Mobilizing Gen Z for Climate Action with Elise Joshi
Elise Joshi, 21, is the executive director at Gen-Z for Change. She first gained widespread attention a few months ago when she interrupted a White House press conference being held by Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre. In the viral video, a visibly nervous Joshi asked about the Biden administration's approval of ConocoPhillips' $8 billion Willow Pipeline project in Alaska, despite over 1 million young people requesting President Biden halt the project. The video has been viewed tens of millions of times across news outlets and shows.
In this episode, Elise makes the point that the Biden administration has done many wonderful things for climate, including the Inflation Reduction Act. However, she noted that for many young people, Biden's climate record will be defined by Willow. The months-long Stop Willow movement was significantly influential across social media. She pointed out that in Biden's first two years, the Bureau of Land Management approved more oil and gas permits than during Trump's first two years, despite Biden's pledge and executive order to halt federal land drilling. This highlights the need to incentivize renewables and electrification while weaning the economy off fossil fuels. For many, progress on the latter has seemed lacking.
Elise and Cody have an insightful conversation about these climate policy dynamics and her work at Gen-Z for Change. It's an exciting discussion that provides perspective on how she believes millions of young people view current climate policies.
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Elise Joshi X / LinkedIn
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Episode recorded on Sep 29, 2023 (Published on Oct 30, 2023)
In this episode, we cover:
[03:30]: Elise's personal journey to climate advocacy starting in high school
[06:10]: Origins and evolution of Gen-Z for Change during COVID
[08:32]: Elise's role growing from member to executive director of Gen-Z for Change
[10:04]: Tools and activist techniques used by Gen-Z for Change
[13:26]: The viral Stop Willow campaign against Arctic oil drilling
[15:20]: Gen-Z for Change's role in amplifying the Stop Willow movement
[18:47]: Messaging that resonates most with young people on climate
[22:57]: Elise's recounting of the moment she stood up to Biden's Press secretary
[26:42]: Critique of Biden climate policy as too focused on carrots vs sticks
[31:06]: Hopes for bolder climate platform and Green New Deal in 2024
[33:33]: Gen-Z for Change's focus on bottom-up organizing for 2024 elections
[34:30]: Distrust of the current system and political candidates among Gen-Z
[39:01]: How to support Gen-Z for Change
[39:44]: Distinction between 502(c)(3) and 501(c)(4)
[41:00]: Open resources created by Elise to educate people on climate issues
[42:34]: Parting words on public transit and reducing car dependency
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Cody Simms (00:00):
On today's episode of My Climate Journey, our guest is Elise Joshi, 21 year old, executive director at Gen-Z for Change. I first came across Elise a few months ago via a viral video in which she interrupted a press conference being put on by White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre. In the video in which she was clearly visibly nervous, she asked the Press Secretary why the Biden administration had approved ConocoPhillips' $8 billion Willow Pipeline project on the north slope of Alaska despite requests from over 1 million young people who wrote into the administration asking President Biden to halt the project. This video has now been viewed tens of millions of times and has been featured on countless news outlets and shows.
(00:55):
During our conversation, Elise makes the point that the Biden administration has done many wonderful things for climate, including the Inflation Reduction Act. But for many young people, the Biden Administration's record on climate will primarily be remembered for Willow. The months long Stop Willow movement was that influential across social media. She makes the point both to the press Secretary and me that in its first two years of the Biden administration, the Federal Bureau of Land Management approved more oil and gas permits than it did during the first two years of the Trump administration despite a Biden campaign pledge and executive order to halt all drilling on federal land. And it's a good reminder that progress on halting the worst effects of climate change requires incentivizing the transition to renewables and electrification as well as weaning our economy off of fossil fuels. And for many people, progress on the latter goal has felt lacking.
(02:02):
Elise and I have a great conversation about these dynamics at play and also about her broader work at Gen-Z for Change. It's a dynamic conversation and I learned a lot about how she sees the world and how she believes millions of young people perceive our climate policies to be today. But before we start...
(02:22):
I'm Cody Simms.
Yin Lu (02:24):
I'm Yin Lu.
Jason Jacobs (02:25):
And I'm Jason Jacobs. And welcome to My Climate Journey.
Yin Lu (02:31):
This show is a growing body of knowledge focused on climate change and potential solutions.
Cody Simms (02:37):
In this podcast, we traverse disciplines, industries, and opinions to better understand and make sense of the formidable problem of climate change and all the ways people like you and I can help.
(02:50):
Elise, welcome to the show.
Elise Joshi (02:51):
Hi, happy to be here.
