Teen Revolution 2011 - State of the Ocean Update

In June I posted about the State of the Ocean Report – Time to Act and State of the Oceans – What I am Doing About It. Humans have ten years to turn it around, and with each passing year it will get harder. My generation (born in the 1960s) has failed to maintain the momentum gained in the 60s and 70s to protect our planet, and in fact we have lost immense ground. I wouldn't look to us to save the planet and our children.

So who should we look to? Our kids. It is a burden that they have inherited, and I am here to tell you, the teens with whom I am working are remarkable, inspiring and up for the challenge. They range in age from 12 to 16, and they are focused, mature and vibrant. They bring many different talents and interests, and now that we are up and running it will only get better. 

So what are we going to do? Try to stop the North Carolina General Assembly from approving a horrific piece of environmental legislation that will prevent North Carolina from better protecting its environment by more strongly regulating greenhouse gas emissions than the federal government. Our newly republican General Assembly didn't get a chance to complete its dirty, environmentally destructive work before the 2011 session ended, so they will try to finish up in the spring of 2012. We have about seven months to make a difference. 

^{How are we going to do it? That is an interesting question. We have to play within the rules of the General Assembly, but we don't have to follow the usual playbook. I broke away from the playbook (that was a first) earlier this year when stripping a bad health care bill of its bad provisions. While that was new, exciting and refreshing, it isn't enough this time. My challenge will be to facilitate these kids through the process while not getting in the way with my old advocacy paradigms.}  

The kids I am working with are homeschooled, so we have the flexibility and time to do this right. Their focus and energy last night (our second meeting) were more than I remember when their age (I attended public school). We crammed an entire year's worth of standard government into one night and their penetrating, analytic and creative thought exceeded mine. 

This is going to be a wild ride and we are reaching high. Hopefully with a couple more months behind us we can begin to transplant the effort to other teen groups.

If you are interested in growing a similar teen group in your area, please contact me at movingstronglyforward@yahoo.com.