Building a Peaceful Planet for All Beings - Youth Climate Movement Torchbearers Climate NOW & the Sunrise Movement, Part 2 of 4

Today, we are privileged to bring to you one of the most talked-about youth climate groups in the USA today, the Sunrise Movement. Sunrise Movement was founded in 2015 by a small group of like-minded youth on the East coast of the USA, who envisioned a revolutionary overhaul of the country’s climate policies matching the scale of our planet’s climate emergency. Sunrise Movement does not have formal membership, but is estimated as of September 2019 to be comprised of about 80,000 active supporters, most of them in their teens or 20s. Sunrise Movement’s Kate Cragg touched on the perilousness of the situation: “This is a turning point in history. This is a crucial thing that our species has never faced before. So, we have a responsibility greater than any other generation in history.” moment. Sunrise Movement’s activism is modeled after the civil rights movements of the 1900s. Towards its main goal of avoiding a 2°C global temperature rise, Sunrise Movement employs many strategies. The Sunrise Movement gained nationwide recognition in November 2018, when it staged a sit-in protest. The protest received intense media attention. Sunrise Movement is one of the few climate groups in the country to offer a clear and concise list of governing principles, known as the Green New Deal. The principles outlined in the Green New Deal call on government to aggressively regulate the two major greenhouse gas emitters: fossil fuel and animal livestock-raising, to commit to one hundred percent clean, renewable energy, and facilitate a just transition into climate stabilizing industry employment for people whose jobs formerly contributed to global warming. Thanks to the hard work of activists like Remus and others from within the Sunrise Movement, the Green New Deal has gone from a little known political ideal, to being endorsed by 15 US senators and 97 House representatives in some form. From a scientific standpoint, some experts have already made the case for climate action focusing squarely on livestock instead of fossil fuels for climate crisis solutions at this late stage.