This commentary is by Iris Hsiang of Essex, youth member of the Vermont Climate Council.
I am a high school student, and while I wish I was able to focus on my classes and enjoy this time of my life as carefree as others my age, I can’t. I know too much about the threats to the future of my generation and the present injustices in the world to do so.
That’s why since a young age I have been fighting the climate crisis in every way that I can. I have helped organize protests and rallies, crafted and advocated for policies, planted trees and, most recently, have been appointed the youth member on the Vermont Climate Council.
When asked to consider why I do this work, I often reply, “Because I don’t have a choice.” While that is true, it is also more complicated. A lot of people my age are concerned with what they don’t have or what they wish they did have. While I find myself caught in that same mentality, I am all too aware that my existence is privileged. Lots of people, when thinking about privilege, feel guilty or ashamed. While I feel those things, mostly I feel obligated. I feel obligated to use what privilege I have to obliterate it and use my position to uplift others.
That is why I fight for the climate, because fighting for the climate is fighting for the people.
Our current narrative has failed to fully make that connection. We get stuck on the idea that this may not be devastating yet for us or people we know and love. But not everyone has the luxury to fight against the climate crisis in terms of the future, because millions are experiencing it now.
Here in Vermont, we are already seeing an alarming prevalence of tick-borne illnesses, volatile freeze-thaw cycles, and damaging increases in rainfall and flooding year after year. We must recognize climate change is here, now. We must also use our actions to honor those who live this crisis every day and are currently fighting rising sea levels, droughts, famines, and falling life expectancies.
It is always the most disadvantaged people who are and will be hurt most. The climate crisis, like all our global challenges, compounds and exacerbates the inequalities in our societies.
I fight for the climate because I care about people. All harm, past and present, is connected. Our shared history of colonialism, slavery and rapid industrialization caused this crisis, which today disproportionately hurts those who are least responsible for it, including American descendants of slaves and people of the global majority.
We cannot and should not separate social issues from climate change. We must address both to have any chance at justice. Our communities and our world are already changing. We must take this opportunity for global solidarity to build cultures based on mutual respect, justice and equality, rather than xenophobia, violence and oppression. Inaction will only hurt us all.
We have begun this work with the creation of the Vermont Climate Council and the incorporation of a Just Transitions Subcommittee, and we have a duty to get it right. We cannot simply inject equity and justice at the end; they must be the guiding principles of this work. To this point, I haven’t seen that done in a meaningful way. Centering justice is as urgent as fighting the climate crisis itself. We must do both.
To my fellow councilors: We know this is occupied land; we know justice is not the equal distribution of burdens and benefits, but a fair one; and most of all we know that we need to center to the voices of those most affected because otherwise, this project will not provide climate justice — it will perpetuate injustice under the guise of change.
The tools to make this happen are available. We must compensate those most affected for their voice and input. We must do deeper outreach in communities. We must make public comments accessible with a process for incorporating them into our work. Historically, we have made the choice not to take those paths. Let’s fix that going forward.
Councilors can make these changes and continue to educate themselves on the issues of race, equity and justice. Community members can give feedback through the council’s public input form, directly to us by attending council meetings, and through a public input process that will be announced in the coming weeks. And we can all push each other to do the right thing because frankly, it is the only way we will survive this.
And our success depends on you — on all of us. Creating the broad, revolutionary change we need will require a broad coalition. And we’ll need participation and investment from as many people as possible.
I do this work because fighting for the climate is fighting for the people. It’s fighting for you and your loved ones. Together we can stop changing the climate while changing the world for the better.
