Interview with Bev, a climate justice organizer in her 20’s.

What brought you into climate work and the climate movement?

I was mobilized after Hurricane Irene hit my hometown of Denville, New Jersey when I was 16, in 2011. A classmate saw my Facebook post about how unsustainable and precarious our lives here (I was never not a little dramatic back in those days), and invited me to join in on the Greenpeace Youth work she was doing.

Since that time, SustainUS has been my longest youth climate organizing home with about a year spent also organizing with Sunrise.

How would you describe your approach to organizing and mobilizing young people on climate?

One of my strengths as an organizer has always been welcoming new people, building relationships, making them feel comfortable, supported, and in community. When I was with Sunrise D.C. in 2019, I started up the “welcome to sunrise” meetings that were a routine time for people to meet each other and plug into the work.

I think this approach to organizing is especially important for young people, who are still really looking for community and new, sustaining, relationships.

Do you see any differences in your approaches based on age? 

I think that’s hard to assess because I’ve always organized people my age, so the ages I have organized have only ever changed as I’ve grown up as an organizer.  I think there’s maybe something where the younger you are, the more community and relationships you need before you’re ready to thrown down and show up at a mobilization.

Thinking back to before the pandemic, pre-March 2020 – what did you consider the most effective way to engage and mobilize young people on climate? 

The year and a half leading up to the pandemic saw the big Sunrise sit-ins and protests. Those mobilizations were times that I felt the youth climate movement was so powerful and it was so clear that this show of power inspired a lot of other young people to join Sunrise because they wanted to feel that power.

At the same time, in 2019 I was leading and facilitating a delegation of young people to attend the World Bank Annual Meetings with SustainUS. This approach to organizing was much slower and more intentional, with an application process and a series of meetings and trainings, all in-person. It didn’t lead to the groundswell actions that Sunrise did, but it lead to the biggest action the World Bank had seen in years, and I (hope) was part of what sparked other young people to get more involved in World Bank issues in recent years.

Would you say you relied more on online organizing or in-person mobilization?

I totally had a preference for in-person mobilization / decided to make the delegation the World Bank just D.C. area people because of that.

During the pandemic, what were the primary ways that your organizing and your job changed? 

As a climate organization that primarily sent delegations of young people to in-person international climate meetings, SustainUS really struggled. We were going through some internal strife, as were many climate organizations.

And do you feel that positively or negatively impacted your ability to achieve your goals? 

I think it definitely negatively impacted our ability to do our work as an organization.

How has the transition to online organizing impacted your confidence in the movement’s effectiveness?

Decreased my confidence.

Do you think it’s important to build a sense of collective efficacy or confidence among peers? And is that more difficult to do with online organizing and activism? 

Yes and yes – but not impossible.

Do you see any parallels between the ways in which the U.S. govt has handled Covid and the way that it could address climate change?

The government abdicating responsibility and leaving it up to individuals to navigate feels like a clear through line. Doing so despite public support for intervention also seems like a through line.

How do you feel about the Biden-Harris Administration’s approach to climate action, and any actions they’ve taken thus far?

I don’t think they’ve been proud or loud enough about it, and they haven’t been anti-corporation in the way we know the public responds to and resonates with. It’s been a lot of pro-business climate action rhetoric, rather than directly addressing and targeting the source – fossil fuels. They have dropped the ball on using their authority to stop fossil fuels.

How about Congress?

Feel pretty similarly – but can’t discount the progress that was made in at least passing IRA and IIJA.

How do you generally feel about the state of the youth climate movement and our prospects for progress? Are we moving in the right direction?

I think we need another groundswell moment like in 2018, and you can’t really manufacture that. I think Sunrise’s recent pivot to more locally focused organizing in the meantime was probably right. I do hope and believe that the reckoning the orgs have done around racial justice and self-care / sustainability in organizing will serve us well in the long run.