Recently, one of the student employees of the Center for Service & Sustainability, Emily Gatz ’20, participated in a training from the Sunrise School. She sums up her experience here…

Sunrise School is a youth-led and organized program designed to stop climate change and create millions of good jobs in the process. During a four-day crash course, Michael and Christina co-hosted on the topic of the Green New Deal & Coronavirus through Zoom. There were 70 plus people on the Zoom meeting from all over the country from all different backgrounds, ages, and ethnicities. From Tuesday March 31st to Friday April 3rd, this large group met from 6 to 7pm EST, where we discussed as a large group and in small break out groups the importance of the Green New Deal and how to recruit others to this movement. The Green New Deal is the economic stimulus that will bring us out of this recession. The last day it was discussed that there is an Appetizer Bill coming because of the needed response from COVID-19 although this will not hold the whole vision of the Green New Deal. As stated on the Sunrise movement website, the Green New Deal is a 10-year plan to mobilize every aspect of American society to 100% clean and renewable energy by 2030, guarantee a living-wage job for anyone who needs one, and create a just transition for both workers and frontline communities. We, the people, are the climate flant of the Green New Deal.  These ideas need to be pushed to the forefront in policies since this is an economic stimulus that will enhance our future as Americans which will, in turn, affect the rest of the world as well. Now more than ever, it is important to fight for a just, sustainable, and healthy future.