To everyone who is listening, watching, feeling right now: Take that energy and emotion and activate it.
Our dear colleague, Eillin, who lifts up the stories of youth and scientists and communities every day for Our Children’s Trust, was boarded up, hunkered down, without electricity and wifi—with no means to access information—in the dark as Milton tore through Tampa. We’re thankful she and her family are safe today, when so many are not.
Avery, our young client in Juliana v. U.S. attending school in St. Petersburg has been displaced since Hurricane Helene forced her evacuation and damaged her school. She too is fortunately safe and only time will tell whether she’ll be able to return to the higher education she has worked so hard for.
Phoebe, who joined our finance team this year, has family and cherished community still trying to recover and rebuild in Asheville, with unimaginable loss.
The weight is heavy.
Many of us have family members and friends who were in evacuation zones or are experiencing the reverberations of these fossil fuel supercharged storms, the storms climate scientist Dr. James Hansen told me would be the Storms of his Grandchildren 15 years ago, when he published his book by that title—a plea to governments to stop their insane reliance on fossil fuels.
To the politicians in charge: The storms of your grandchildren are here. But don’t think this is the worst of it. This is the tip of the iceberg. Whether it’s heat, fire and smoke in the West, blowing East; or the hot-ocean-fueled hurricanes that drop multiple feet of water in a matter of hours and wipe out entire communities; or the ocean storm surge that pummels our coastal communities; or the insidious asthmas, infectious diseases, and molds that take over after the dust and water settles—the worst is just beginning.
This crisis is about your right to life, and that of your children and grandchildren. There’s no other way to say it.
There are straightforward solutions to this national and global health and safety crisis. Clean renewable energy is right here. It’s cheaper than fossil. It’s safer. It’s healthier for our communities and our kids.
It’s time. It’s so long past time.
To our community of supporters and followers: The fossil fuel powers that be, deeply embedded in government policymaking, will not let go without a fight. They won’t let go even if we vote them out, even if we buy EVs, even if we fly less and bike more. Yes, we must do all those things, but alone they will not be enough to stop the storms of our grandchildren.
We have to win fundamental rights in the courts. Rights that can’t be voted away by the electorate or left the to the decision-making of a single politician.
Our children have fundamental rights to life and longevity on this beautiful planet. And when we power them, to use their voices in courts around the world, backed by the best available science and a global network of experts, we win. But this work is not a short game. It’s long.
We’re not stopping until courts everywhere recognize children’s fundamental rights to a safe and livable climate. Their rights to life, liberty, and happiness. And we need you with us for the long game.
Please do what you can to help the people in Florida and North Carolina and everywhere in between, today. They need us.
A list of disaster relief funds is available through the Florida Philanthropic Network to donate in support of communities across Florida and Western North Carolina impacted by Hurricane Helene and Milton.
Tomorrow, together, let’s bring our collective energy and emotion to continue to power the youth standing up for their right to life.
Our hearts go out to everyone affected by these climate disasters. We will keep working day after day to change the course of history so that fossil fuels find their rightful place in the history books—as a closed chapter. Onward.
Julia Olson
Co-Executive Director & Chief Legal Counsel
