Youth Climate Activist Jamie Margolin on Why We’re Caught in a Climate Emergency

Between founding a youth climate coalition, organizing a national climate march, writing a book, and going to high school, 18-year-old Jamie Margolin’s schedule is pretty packed. “What am I doing to address climate change?” asks Margolin. “Girl, what am I not doing to address climate change is the real question.”

Jamie Margolin.

The engaged teenager started working on issues surrounding the climate crisis when she was a freshmen in high school in Seattle. She testified on and lobbied for legislation at the city and state levels, gave speeches, and organized and attended events.

“Then after about a little over a year of doing this, I was growingly frustrated that the work I was doing locally was not enough; people were not taking enough action,” Margolin explains. She took to social media and started an organization called Zero Hour to put together a youth climate march in Washington, D.C., and around the world, which took place on July 21, 2018.

Read the story from Rolling Stone magazine by Reed Dunlea - “Youth Climate Activist Jamie Margolin on Why We’re Caught in a Climate Emergency.”

These Young Climate Justice Advocates Say It's Time for a Revolution

Jamie Margolin can’t remember a time in her life when climate change wasn’t a crisis. The signs were everywhere, from the disappearing sea life in the 16-year-old’s hometown of Seattle to the climate-related disasters in Colombia where her mother’s family lives.

Jamie Margolin of Seattle, Washington, left, is an
environmental activist who co-founded Zero
Hour with Nadia Nazar of Baltimore, Maryland,
right. With a team of volunteers, they are preparing
 for the first Youth Climate March in Washington, D.C.

“When you’re growing up with all this beautiful wildlife around you, it gives you a better idea of what you want to protect,” said Margolin, who will start 11th grade this fall. “And also it’s more painful when, for example, things go wrong, when you see that that habitat is being destroyed.”

Margolin said she wanted to take action when she was younger, but avoided it because the problem was so terrifying. But Donald Trump’s election spurred her to action.

“As young people, we find ourselves in this really awkward place in history where we are going to be alive for the worst effects of climate change, but we’re not old enough to make the decisions right at that tipping point where they need to be made,” she said.  

Read the HuffPost story by Yvette Cabrera -  “These Young Climate Justice Advocates Say It's Time for a Revolution.”

These Young Climate Justice Advocates Say It's Time for a Revolution

Jamie Margolin can’t remember a time in her life when climate change wasn’t a crisis. The signs were everywhere, from the disappearing sea life in the 16-year-old’s hometown of Seattle, to the climate-related disasters in Colombia where her mother’s family lives.

Jamie Margolin of Seattle, Washington, left, is an environmental
activist who co-founded Zero Hour with Nadia Nazar of
Baltimore, Maryland, right. With a team of volunteers, they
are preparing for the first Youth Climate March in Washington, D.C.

“When you’re growing up with all this beautiful wildlife around you, it gives you a better idea of what you want to protect,” said Margolin, who will start 11th grade this fall. “And also it’s more painful when, for example, things go wrong, when you see that that habitat is being destroyed.”

Margolin said she wanted to take action when she was younger, but avoided it because the problem was so terrifying. But Donald Trump’s election spurred her to action.

Read the story by Yvette Cabrera from the Huffington Post - “These Young Climate Justice Advocates Say It's Time for a Revolution.”