{"id":2787,"date":"2020-12-17T21:53:35","date_gmt":"2020-12-17T21:53:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.radiofree.org\/?p=140613"},"modified":"2020-12-17T21:53:35","modified_gmt":"2020-12-17T21:53:35","slug":"young-people-in-georgia-fight-for-climate-ahead-of-runoff-elections","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/2020\/12\/17\/young-people-in-georgia-fight-for-climate-ahead-of-runoff-elections\/","title":{"rendered":"Young People in Georgia Fight for Climate Ahead of Runoff Elections"},"content":{"rendered":"
On January 5, voters in Georgia will decide which political party controls the US Senate and, in turn, how far President-elect Joe Biden will be able to take his ambitious $2 trillion climate plan.<\/p>\n
For Democrats to take control of the Senate, Rev. Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff both need to win their runoffs against Republican incumbents Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue, respectively. Warnock and Ossoff have plans to address climate change, which poses multiple threats to Georgia<\/a>, including intensifying hurricanes, sea level rise, higher temperatures, and spreading contamination<\/a> at some of the nation\u2019s most toxic waste dumps. Their GOP counterparts have all but ignored the climate issue.<\/p>\n Throughout this election season, young voters and activists have forced climate change to center stage, and this final pivotal race is no exception. We spoke with five young people in Georgia to get their take on the issues that matter most and how those are covered (or not) in the media.<\/p>\n Reach out<\/a> to us for youth activists who are available for interviews.<\/p>\n Aguilar is a high school senior in Alpharetta, Ga. who has been encouraging college students to register to vote through Students for Tomorrow<\/a>, an organization he co-founded that helps young people understand political issues and why their vote counts.<\/em><\/p>\n We started Students for Tomorrow in September. A friend of mine had to leave college because of Covid and was going to move back in with his parents. He called me and one of the questions that he had was, \u201cWhere am I going to vote? I’ve been voting from school for the last couple of years. Now, I am going back home, can I even vote there?\u201d <\/p>\n People tend to feel that students are really apathetic when it comes to the political process, but in reality, a lot of them are just disillusioned. They don’t feel like their votes have an impact, and they don\u2019t see themselves represented in media coverage. I think that’s why you\u2019ve historically seen young people also taking to the streets and doing things online, more than just trying to place their vote. By showing them that their vote matters, Students for Tomorrow has helped an estimated 65,000 students register to vote nationwide.<\/p>\n I think students are going to be the key for a lot of progressive policies moving forward, because they are willing to vote based on policy rather than party. Over the last month, we’ve been organizing hundreds of teen volunteers to have conversations with students ahead of the runoffs to clarify how their values and interests align with policies. We’ve been making a lot of calls to Perdue voters and saying, \u201cIf you want to live in a place that’s not underwater 40 years from now, you should probably not vote for him.”<\/p>\n Jordan Madden, 16<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Madden is a coordinator at Sunrise Movement Clayton County<\/a> and an intern for State Rep. Becky Evans, a Democrat representing Georgia\u2019s 83rd District. Madden became involved in local climate justice efforts to bring more attention to the state\u2019s environment.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n My cousin works at a disposal company, and I\u2019ve gone with him to our local landfill, the Dekalb County Seminole landfill, to see the problems there first-hand. Seeing the neighborhoods that surround the landfill, where we pollute and store our trash, you’re constantly reminded that these issues impact low-income people and are not shared by everyone equally. Knowing that this landfill is just one of many locations like it across the world made me realize that this problem is way bigger than just us.<\/p>\n I want to make the public aware that environmental issues and climate change are real issues that we can solve if we put enough time and effort into them. Older people had a chance, but now it’s definitely our time to try and fix this problem.<\/p>\n One thing that hasn’t been brought up in enough detail throughout the elections is what a just recovery means and whether affected communities will be brought to the table. We hear a lot from politicians and people who have power and money, but we need to hear more from the people who live the realities of climate and environmental injustice every single day. We see news about the temperature and global warming but we need to hear more of, \u201cWhat can we do to reduce plastic waste in our communities?\u201d \u201cHow can we hold the companies releasing toxins here accountable?\u201d I want to see the media shine a light on the corporations that pledge to be green while at the same time hindering climate agendas.<\/p>\n Cox is a freshman at Hawai’i Pacific University, originally from Ellenwood, Georgia. She became familiar with the environmental and climate justice movements while navigating her own lived experience.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n When I returned to Ellenwood from school, because of Covid, I woke up to this horrible stench. My house is less than half a mile away from the Dekalb County Seminole landfill. My parents bought the house in 2001, when they were told that the landfill would be closing. That was a huge lie. We couldn’t really smell it at first back then. But as time went on, the smell got worse, and now the trash in the landfill is stacked as tall as some trees. Every other day, at least, I have to put my shirt over my nose just to walk around my house.<\/p>\n I decided to email the Georgia Environmental Protection Division and ask why the site remains open next to a neighborhood and about the health effects. I realized most of the neighborhoods surrounding Ellenwood are Black. I also learned of a predominantly white neighborhood nearby where public officials were thinking about creating a landfill that didn\u2019t go through. It then sunk in that I was living with environmental racism. Since then, I\u2019ve been figuring out how to organize with my family and my neighbors. My brother started a petition<\/a> to close the landfill, but I have to say it\u2019s frustrating, because it feels like we’re not being heard.<\/p>\n To be honest, I haven\u2019t been following the elections that closely. It\u2019s difficult to stay engaged when it feels like the focus isn\u2019t right or isn\u2019t on issues that affect you. The Senate candidates, for example, seem more worried about their image than their constituents and local climate issues. It\u2019s hard to be hopeful. Our stories need to be heard.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Dorr-Kapcynski is a freshman at the University of Georgia. She is also the co-founder and communications coordinator of Georgia For The Planet<\/a>, which is dedicated to fighting climate change and injustice in the state.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nEdward Aguilar, 17 <\/h4>\n
Jakia Cox, 19<\/h4>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n