{"id":2447665,"date":"2019-08-17T03:44:00","date_gmt":"2019-08-17T09:44:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/youth-activists-stress-collaboration-urgency-to-respond-to-climate-change\/"},"modified":"2019-08-17T03:44:00","modified_gmt":"2019-08-17T09:44:00","slug":"youth-activists-stress-collaboration-urgency-to-respond-to-climate-change","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/local-news\/youth-activists-stress-collaboration-urgency-to-respond-to-climate-change\/","title":{"rendered":"Youth activists stress collaboration, urgency to respond to climate change"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"swift-gallery p402_hide\" readability=\"6.615221987315\">\n<ul id=\"imageGallery-311358-379\" class=\"gallery list-unstyled\">\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/08\/ARE3-atd-081719-1-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/08\/ARE3-atd-081719-1.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Maddie Vincent \/ The Aspen Times | Xiye Bastida Patrick stands with her mom outside of the Viceroy Snowmass resort on Thursday afternoon. Environmental activism has deep roots in Bastida Patrick's family history, which her mother believes is why she has grown to be a leading youth climate change activist.\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"0\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"11\">\n<p><strong>Xiye Bastida Patrick stands with her mom outside of the Viceroy Snowmass resort on Thursday afternoon. Environmental activism has deep roots in Bastida Patrick&#8217;s family history, which her mother believes is why she has grown to be a leading youth climate change activist.<\/strong><br \/>Maddie Vincent \/ The Aspen Times<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/08\/ARE3-atd-081719-1.jpg\" alt=\"Xiye Bastida Patrick stands with her mom outside of the Viceroy Snowmass resort on Thursday afternoon. Environmental activism has deep roots in Bastida Patrick's family history, which her mother believes is why she has grown to be a leading youth climate change activist.\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/08\/ARE3-atd-081719-1-1-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/08\/ARE3-atd-081719-1-1.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Maddie Vincent \/ The Aspen Times | Benji Backer, founder of the American Conservation coalition, speaks to AREDay attendees Thursday afternoon.\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"-0.5\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"10\">\n<p><strong>Benji Backer, founder of the American Conservation coalition, speaks to AREDay attendees Thursday afternoon.<\/strong><br \/>Maddie Vincent \/ The Aspen Times<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/08\/ARE3-atd-081719-1-1.jpg\" alt=\"Benji Backer, founder of the American Conservation coalition, speaks to AREDay attendees Thursday afternoon.\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"caption-toggle\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/youth-activists-stress-collaboration-urgency-to-respond-to-climate-change\/#\" class=\"show-captions\">Show Captions<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/youth-activists-stress-collaboration-urgency-to-respond-to-climate-change\/#\" class=\"hide-captions\">Hide Captions<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">This year\u2019s American Renewable Energy, or AREDAY speaker series and related film festival aimed to promote actionable solutions to climate change by bringing a lot of the key leaders chasing those solutions to one place.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">At 15- and 30-minute intervals, these leaders spoke about things such as hydrogen-based clean energy technologies and how to make them economically viable in hopes they will replace the fossil fuel industry as the world\u2019s leading energy producer.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Much of it was technical and there were a lot of charts, graphs and numbers presented to the AREDAY audiences who soaked them up, snapping iPhone photos of the data and taking detailed notes.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">But while the 16th annual AREDAY summit was titled \u201cThe Politics of Change: Creating New Hydrogen-Carbon Economy\u201d and did feature a lot of cutting edge science predominantly produced by older men and women, it also made a point of bringing a different set of leaders to the table \u2014 youth activists.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText Subhead\">A conservative, a millennial and an environmentalist walk into a room<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">One of those young leaders was Benji Backer, a 21-year-old student at the University of Washington in Seattle and founder of the American Conservation Coalition, who was a different voice for the AREDAY audience to hear.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cAs you can tell, on the agenda, I am not Michael Brune and I am not the head of the Sierra Club,\u201d Backer said. Brune was supposed to speak instead of Backer on Thursday afternoon, according to the agenda.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cIn fact, I might be in many people\u2019s eyes one of the exact opposites of that because I am a conservative political activist who believes that our party, our movement needs to do more on environmental challenges,\u201d Backer said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Applause rung out around the room.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">During Backer\u2019s short speech, he briefly explained his personal history, his frustration with how American politicians on both sides have framed climate change and his thoughts on why it has become such a divisive, bipartisan topic in America.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cIn the past, Republicans have had a great track record on the environment with national parks being created by Teddy Roosevelt and the EPA being created by President (Richard) Nixon,\u201d Backer said, acknowledging a few positive Republican environmental initiatives. \u201cSo, where have we gotten lost as a conservative movement?\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Backer pointed to a handful of reasons explaining where he feels the political divide on climate change comes from.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">First, he said the negative effects of climate change were presented in an alarmist way right off the bat. Telling people they can\u2019t do what they want with their lives turns those people away, Backer said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Second, Backer said big government is often presented as the only solution to environmental challenges, which he feels turned off 50% of the conservative population because they don\u2019t believe in big government.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Instead, Backer said it\u2019d be more beneficial to promote the multitude of climate change solutions that exist outside of government.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cOf course I believe there needs to be regulations and there needs to be a governmental role in some environmental challenges, the market and market-based mechanisms can do a lot and arguably can do more for the environment than anything else,\u201d Backer said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Related to this second reason for the climate divide, Backer said vilifying corporations is another turn off for conservatives, when corporations can really contribute to climate change solutions.