Local students ask lawmakers to address climate change

Students from Youth Lobby, Sierra Club and Sunrise Chittenden attended Vermont Youth Lobby Day at the Statehouse to demand climate action and a brighter future for Vermont.

“While we all will experience the same effects of climate change, we will not experience them equally. BIPOC and low-income communities already have limited access to quality education, jobs, housing, healthy food and transportation,” Earl Aguila, student organizer of Sunrise Chittenden and South Burlington student, said. “A changing climate would exacerbate these crises through centuries of systemic racism through laws, policies, and practices that have placed these Vermonters in an especially vulnerable position.”

During the day, youth activists met with their representatives, Lt. Gov. David Zuckerman and the Climate Solutions Caucus to express their concerns and advocate for solutions, and to call for the passage of S.5, the Affordable Heat Act.

“Show me you will listen to the voices of future generations,” Jenna Hischman, a student activist with Youth Lobby and Essex High School junior, said. “Show me you will listen to the fight I am forced to fight on our planet’s behalf. Pass the Affordable Heat Act and show me you care about our futures.”

Vermont Youth Lobby is a non-partisan coalition of young Vermonters who are dedicated to promoting policies that protect the environment and create a sustainable future for all.

Sunrise Chittenden is a local chapter of the Sunrise Movement, a national youth-led organization that advocates for climate justice. They work to engage young people in the political process and push for solutions to the climate crisis.