Climate Activist Xiuhtezcatl Martinez: This Earth Day, I Believe Bernie Sanders Has Our Back

[Uncle Joe]

on Climate Change

My generation was born into a changing world. It’s crazy to consider the disastrous effect humans have had on the environment in just the 18 years I’ve been alive. When that realization hit me, I shifted from awareness to anger to action.

Before I was old enough to attend school, I found myself protesting, speaking and marching for climate and environmental action. One of the things I noticed right away was that almost everywhere I went, I was the only person like me around. Not only was I the only kid, I was almost always the only indigenous or brown person at all these events.

Every part of our climate crisis, from the extraction, refining and transport of fossil fuels, to the catastrophic weather extremes smashing the globe, is disproportionately impacting poor, black and brown communities. And somehow our perspective wasn’t being included in the mainstream environmental conversation.

(snip)

In the scramble for Democratic presidential hopefuls to hop on the sustainability train, the guy who’s been there all along remains the top choice for my generation. Unlike most politicians, Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) has created a political space that authentically includes and respects the voices and participation of young people. He doesn’t treat us like our opinions and our work are less valuable because we haven’t lived as long, or write us off like most politicians because we don’t vote at as high a rate as our elders.

(snip)


https://www.teenvogue.com/story/climate-activist-xiuhtezcatl-martinez-earth-day-op-ed-bernie-sanders-climate-change