We are deeply concerned about the fate of climate action after this election, and are calling on President Biden, Senator Padilla, and Senator Butler to act now before the inauguration, to combat Trump's anti-climate agenda. 

Read the full letter to President Biden and CA Senators written by Youth v. Oil.

Dear President Biden, Senator Padilla, and Senator Butler,

We need YOU to protect our fundamental rights and our futures by enacting climate protections before the inauguration and beginning of the new legislative session. 

From setting a timeline to cut emissions by 2030 to passing the climate-smart Inflation Reduction Act, the Biden administration and US Congress has developed an ambitious environmental platform. We present you with a list of four protections that should be enacted by this administration and in this congressional session to make the biggest difference in combating Trump’s anti-climate agenda. 

We ask you to:
1. Protect the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and push out all its possible funds
2. Protect vulnerable areas from drilling 3. Protect California waivers for regulating vehicles
4. Fill all judicial vacancies and confirm judicial nominees

Our future lies in your hands, and we are working to ensure that those in power are taking the action necessary to protect it.

- By Youth v. Oil and 12 other organizations

In today’s world, we use Artificial Intelligence (AI) in our daily lives, and this usage will only go up as technology develops and we become further dependent on it. However, as an environmentalist, I only recently discovered the negative impacts this new technology has on our environment. 

AI systems use an incredible amount of energy to run. One form of energy used is electricity, which emits various harmful pollutants and greenhouse gases. In addition, the training needed for an AI model can emit hundreds of tons of carbon into our atmosphere. Furthermore, the hardware needed for AI requires rare elements and critical materials. These resources are often mined unsafely, and the production of the metals also leads to soil erosion and overall pollution. The electronic waste from AI is devastating. The materials from the stages of production, maintenance, and disposal of the hardware from AI create a lot of electronic waste. 

A transition to clean energy would protect us from the brunt of AI’s consequences, which is just another motivation to say no to fossil fuels.

- By Taarika Sethee (she/her), Youth Volunteer Coordinator

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