This past week on Thursday, March 5, Chloe Yeo, a member of a well known youth-led political movement visited Seattle Central College to discuss youth activism as part of the Conversations on Social Issues (COSI). Yeo is an activist involved with climate change, specifically the Sunrise Movement, a group whose main focus is battling the ongoing climate crisis through political change.
One of the main goals of the group is to get the Green New Deal integrated into U.S. politics. The deal, a proposition as of now, focuses on a solution for two dilemmas in our current time: climate change and the unequal distribution of wealth in the United States. A focus of the deal is renewable energy, an industry that focuses on getting energy services replenished by natural factors such as air, solar power, water, and more. More potential benefits that arise with this deal are the many, needed job opportunities across the country that this industry could easily provide.
If you’ve heard of the group, chances are it may be from one of their protests that took place in 2018. The group received widespread coverage when they carried out a sit-in at House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office in Washington D.C. The goal of the protest was for democratic members of the Representatives to reject any donations from companies associated with the fossil fuel industry, and that Pelosi herself would work towards building unity over a Green New Deal legislation that could be instated once the democratic party has managed to regain power in the government. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the young democratic congresswoman representing New York’s 14th congressional district, not only advocated for the group, but joined and supported them by taking part in their sit-in. The group later conducted a similar protest on a much smaller scale with Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein of California for her support of the Green New Deal.
The group is also led by youth with a passion for change, something that’s become more prominent in US politics. With the political changes that have been happening across the globe for the last few years, groups like Sunrise have become more conspicuous in politics and have made sure their voices are heard. If you are interested in looking at more of what they do or joining the movement, you can find out more about them at https://www.sunrisemovement.org.
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