Like the Ocean We Rise: From Oregon to Tanzania, Young People Confront Climate Change

Author: Barbara Cervone

For several years now, I have followed the tidal wave of youth action around climate change, close at hand and across the globe, bringing it up in casual conversations whenever I can. Folks who know me probably aren’t surprised: I’ve spent a lifetime championing the voices and visions of young people, in good times and bad.

In this blog post (maybe too long to qualify as a “post” — a ten-minute read), I share voices from young climate activists here in the Rogue Valley and from secondary students in Tanzania, where climate-induced drought has upended their lives. I also sketch the contours of the ever-increasing youth climate movement of which these students are a part. I end with the question, “Where are we, their elders, as they fight the fight of a lifetime?” As a recently appointed “Master Climate Protector” with Southern Oregon Climate Action Now, I hope this adds to the conversation.

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