EarthPlex - Climate Platform for Teens

  The Environmental Impact of Google Alphabet is one of the largest internet companies in the world, so the decisions made by its executives impact every human on this planet. Fortunately, Alphabet has shown great commitment to limiting its ecological footprint.  In case you didn't know, Alphabet is the owner of Google along with some other companies such as Nest and DeepMind. This post will focus on Google's environmental impact. Energy investments Google has made large investments to run on clean energy and keep its impact minimal. The company also has bold ambitions that will allow it to run on renewable energy all of the time. Saving trees The internet has replaced paper products such as newspapers and encyclopedias. Paper products equate to cutting down trees. Google Docs means that less paper is needed for writing and Gmail has replaced snail mail. Combined with Google's reforestation efforts, more trees exist because of Alphabet's innovations. Final thoughts Alp...

An Interview With Newt Powers, a High School Student Leading the Way Toward a Cleaner Earth   This post was originally published in November 2020.  Many teens are passionate about an issue, and they feel the need to do whatever they can to make positive changes. I had the opportunity to interview an accomplished senior in high school named Newt Powers. Newt is involved in environmental efforts at a local and international level. I asked them about their work, accomplishments, and more: What led you to found Youth Alliance for the Planet? Can you explain what it is? Although our bio says, “Youth Alliance for the Planet is a youth-led international organization that raises awareness about environmental issues and fights to solve them,” at this point, I’d like to think of us as an environmental news source. I am already very involved in my own local community, but I hoped that by founding Youth Alliance for the Planet, I could make a greater change in the environmental movem...

Meet Lily Morse, the New Executive Director of the Green Schools Campaign! EarthPlex has interviewed many members of the Green Schools Campaign (GSC), and we were thrilled to have the opportunity to learn more about Lily Morse, the new Executive Director. We discussed a range of topics including her involvement in climate organizations and being a girl in the Boy Scouts program. How did you first find out about the Green Schools Campaign? I was virtually trained as a Climate Reality Leader in July 2020, and I met Simon and a few other people who were founding members of the Green Schools Campaign. I thought it was a great cause and reached out to get involved! What is your role as the Executive Director of the Green Schools Campaign? I basically think about and help implement the big picture: How can we grow? How can we keep people involved and working towards transitioning their school? How can we keep a positive and loving team environment? I work closely with all of the GSC director...

  Meet the Teen who can Make your School Run on Clean Energy  ⏱ Read time: 5 minutes EarthPlex has interviewed a variety of teen climate leaders, and many of them were involved in the Green Schools Campaign (GSC). EarthPlex had the opportunity to interview Simon Aron, the founder of the Green Schools Campaign. We discussed his work and involvement with GSC along with his opinions on The Green New Deal and more. Can you describe how you co-founded the Green Schools Campaign and how you assembled a team to work with you? My involvement in the Green Schools Campaign started from a simple Instagram DM. It was about a year ago, and I was just beginning to realize the enormity of the climate crisis. I decided I needed to do something, but I didn’t know how, so I reached out to Climate Reality Los Angeles chapter via Instagram to see if they needed help. Turns out, they were beginning to create the youth committee, and I was just in time! I became the co-chair and along with actor a...

Greta Thunberg's Perfect Tweet Destroys Donald Trump ⏱ Read time: 1.5-2 minutes Joe Biden became the President of the United States on January 20. That was a crazy day, and not just because of Bernie Sanders's flashy outfit, but also due to a Tweet that Greta Thunberg shared getting complete revenge on President Trump. The Tweet said, "He seems like a very happy old man looking forward to a bright and wonderful future. So nice to see!" He seems like a very happy old man looking forward to a bright and wonderful future. So nice to see! pic.twitter.com/G8gObLhsz9 — Greta Thunberg (@GretaThunberg) January 20, 2021 In order to understand Thunberg's message, we need to look at the context. Donald Trump has a history of mocking Greta Thunberg on Twitter. In 2019, Donald Trump tweeted, "She seems like a very happy young girl looking forward to a bright and wonderful future. So nice to see!" Greta Thunberg's recent Tweet uses Trump's words against him.  ...

