On September 7th, Amador held the Tri-Valley Youth Environmental Action Summit in the MP. The event was organized by YEASTV, a youth movement focused on educating students on environmental issues, and was sponsored by the GoGreen Initiative, Iklings, Kaiser Permanente, and various other businesses. Various environmental organizations and environmentally concerned activists, including on-campus club Local Leaders of the 21st century, set up booths to educate participants with group discussions, presentations, and activities.

The event was headlined by Eric Swalwell, California Congressman and former presidential candidate, who gave a speech about his take on climate change and the youth’s role in solving the issue. He made note of the substantial negative effect of climate change. 

“I call it climate chaos, by the way, I don’t call it climate change. Change can sometimes be good. There’s nothing good about unseasonable fires as we once again approach fire season here in california. There’s nothing good about superstorms, like we’re seeing with hurricane dorian, and parts of the country that continue to year after year be threatened by hurricanes,” congressman Eric Swalwell.

He then expressed his hope for the United States’ future role in fighting climate change.

“The next president has an opportunity to convene in the United states, every leading country of the world and that we can once again lead from the front on this issue, rather than where we are right now. Playing the role that the United States always plays, of American exceptionalism, of putting the best and brightest in our country on the task, to take on and lead something that will affect all of us,” said Swalwell.

The event drew students from various ages and schools, particularly students who have thought about taking action but didn’t know where to get started. 

“I think that students really need to be aware and proactive about climate change because it’s such a broad issue, but people aren’t organized about it. I figured coming to this event would help me find resources so I can push knowledge and awareness to my school, so we can come together and further achieve our goals in what we want to do as students and as people that are growing up in this environment, and to have an impact,” said Dublin High student Olivia Mock (‘21).

The vendors at the event noted the enthusiasm of the participants. 

“ I learned how much young students care about the environment, it was really awesome to see people come to my breakout session and just learn as much as they can. I thought that was really great to see,” said Lauren Londono, former Amador student (‘19) now attending Cal Poly.

GoGreen CEO Jill Buck imparted her own advice to students seeking to learn more about the changing environment around us.

“Get involved. There are many ways to plug in, the Local Leaders of the 21st century club is only one way, there are so many other ways. Today we heard from a lot of vendors and a lot of organizations, so today is the day to get started. Don’t wait another minute,” said GoGreen CEO Jill Buck.

Overall, the Youth in Environmental Summit was a success in educating young people about the problems within our environment and to teach them how they can advocate for change for the improvement of our climate.