Massachusetts Youth Take Action on Climate Change
Isabel Kain is the first to admit that she’s a little different from most of her friends – at least when it comes to worrying about climate change. “My immediate friends are pretty apathetic about it, even though I talk their ears off,” the 15-year-old sophomore at Boston Latin School laughs.
But for Isabel, climate change – especially sea level rise – is a big concern. “By 2050, so many parts of Boston could be under water and inaccessible, including areas where I live and frequent now,” she says. “I’ll be alive to see that.”
That’s why, last November, Isabel and three other teens, alongside CLF and the Mass Energy Consumers Alliance, sued the Commonwealth of Massachusetts for not meeting key obligations of the state’s Global Warming Solutions Act. The Commonwealth has made some headway under the landmark 2008 law, which mandates reductions in greenhouse gas emissions by at least 80% below 1990 levels by 2050. But the suit calls out the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) for failing to follow through on a critical requirement of the law: to create clear, unequivocal rules requiring declining annual emissions.
The consequences of DEP’s inaction are many, but they’re especially acute as the battle over New England’s energy future heats up. If DEP had followed the law and created the required rules, power plant and pipeline developers would have legal guidelines to follow for right sizing new projects to ensure they meet the Act’s imperative to reduce fossil fuel use year over year. Instead, organizations like CLF have had to step into that regulatory void to make sure these kinds of projects meet the law’s requirements.
For CLF, this suit is about more than regulations, however. It’s also an opportunity for the next generation to show their leadership in pushing for change – for teens like Isabel and the growing number of youth in Massachusetts and around the globe who understand the huge impacts that climate change could have on their lives.
“Climate change is not an abstract concept,” says Isabel. “It’s very real, it’s very close. I hope that, through this lawsuit, Mass DEP will comply with the law andhelp make Massachusetts a healthier place for everyone and just better in the long run for the environment.”
Whatever the lawsuit’s outcome, it’s clear that Isabel is a young leader whose fight for a healthy climate is just getting started. As she thinks about her future career, she’s considering environmental engineering, she says, so she can create “environmentally friendly alternatives to a lot of the technologies that we have today. I could stay on the path I’m on now and make a difference.”
