Overcoming Fears and Creating a Successful Climate Action Group
In September 2021, I initiated at my synagogue a group about the climate crisis. Not a single adult signed up. However, two young people expressed interest. With the help of the temple’s youth coordinator, I assembled a group of Jewish girls, ages twelve to fifteen.
In November 2021, we started meeting on Zoom. Our initial meetings were challenging. I presented ideas and tried to encourage the girls’ participation. None of them seemed to have any ideas about what they wanted from the group or what we should do during our time together. Some of them kept their screens off during our discussions.
I persisted. I kept bringing information—a video by a young person about maintaining hope as an activist, a presentation by a Jewish climate organization about making our personal lives environmentally conscious, a music video by young people about climate issues. Nothing seemed to resonate or stimulate their interest or engagement.
In March I learned that a member of our city’s Board of Representatives was proposing a resolution to have our city declare a climate emergency. I brought that to the girls—and they got excited. One of them started to take leadership and read some quotes from Greta Thunberg [a young Swedish climate activist]. They all wanted to do something.
I learned that a committee of the Board of Representatives was going to have a virtual meeting at which the proposed resolution was going to be discussed—and that the public could attend but not speak. Two of the girls said they would attend. I attended, but the webinar format didn’t allow me to see whether any of the girls were there.
The committee decided to put the resolution on hold for a month, because some of the committee members were absent and there were multiple versions of the resolution. I wrote a summary of what had happened and sent it out to all the girls before I went to bed.
The next morning I received an e-mail from one of the girls who had attended the meeting. She was upset that the resolution had been tabled [put on hold]. She wanted to organize a school strike or a protest. We e-mailed back and forth and then called for another meeting of our group. She took leadership and shared her thoughts about what we could do. The other girls gladly signed up for an action (even though they were reluctant to miss school to participate).
At our next meeting, we planned our action. We decided to create flyers that supported the city’s declaration of a climate emergency and distribute them in front of the public library. The girls took responsibility for making the flyers and getting publicity. I was assigned to get the permits for the action.
Getting the permits put me up against [made me confront] some fears I didn’t know I had. I was expected to contact the police department to get permission for our action and was scared that the police would ask for my name and address, would require me to come to the station so they could fingerprint me, and would try to convince me not to do the action. I delayed for a few days and had some mini-sessions. Then I decided that I didn’t want anything to stop the girls from doing what they wanted to do—and that was sufficient motivation for me to act outside of my fears.
It turned out [as it happened] my fears were unfounded. The police were pleasant. We didn’t even need a permit. We just needed permission from the library, which we easily obtained.
Meanwhile, the resolution came before the committee of the Board of Representatives again, and this time it passed the committee.
We distributed our flyers about the climate emergency on a rainy, chilly Sunday afternoon. The full board was scheduled to have its monthly meeting on the following day, with the Climate Resolution on its lengthy agenda. It was the worst possible weather for an outdoor action, but three of the girls showed up [came]. It was great to meet them in person. One of their parents also passed out flyers, as did my wife. The girls were enthusiastic about doing something they believed in. It was an empowering afternoon for us all.
The next day the Board of Representatives held its (virtual) meeting. The public could make comments if they signed up in advance. One of the girls, A—, and I signed up. Each member of the public was given three minutes. I spoke; then so did A—. She was great—a ninth grader putting out her thinking and demanding action. About forty items were on the board’s agenda, and our resolution was about thirtieth on the list, so A— and I left the meeting at about 10:00 p.m.
The next day I wrote to the representative who had sponsored the resolution and found out that it had passed. I told the girls and their parents. We were joyous!
An article appeared in our local newspaper a few days later in which A— and I were quoted, based on what we had said at the Board of Representatives meeting.
We are eager to think about what we will do next.
Stamford, Connecticut, USA
Reprinted from the RC e-mail discussion list for leaders in care of the environment
(Present Time 208, July 2022)