“Everyday Climate Champions” Podcast Episode 7: “Innovation and Equity in the Climate Movement”
Written by Mina Rios
Learn more about Climate Reality Bay Area’s podcast, Everyday Climate Champions here.
“Climate justice is collective liberation. We cannot do this without everyone participating. And it's very important to acknowledge that the most underrepresented and marginalized groups are often the most impacted and the most harmed.”
Listen to Episode 6: here
Transcript: here
Guests: Aditi Anand, teen climate activist/Hub Coordinator, Sunrise Movement - Silicon Valley
Host: Sean Mendelson
Summary:
Featured guest Aditi Anand, a high school student and climate activist with Sunrise Movement-Silicon Valley and Civics Unplugged, discusses becoming an activist and advocating for social justice in the climate movement. She also touches on sustainable technologies, climate liberation, and getting involved in climate advocacy.
Why This Matters:
Many young people want to get involved in solving the climate crisis, as their futures are on the line – more than was true for previous generations. They are very interested in ensuring that climate justice be brought to the forefront: reshaping climate action to include a focus on addressing human rights and social inequality.
Two examples of organizations that offer leadership opportunities for climate advocacy include The Sunrise Movement and Civics Unplugged.
Key Takeaways
Sixteen year old Aditi Anand of San Jose is a member of the Sunrise Movement - Silicon Valley, a youth-driven organization committed to stopping climate change and creating sustainable jobs. Members are high school and college students primarily from San Jose, Palo Alto, Mountain View, Fremont, and Gilroy.
As a climate justice advocate, Anand addresses how climate change disproportionately affects Indigenous people, communities of color, and marginalized frontline communities.
While balancing high school, community college courses, and activism is challenging, Anand finds a way to make her schedule work.
Her journey as a climate activist began in 2015 when she was eight years old. Her grandparents were living in Chennai, India, in the same house where her father had grown up. She recalls visiting and seeing the watermarks halfway up the walls after the flood waters subsided. The family believes that climate change unequivocally caused the disaster.
Anand has lived through other climate disasters while growing up. But the defining moment that kickstarted her interest in climate advocacy was the 2020 California wildfire season, when she and her family were evacuated from their home. She also realized that some families were likely experiencing far worse conditions, such as those living near oil refineries. Knowing that conditions everywhere would continue to worsen over the years, she decided to act.
Recently Anand joined the Civics Unplugged Climate Innovators Fellowship, a program designed for high-school students to explore markets, technologies, and legislative policies driving climate action. This national group of young people advocates for innovation in solving the climate crisis. Learning about sustainable building solutions such as heat pumps, smart window technology, and solar advancement has motivated Anand to help educate people on the latest sustainable building alternatives. She also now has access to internship opportunities with sustainability leaders.
Anand has observed that many people assume transitioning to sustainable utilities is unaffordable. With the understanding that the latest technologies are designed to outlast old technology that’s no longer sustainable, she conveys that people will save more money in the long run.
While discussing sustainable building, host Sean Mendelson reminds the guest and audience that Episode 4 of the Everyday Climate Champions podcast focuses on building climate-friendly structures with electrification and sustainable technologies. Check out Episode 4.
In December 2022, Sunrise Movement-Silicon Valley received the Human Agenda Human Rights Award for Sustainability. The keynote speaker at the event was revered activist Dolores Huerta. Huerta was a labor rights activist during the 1960’s and ‘70s with Cesar Chavez. They coined the phrase, "si, se puede;" translation, “yes we can.”
Anand recalls Huerta acknowledging the young Sunrise Movement activists attending the awards ceremony. She admits, “It was very cool,” being recognized. Huerta also made the point that advocacy on policy and community change was just as important as striking and protesting.
Mendelson took a moment to share a quote by analytical philosopher Noam Chomsky from April 2021, on the critical role the Sunrise Movement holds in activism. "The most gratifying thing is the work of the Sunrise Movement and many others who are carrying things forward in the face of severe difficulties, unflinching and moving forward on crucial challenges. That's gratifying."
Climate Liberation is an advocacy term, which Anand shared, meaning that to achieve climate justice, no individual shall be left behind. This message was inspired by the words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr: "No one is free until we are all free.”
Anand addressed the powerful effect of the Sunrise Movement in empowering students to get involved in advocacy and inspiring them to help create a better future. Examples include bringing major efforts such as the Green New Deal and Climate Justice into public consciousness, on a national level. In this youth-led organization, young people are able to meet like-minded people from diverse backgrounds and collectively explore their potential as activists.
Sharing how difficult it is to be a teenager in the 2020s, Anand said it’s sometimes hard to find people who care about the future and want to make a difference. She’s also observed that headlines and national news often preoccupy people from following what’s happening in their local government. The Inflation Reduction Act, for instance, has a direct impact on people at the local level, yet many are unfamiliar with the individual household benefits of this piece of legislation.
Anand sees how fortunate people are to be able to participate in the democratic process. She also encourages more people to get involved with climate and political advocacy groups around the Bay Area to make their voices heard.
How to Take Action
Anyone interested in becoming an activist is encouraged to educate themselves on policy and local officials in their area. The Sunrise Movement, Sunrise Silicon Valley chapter, and Civics Unplugged offer youth a variety of options for getting involved in climate advocacy. Please visit the Related Website links below.
The Climate Reality Bay Area chapter also offers training and activism opportunities for youth and young adults interested in climate solutions. The Youth Climate Action Team (Y-CAT) is designed for youth 14-18, and The Young Adult Engagement Team welcomes those 18-35. Click to inquire.
Related Websites:
Sunrise Movement: https://sunrisemovement.org/ A youth movement to stop climate change and create millions of good jobs in the process.
Sunrise Silicon Valley: http://sunrisesiliconvalley.org/ The Silicon Valley chapter of the Sunrise Movement
Civics Unplugged Climate Innovators Fellowship: https://www.civicsunplugged.org/climate A fellowship for high school students interested in a career in climate innovation
Episode 4 of Everyday Climate Champions Podcast [referenced in this episode]: Building Electrification: a climate solution with a built-in public health benefit (on Spotify)