 Would Thanos's Snap save the Planet? ⏱2.5-3 minute read I am a couple years late to this - but hey - EarthPlex didn't even exist when Avengers Infinity War and End Game arrived in theaters, and I've always thought about Thanos and the environmental impact of his snap.  Warning: Spoilers ahead! Avengers Infinity War concluded with Thanos collecting all of the infinity stones. He put on the infinity gauntlet and snapped his fingers, causing half of the population to disappear. To analyze how Thanos's snap would affect the environment, we must assume a few things. Thanos's snap only caused humans to die. The people's remains disappeared entirely. Less consumption  Obviously, with the population splitting in half, emissions will lower. Because of a drastically decreased demand for fossil fuels , wildlife will flourish and populations of endangered species could grow.  The population will regenerate If the current population of about 7.8 billion people in 2020 div...

  An Interview with Tessa Augsberger, a High School Student Connecting Climate Leaders  ⏱6.5 minute read There are many young  leaders  changing our planet, and they live across the globe. A high school student named Tessa Augsberger founded Global Youth Climate Database (GYCD) , "a network that connects youth leaders in the climate change movement to organize action through communication and mutual support." I had the opportunity to interview Tessa. She discussed her extracurricular involvement and her mission of connecting young leaders and activists. What was your purpose in founding GYCD, and what is the mission of the organization? I founded GYCD [Global Youth Climate Database] to elevate the voices of youth leading the fight against climate change. Living in Los Angeles, I have seen some of the effects—and causes—of climate change firsthand. For example, school is never canceled for snow days. We have “fire days,” instead. In recent years, the intensity and dur...

 EarthPlex Endorses Joe Biden for President Note: This post was written prior to the 2020 presidential election and remains unchanged. Election day is tomorrow, and even though there are four serious candidates, this is a two-person race between President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden. I'm not a psychic, but I can predict that this will be a close race, so if you happen to be an undecided voter who is reading up on which candidate you should vote for, we'll make that decision a little easier for you. EarthPlex has endorsed Joe Biden before, but we don't have a post dedicated to our endorsement, though you can read our environmental analyses of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris . EarthPlex is a climate platform, so we analyze candidates strictly based on their environmental plans and records. Donald Trump has served for almost an entire term now, and climate change has worsened by a terrifying amount . Unfortunately, Donald Trump won't accept the science. ...

An Interview With Christine Knapp, Philadelphia's Director of the Office of Sustainability In order to fight the climate crisis, we need leaders to guide us in the right direction. I had the honor of corresponding with one of those leaders: Christine Knapp. Christine Knapp is the Director of the Office of Sustainability in the city of Philadelphia. She's accomplished and has worked hard to make change in Philly, and her work will cause a ripple effect to better the entire planet. I asked Christine to answer a few questions about her career and experience, and she was kind enough to answer them. What do you do as Philadelphia’s Director of the Office of Sustainability?  I help to advance policies and programs that help to reduce the causes of climate change and protect residents from the negative impacts of climate change. I work across City government with other agencies and with external partners to coordinate and implement these changes.    What projects are ...

 Kamala Harris- An Environmental Analysis  Note: This post was written prior to the 2020 presidential election and remains unchanged. Joe Biden chose his running mate last Tuesday: Kamala Harris. She proved herself a fierce debater in the Democratic primary debates, but she dropped out in December. The race isn't over for her yet, as she is running with Joe Biden against Donald Trump and Mike Pence. We inspected Kamala Harris's environmental proposals and achievements in her political career.      Disclaimer: EarthPlex will only judge political candidates based on their environmental policies. Even if they have caused harm to the American people or economy, they will still receive our approval if they have strong environmental policies.      As a California senator, Harris voted in favor of protecting the planet on multiple accounts. According to the League of Conservation Voters , Harris always had pro-environment votes, except for two times when...

Joe Biden - An Environmental Analysis  Note: This post was written prior to the 2020 presidential election and remains unchanged. Joe Biden served as Vice President of The United States from 2009 to 2017. He’s the presumptive Democratic nominee for the 2020 election and will take on President Donald Trump. Previously, he worked as an attorney and a senator . With years of experience and strong performance in the polls, we decided to analyze Joe Biden’s environmental beliefs, policies, and achievements.  You can also read Donald Trump - An Environmental Analysis by clicking here. Disclaimer: EarthPlex will only judge presidential candidates based on their environmental policies. Even if the candidates have caused harm to the American people or economy, they will still receive our approval if they have strong environmental policies. A chievements Vox has an article inspecting Joe Biden’s past environmental experience . They claim that he “introduced the Global Climate Protec...