A Look Back on 2020 and What’s to Come in 2021!
Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!
We are sending the warmest wishes to you and your loved ones this season and into the new year.
As we at Silicon Valley Youth Climate Action reflect on this past year and the enormous challenges we experienced, this is the perfect time to express our sincere gratitude for those of you that made countless sacrifices to keep us safe. We are a resilient community that has stepped up in unprecedent ways to serve others during this pandemic. While there is much work to do in the new year, we are optimistic about all that we can continue to accomplish together.
When the shelter-in-place order was announced earlier this year, SVYCA students quickly adapted to the new health orders and got to work on climate advocacy efforts in a safe manner. This included shifting all of our meetings, communication with advocates and elected officials, and campaign work to virtual platforms.
Here’s a look back at some of our highlights from this past year (click on green links for details):
SVYCA organized a virtual Climate Speaker Series with leaders in the climate and environmental space, bringing together environmentalists from across the spectrum to share their insights, including CEOs, policy advocates, and elected officials such as Congressman Ro Khanna. Watch our Speaker Series at this link.
We also hosted our Leadership Workshops to equip students with skills and strategies to fight for our planet. Topics covered included online team management, effective policy advocacy, and organizing in the digital world. Watch our Leadership Workshops at this link.
To prepare our community members for the November election, we hosted a series of nonpartisan Candidate Forums. The forums focused on legislative solutions to global warming and effective policy making to combat our climate crisis. Watch our Candidate Forums at this link.
Our students created their “Vote for Science 2020” video pitch that earned thousands of views! In the video, students urged 2020 voters to support candidates who prioritized climate and promised to fight for their futures. Watch the video at this link.
Our Transit Team continues to organize dozens of students to speak publicly at VTA Board and Committee meetings, pushing VTA to declare a climate emergency and make climate a priority. They successfully advocated for the VTA board to pass a "Future Ballot Measure" policy to prevent transit operations from being underfunded in the future and a "Naming Rights Marketing Authorization" which will help generate revenue to save transit in Santa Clara County.
Our State Advocacy Team met with legislators and their staff to provide input on a wide variety of state bills. They were successful in advocating for the bills AB841, AB2287, AB3214, AB3074, AB3163 that were signed into law by CA Governor. They were also successful in opposing AB1002 and AB3279.
Our Cupertino Team pushed the Cupertino City Council to add climate adaptation strategies into their annual city work plan and pushed the city’s Sustainability Department to create a youth internship program!
Our Morgan Hill Team continued to conduct research on and advocate for a more progressive city Climate Action Plan.
Our Los Altos Team brought the community together to support the successful passage of Building Electrification “Reach Code” and are actively working to enhance their city’s Climate Action Plan.
Our Sunnyvale Team coordinated with other groups to push for Building Electrification codes and began their advocacy campaign around the Moffett Park Specific Plan.
Our Santa Clara Team formed several research groups and continues to make inroads with their elected officials to ensure the city will advance climate legislation.
Our Saratoga/Los Gatos Team worked in conjunction with school clubs to pressure their school district to pass an aggressive Sustainability Action Plan – a plan to implement more solar panels and go carbon-free by 2030.
Our San Jose Team continues to be a strong voice in the city, playing an integral role in gaining support for the city’s Natural Gas Infrastructure Ban.
As we head into the new year, SVYCA will continue to empower teens and young adults to combat climate change with impactful education and strategic policy advocacy at the city, county, and state level!
The youth showed up to vote and "get-out-the-vote" in 2020. Now, we are looking forward to collaborating with our newly-elected climate leaders and stakeholders at every level to pass more aggressive climate policies and educate our community about environmental leadership.
If you are a student/young adult or you know of one who would like to get involved with our efforts at SVYCA, use this link to sign up and get involved!
May each and every one of you have a healthy holiday season and new year!