With TikTok and lawsuits, Gen Z takes on climate change
He was trying to escape the deadliest American wildfire in more than a century, an inferno fueled by powerful winds from a faraway hurricane and barely hindered by the state's weak defenses against natural disasters. Her father survived. But for Kaliko, 13, the destruction of the past week has reinforced her commitment to a cause that is coming to define her generation.
«The fire was made so much worse due to climate change,» she said. «How many more natural disasters have to happen before grown-ups realize the urgency?» Like a growing number of young people, Kaliko is engaged in efforts to raise awareness about global warming and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. In fact, last year she and 13 other young people, ages 9-18, sued their home state, Hawaii, over its use of fossil fuels.
With active lawsuits in five states, TikTok videos that mix humor and outrage, and marches in the streets, it's a movement that is seeking to shape policy, sway elections and shift a narrative that its proponents say too often emphasizes climate catastrophes instead of the need to make the planet healthier and cleaner. Young climate activists in the United States have not yet had the same impact of their counterparts in Europe, where Greta Thunberg has galvanized a generation. But during a summer of record heat, choking wildfire smoke and now a hurricane bearing down on Los Angeles, American teenagers and 20-somethings concerned about the planet are increasingly being taken seriously.
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