White House to Meet with Youth Climate Leaders on Wednesday!

photo: Congressman Ed Markey, Chairman of the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming, held a special Congressional briefing with student leaders on Monday, March 2, 2009 in 2172 Rayburn House Office Building - "Youth Climate: Green Jobs, Clean Futures."


Jessy Tolkan, Executive Director of the Energy Action Coalition, published a great post today, Voices from Hopenhagen, about youth involvement in the climate movement.

From her post:

In March, 12,000 young people descended on Washington for our Power Shift 09 summit, and told leaders that we want a bold and just climate and energy future. This fall, thousands took the same message back to their local communities for Regional Power Shift 09 summits in 11 states. On the year anniversary of the historical 2008 presidential election, we launched the “It’s Game Time, Obama!” initiative in which more than 50,000 actions were taken to ask the President to meet with youth leaders, give an address to the nation outlining his strategy and attend Copenhagen in person. All of this work culminates Wednesday in a meeting at the White House with senior officials to discuss our vision for next year and how we will reach consensus and achieve the goals we set for ourselves.


From the Energy Action Coalition's "It's Game Time, Obama!" Campaign website:

The White House has arranged for a meeting December 2nd that will bring together emerging young leaders from non-profits, businesses, and community groups along with experts from federal agencies, members of the Cabinet, and White House officials to engage in a dialogue. President Obama has not yet indicated if he will attend personally, but will be represented by his team.


In attendance at Wednesday's meeting will be Andy Bernstein, Co-Founder & Executive Director of HeadCount. Andy blogged about it today, on the HeadCount blog.

From Andy's blog post:

Last week, while on the way to see Phish in Philadelphia, I got an unexpected email from…the White House.

"We would like to invite you to join us for a Clean Energy Economy Forum to discuss the important role young leaders have in creating and sharing this opportunity..."

A few more emails started coming in. The next was from a key environmental group, the Energy Action Coalition, inviting me to a brainstorming and strategy session of youth-oriented leaders attending the White House meeting, which is Wednesday afternoon.

Read more about HeadCount's involvement in the climate change movement here.


From Jessy's November 25th post "Attn Leaders: Share Your Ideas With Obama at Wednesday's Youth Clean Energy Forum" that appeared on the Huffington Post:

The event will be hosted at the White House on Wednesday from 4 - 7pm EST, and will also be webcast to young people across the country at: www.whitehouse.gov/live.


You can not only watch the live feed, but you can also participate.

According to the Consequence09 website:

Join the webcast of the forum and participate in the live discussion. Throughout the event, the White House will take questions and feedback from the Facebook Live Chat.

The forum will be webcast live on the White House website at: http://www.whitehouse.gov/live or on Facebook with a live discussion board at: http://apps.facebook.com/whitehouselive/

From Jessy's Huffington Post post:

If you'd like us to ask a question at the meeting on your behalf, just send us a tweet @powershift09 and add the hashtag #ClimateQs. We will do our best to incorporate your perspectives into the day's events.

@PowerShift09 circulated this tweet on November 26th:

White House to meet with youth climate leaders next Wed!! @jessytolkan asks for your questions: http://bit.ly/8mvGtX #ClimateQs

Pete Griffin (@WhatUpPete), Campaign Director @ Energy Action Coalition, circulated this re-tweet today:

RT @PowerShift09: Don't forget to send us your #ClimateQs for President Obama's team at our Wednesday White House mtg!

Finally, according to Consequence09's website, Power Shift's It's Game Time, Obama! Campaign is encouraging people to host and attend house parties during the event. To advertise or locate an event near you, check this page.


Following the event - Wed night, December 2nd - everyone is invited to this celebration sponsored by the Energy Action Coalition, the Hip Hop Caucus, and the youth climate movement.

Celebrate our collective efforts to get our carbon down and put our country on a sustainable path towards a clean energy future now! Or ... simply join us for a good time on a Wednesday night.

Carbon Get Down Party
@ the Park at 14th
920 14th St NW (between K and Eye Streets)
Washington, DC 20005

No RSVP required, no charge at the door, complimentary hor d’oeuvres from 7pm to 9pm.