By Rabia Newton
Two local teens have filed suit against the state for failing to adequately battle climate change.
Kayla Nguyen/VANGUARD STAFF
Olivia Chernaik (12 years old) and Kelsey Juliana (16 years old) claim that Oregon hasn’t taken the steps necessary to stave off impending environmental doom. They fear living in what they imagine the world will become: a veritable wasteland.
Way to go, girls.
Your actions, though potentially misguided, are still inspiring and serve as a much-needed reminder of the shared responsibility we all hold as citizens to effect change. To shake things up. To battle the collective cultural apathy that seems to have taken hold of many, especially when it comes to issues like climate change.
While suing the state may ultimately prove ineffectual—and cost Oregon a small fortune in legal defenses—these girls’ behavior demonstrates a level of awareness and agency most of us adults noticeably lack.
These days the prevailing attitude about climate change seems to be one of defeat, as if environmental catastrophe is inevitable at this point.
We’re simply waiting it out, living on borrowed time.
Climate change seems unmanageable, and for good reason. Not only does the human brain literally lack the capacity to fathom the devastating ramifications of such an abstract concept, but also the task of conquering a global, environmental phenomenon this complex is enough to make any sane person feel powerless.
But we’re not powerless, as misses Chernaik and Juliana have so kindly reminded us.
Every single one of us has the ability to actualize change on a local scale. Just look at some of the amazing advances we’ve seen on our own campus.
Take Back the Tap, a student-run campaign, was responsible for installing 11 “hydration stations” around campus, each of which is estimated to save 38,000 plastic bottles per year. Not too shabby, I say.
There’s PSU Recycles, our university-wide recycling program, which managed to divert 966 tons of reusable waste from landfills during the year 2011 alone.
Plus, beginning in 2004, all new constructions and major renovations on campus have been required to meet Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design standards, giving us a total of eight LEED-certified buildings.
PSU also manages to garner an impressive 28 percent of its energy from natural gas—a number that outweighs the campus’s use of coal by 3 percent.
Portland isn’t exactly losing the climate change battle, either. Since 1990, Portlanders have successfully cut their per-person emissions by 26 percent.
(Interestingly, during this same time period, the national average for carbon missions actually went up by 12 percent.)
And in recent years, Mayor Sam Adams pioneered the Climate Action Plan, whose ambitious objective is to decrease Portland’s overall carbon emissions by 80 percent before the year 2050.
Our city offers amazing options in public transportation, as well as a thriving (and somewhat infamous) bike culture. The local food scene is flourishing—a fact well established by the TV show Portlandia.
And the renewable energy sector is going strong, as evidenced by the popularity of programs like Clean Energy Works, an area business that will assess individual homes and help pinpoint opportunities for energy conservation.
Is any of this enough to satisfactorily combat climate change? Not even close. But by looking to what’s already been done, we help overcome that sense of powerlessness. And, we remember that we can always—and should always—do more.
And when we’re feeling defeated by the seemingly inevitable specter of environmental calamity, let’s not forget Olivia and Kelsey. Because they’re the ones who’ll have to live in the wasteland of our inaction.