas industry's decadeslong efforts to delay action on the fossil fuel-driven climate emergency. With Senate Budget Committee Chair Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Raskin led a three-year investigation into the sector's "denial, disinformation, and doublespeak," resulting in their joint call for Garland to launch a criminal probe of oil and gas giants.
Sharing Regunberg's piece on social media Friday, the youth-led Sunrise Movement highlighted that "a growing number of cities and states are investigating Big Oil for misleading the public about climate change."
"Harris has campaigned on her own record of doing so," the group continued, referencing her time as California's chief lawyer. "We need an attorney general—like Jamie Raskin—who's ready to do the same."
Sunrise hasn't endorsed Harris, but it's part of the Green New Deal Network, which has, like various other green groups. The movement announced Tuesday that it would work to reach 1.5 million young voters in key swing states to defeat Trump.
Trump, notably, told Big Oil executives in April that he would gut the Biden administration's climate regulations if elected, as long as they put $1 billion toward his campaign—provoking probes from Raskin as well as Whitehouse and Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden (D-Ore.).
Since then, fossil fuel money has poured in for Trump—and as climate advocates have rallied around Harris, her campaign has warned that "oil barons are salivating" over the Republican's potential return to the White House next January.
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To Defeat Trump, Sunrise Mobilizes to Reach 1.5M Young Voters in Swing States
"Young climate voters could decide this election," a leader of Sunrise said.
Aug 27, 2024
The Sunrise Movement on Tuesday launched a campaign program in support of Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee, aiming to reach 1.5 million young voters in key swing states.
The left-wing, youth-led climate action group didn't endorse Harris—though it's part of the Green New Deal Network, which has— but announced that it would mobilize to help her defeat Republican nominee Donald Trump, whom Kidus Girma, the group's campaign director, referred to as "Big Oil's favorite henchman."
The group's program will include canvassing, phone banking, and digital outreach, as well as protests and the creation of social media videos aimed at stoking youth enthusiasm.
"Young climate voters could decide this election," Stevie O'Hanlon, the group's communications director, said in a statement. "The Harris-Walz ticket means millions more young voters are tuning in and considering voting. We're going all-out to reach those voters and mobilize our generation to defeat Trump this November."
Sunrise argued in the statement that Harris is polling better than President Joe Biden did because she has more support from youth and climate-minded voters.
The group also cited a recent poll commissioned by Climate Power, an advocacy group, that showed the gap between public trust for Harris and Trump is larger on climate—at 23 percentage points—than on any other issue, even slightly more so than abortion. Sunrise wants to see Harris to press that climate advantage.
The group's program marks an increase in organizational ambition from what was planned in support of Biden's reelection bid—before Harris replaced him, Sunrise's voter engagement goal had been 1 million.
"The difference in excitement between Biden and Harris among young people we've been talking to is night and day," O'Hanlon toldThe Washington Post.
Media outlets have in the last three months made much of Sunrise's refusal to endorse either Biden or Harris, starting with Axios in early June and continuing with the Post on Tuesday.
Sunrise has explained that it's waiting for more information on Harris' climate policies, as well as her approach to Israel's war on Gaza. So far, climate hasn't been a point of emphasis for her; the issue received scant attention at last week's Democratic National Convention.
The group took a similar tack in 2020, mobilizing in support of Biden but declining to endorse him. They are trying to steer the Democratic nominee toward stronger climate action.
"We will continue to urge the Harris campaign to put forward a bold vision that will energize young voters," O'Hanlon said.
Sunrise has long been a lightning rod for criticism, not just from Republicans but also from the more technocratically oriented establishment wing of the Democratic Party. Jonathan Chait wrote a scathing column, full of straw man arguments, about the group in New York in June.
The Post on Tuesday suggested that any attempt by Harris to draw in younger voters with new climate or Gaza policies could alienate "moderate" voters in swing states, where fossil fuel groups have launched ad campaigns attacking her climate record and claiming she would ban gasoline-powered cars. Harris has already walked back some of the climate pledges she made while running for president in the 2020 cycle, including a ban on fracking.
Amid the challenges of operating in a media sphere and political system heavily influenced by corporate interests, Sunrise has continued to work with Democratic leaders while also pushing them to be bolder. Many progressives see the group's past work as key to the development of the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act—the most notable climate action law in U.S. history, however flawed it may have been.
O'Hanlon, in an interview with Mother Jones on Thursday, expressed optimism that more change could be forthcoming, pointing out that the Democratic Party's climate platform is in fact strong.
"The 2024 platform calls out Big Oil, pledges to make polluters pay, and targets oil and gas company subsidies, which is really substantial," O'Hanlon said.
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