On Saturday, March 4th, Hawaii’s Citizens’ Climate Lobby Youth Action Team took their message on the road to St. Andrews, where the Diocese held an educational day for church leaders and lay people.  The team shared their experience and lessons learned around engaging with Hawaii’s legislature and the legislative process.  The event was inspirational for all.  As Logan, one of the 'Iolani youth stated: "The event was meaningful because it provided the chance to bridge the inter-generational gap in climate change action. By working with adults towards a common goal, we were able to create meaningful connections in order to work towards the combined goal of increased climate change action."

The students started their presentation by introducing themselves and sharing their climate stories.  They impressed upon the audience the importance of having a good climate story, as it’s the crux of any good testimony.  They then asked the audience to pair up and share their climate stories with their partner.  After the exercise, a few audience members shared their climate stories, ranging from one leader noticing the lower maple syrup yields in New Hampshire to another church leader pointing out the significant change in weather patterns in Maui over his 60 years.

Students talked about their legislative journey and accomplishments, ranging from lobbying with state lawmakers and meetings with US Representative Ed Case to the OpEds* they wrote. They also shared their future plans to develop a liaison program with state legislators. They detailed their successes with their media engagement - their compelling op-eds and experience with HPR's The Conversation and ThinkTech's Code Green.

In the face of the large amount of news and information about climate change, one can feel overwhelmed to the point of inaction.  To counteract these negative feelings, the students talked about their involvement in organizing the Climate Future Forum and how this offered them the experience and confidence to develop legislative priorities with other youth.  'Iolani junior Sophie expanded on these feelings: "It’s easy to feel hopeless in the face of the climate crisis, but it’s important to remember three things. Yes climate change is real, and yes it is bad, but no it is not unsolvable. Everyone can get involved and do their part.”

To help members of the audience feel empowered, the students concluded by sharing how others can become involved in the legislative process and create the political will for positive change. "Our key message to the adults is that inter-generational action is very necessary to effect real legislative change," 'Iolani sophomore Audrey stated, "Engaging in our event was already the first step. And we hope to see more adults supporting youth-led climate organizations with their time, testimony, and votes!"

* Op-Eds

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Honolulu Star Advertiser - Climate action needed now, for sake of isles’ youth