J u s t C l o u d s

“And time is on your side, It’s on your side now. Not pushing you down and all around, no it’s no cause for concern“-Coldplay Amsterdam Lyrics

Oh beautiful Amsterdam! On my way to Copenhagen I had an 8hr layover in Amsterdam and decided to venture out into the city with my two friends Ryan and Jenny. So first of all, we get to the airport and wait for like thirty minutes at baggage claim. People got their bags and then we were the only ones there. Confused and worried, we asked one of the employees and we were told that our bags were taken care of and there was no need to pick them at baggage claim. “You guys aren’t used to this service in America,” he said with a smile. No, we are not used to this. It is nice that they do that but it would be nice-er if we had known to avoid the unnecessary wait. Regardless, we were glad our flight arrived 30 minutes early so in essence we were on schedule. (more…)

As the youth environmental movement gains momentum prior to COP15,  The White House  announced just the Wednesday before Thanksgiving that they would host a Youth and Clean Energy Forum with youth environmental leaders on Dec 2, 2009. The act in and of itself is a great victory for the youth environmental movement. Achieving such type of open dialogue was a heavier task during the Bush administration especially considering the fact that Bush did not acknowledge climate change until the last 2 years of his term. The fact that the Obama administration put this forum together is a great step forward.

100 youth leaders meet with White House Senior staff to discuss Climate Change

As a prominent youth environmental justice leader with the Little Village Environmental Justice Organization in Chicago, I was one of 100 youth leaders invited to participate in the forum. At first, I thought the forum was just going to be a speil session with little time to ask questions. Well, the forum exceeded my expectations even though President Obama did not attend the forum. Those present at the forum included Steven Chu, Secretary of Energy; Hilda Solis, Secretary of Labor; Lisa Jackson, Administrator  of Environmental Protection Agency; Nancy Sutley ,Chair of Council on Environmental Quality; Jon Carson, Chief of Staff for Council on Environmental Quality; Carol Browner, Director of White House Office of Energy and Climate Change. The forum was broken down into two parts: 1) panel with Q&A session. 2) Working groups with senior level staff.  (more…)

Young pollution sleuths and community activists fight for healthier air.

When Juan Hernandez moved to West Oakland from Bakersfield, Calif., one year ago, his asthma flared up. He used his inhaler more and more often and, eventually, had to give up his favorite sport: running. “I was huffing and puffing, but I thought, It’s my own personal problem,” says Hernandez, 17. Then, while working on a school assignment, he discovered otherwise. His environmental-law teacher sent Hernandez and his classmates on a “toxic tour” of their neighborhood: they walked around and wrote down what they saw, what they smelled and how they felt. This particular section of West Oakland, which lies in the shadow of a tangled web of four freeways and the Port of Oakland, has the second highest rate of asthma in the city. As Hernandez strode a few blocks from school, he passed a scrap-metal recycling plant and aluminum smelter that “smelled nasty,” he says. It was an “aha” moment: “I said to myself, ‘I’m living in this place that has some of the worst pollution in all of Oakland, and I gotta do something about it. (more…)