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">But beyond trying to make sense of why there is a divide, Backer aimed to give the AREDAY attendees hope that conservative millennials are working to fix it.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cConservatives in my generation are leading and want to lead on climate change and other environmental issues,\u201d Backer said. \u201cThe environment is bipartisan and we have to work with every person to protect it because we all have a stake in this, and young people get that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">After Backer\u2019s speech, he talked more about his conservative environmentalist vision for the future.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">His desire to start his own nonprofit, aimed at empowering young conservatives to talk with their legislators and be a larger voice in the environmental movement, came out of a climate change course he took as a freshman.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Backer said he\u2019s been speaking on national conservative stages since he was 10 and had the connections to help him get his nonprofit up and running, but that the thousands of young conservatives the American Conservation Coalition has interacted with and their desire for positive environmental change is what will keep the nonprofit moving forward.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cWe\u2019re in an all-or-nothing political climate,\u201d Backer said. \u201cWe need to think in bipartisan ways that don\u2019t turn people off to solutions and showcase the allies, like me, that most people don\u2019t realize exist.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText Subhead\">Saturday\u2019s speakers focus on youth activism, urgency<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Backer isn\u2019t the only young speaker at the AREDAY summit this year.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Other millennials took the stage over the three-day event, and the whole Saturday afternoon speaking series, titled \u201cRising Up! The Urgency is Now!\u201d will feature youth activists and organizations emphasizing the need for rapid widespread use of clean energy and decarbonization strategies.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cFor us, this is an emergency because it\u2019s (climate change) impacting the future we have to live in,\u201d said Xiye Bastida Patrick, a 17-year-old youth climate activist based in New York City. \u201cIn 10 years I\u2019ll be 27, I should be worried about what I want to do after college and where I want to work, not where I have to live.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Bastida Patrick has been fighting for greater political action on climate change solutions ever since her family was displaced from their home in Mexico by extreme cycles of drought and flooding in 2015.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cI became an activist when I realized the power my personal story had on people. I didn\u2019t even realize it was a climate story at first,\u201d Bastida Patrick said. \u201cIn order to shift the culture, we need to shift the narrative and show how climate change is affecting real people in real time.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Since she left her hometown and moved to New York City, Bastida Patrick has spoken at United Nations conferences around the world, worked with leading organizations like the Peoples Climate Movement, and has helped organize her city\u2019s piece of the \u201cFridays for Future\u201d movement.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cFridays for Future\u201d started about a year ago when Greta Thunberg, 15, vowed to strike in front of the Swedish parliament building every Friday until Swedish policies ensured the country\u2019s energy and emissions standards would be in line with those laid out in the Paris Agreement.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">She posted what she was doing on social media, which went viral and inspired students like Bastida Patrick in dozens of countries around the world to hold similar strikes in front of government buildings in their local communities.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Thunberg is on her way to New York City by boat for the strike Sept. 20, three days before leaders will gather there for the UN Climate Summit.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cWe know these strikes won\u2019t solve the climate crisis, but we hope it will enable the political mechanisms that can,\u201d Bastida Patrick said. \u201cWe understand the science and the research but we don\u2019t have time for it. There\u2019s no time. We have to speak out.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">In three panel discussions Saturday, Bastida Patrick and another prominent youth activist, Xiuhtezcatl Martinez, will talk about the need for both rapid political and cultural change.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Bastida Patrick also wants to speak with AREDAY attendees about her indigenous roots and cosmology, which fuels her relentless drive to protect the Earth; and the need for lower socioeconomic voices at the decision making table, as she feels these peoples are being hit hardest by the negative impacts of climate change but aren\u2019t empowered to speak up.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Overall, Bastida Patrick said she feels the best way to turn the climate change solutions that already exist into a worldwide reality is through an intergenerational, political and cultural movement anchored by the younger voices.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cWe can bring the urgency. I mean this (event) has been going on for 16 years and we still haven\u2019t solved the climate crisis,\u201d Bastida Patrick said of the younger generations. \u201cRight now is a powerful time because young people around the world are standing up and fighting for their future.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText Tagline\"><a href=\"mailto:mvincent@aspentimes.com\">mvincent@aspentimes.com<\/a><\/p>\n<p> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/youth-activists-stress-collaboration-urgency-to-respond-to-climate-change\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">via:: The Aspen Times<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Xiye Bastida Patrick stands with her mom outside of the Viceroy Snowmass resort on Thursday afternoon. Environmental activism has deep roots in Bastida Patrick&#8217;s family history, which her mother believes is why she has grown to be a leading youth climate change activist.Maddie Vincent \/ The Aspen Times Benji Backer, founder of the American Conservation [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-2447665","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-25 05:53:39","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSPN The Valley&#039;s Quality Rock","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2447665","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2447665"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2447665\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2447665"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2447665"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2447665"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}