Cody Simms (02:53):
Elise, I first came upon you on this video that I think I saw on Twitter, but it was probably originally on TikTok, then to Instagram and then to Twitter and sort of made its way in front of so many people about you standing up and asking the press secretary for President Biden all about the Willow Pipeline project and what they were doing about it or why they were approving it, I suppose. We're going to spend a bunch of time diving into all of that because I love getting a chance to meet someone who really stood up and sort of asked what they were thinking about. But first, I want to hear about you. How did you get into this space in the first place? How did climate become the thing that you got so passionate about?
Elise Joshi (03:30):
I am born and raised in the Bay Area, and that means I'm blessed with easy access to nature. And honestly, I've fallen more in love with nature lately. I mean, I've climbed my first mountains lately and traveled a little bit more. But even in high school growing up with the 2018 wildfires and then having the 2020 wildfires break the records of the 2018 wildfires, it's just really overwhelming. You don't think you'll miss school because of 300 plus AQI. That was something to adjust to. And then when 2020 hit, I wasn't missing school because of the AQI because I was missing school from COVID.
(04:07):
And so, it was just layering dystopian circumstances and all of that on top of having a president at the time, Donald Trump, that denied the reality of both crises. And so as a 17-year-old, I'm just thinking, "Well, what do I do when everything is so stressful?" And so that's really what got me into it. It was an intersection of many issues happening at the same time. And personally, climate has always been close to my heart growing up, learning about climate science. And the more you read about it, the more urgent it is. And knowing that climate affects every issue that I care about, I knew that I'd want to advocate through the lens of climate.
Cody Simms (04:50):
Well, one of the reasons I'm personally so excited to have this conversation is you and other folks of your age are really in this upcoming election cycle in 2024, getting to, in many cases, voice your points of view at the ballot box as a generation that lived during high school through COVID, has lived through all these wildfires, has lived through floods and hurricanes, depending on where you are in a significant way maybe more so than prior generations have done. And it feels like a really interesting moment in time that I'm not sure all the political polls and this that and the other are necessarily fully taking into account to be frank.
Elise Joshi (05:29):
Oh, I completely agree. I mean, as we talk right now, New York is flooding and that comes two weeks after the march against fossil fuels where 75,000 people, including young people, showed up demanding and to fossil fuel dependency. And now New York subways are flooded out. I mean, this is the epitome of why we're doing this. Young people, it's beyond the ballot box. That's just one of the tools that we're using to make change. But look at Starbucks workers. They're mostly young Gen Z baristas that are unionizing Starbucks locations across the country. So we're finding every mechanism possible to instigate change in our workplace and in our government, and it's really, really inspiring to see.
Cody Simms (06:10):
On that point, describe a little bit about what Gen-Z for Change is. You are, I believe, the executive director of the group. And I think you've worked up to that role inside Gen-Z for Change. So maybe explain a little bit about, A, how you got involved with it, and B, what the organization does.
Elise Joshi (06:25):
Yeah, absolutely. So in 2020 when I'm learning about the state of the climate emergency within the COVID pandemic, there wasn't a lot of safe places to organize in person, and I wanted to be as involved as I could, but I knew that all the normal ways to organize were grown upside down. So I turned to the place that all these young people were going to during the pandemic because we were bored, and that was TikTok. And so I started communicating the state of the climate crisis now, the projections that experts are estimating and what we can do as young people to make change and relating it to voting since it was the summer of 2020.
(07:09):
And it turns out that a lot of young people passionate about a specific topic were doing that too. So whether it was racial justice or indigenous rights or healthcare rights, there were young people across the country that were using their platforms to communicate to other young people how they can make change. It was just an amazing place to be watching other people do it. And then suddenly, we all got on Zooms and started talking to each other and FaceTiming and strategizing on content and messaging.
Cody Simms (07:41):
Oh, wow.
Elise Joshi (07:42):
What started as a very authentic group of hundreds of creators online turned into Gen-Z for Change, which is now a nonprofit. And Aidan Kohn-Murphy founded the organization in 2020. It started as TikTok for Biden. So it was really meant to get the young vote out in 2020. And then with the success of TikTok and garnering the youth vote, we realized that this goes beyond electoral politics. We've got to show young people how they can make change in a variety of different issues using social media in coordination with on the ground groups. And so that's really where we are today. I started as just a member of the coalition. I wasn't in the leadership team at all. And then I slowly became friends with people on the leadership team and became operations director, then strategy director, and now executive director.
Cody Simms (08:32):
I heard you say the phrase "make change" multiple times. When I think of social media and climate change, a lot of what I hear people talking about is the vast amount of doomerism causing eco-anxiety and people talking about how we're all screwed. And I'm hearing you say, "Hey, we came together and said, 'Surely we need to help people understand the state of the challenges and the problems ahead of us. But it's more about focusing on solutions, focusing on things we can all do to help drive different outcomes'."
Elise Joshi (09:05):
Exactly that. It's not hope through a lens of, "it's all okay." We have to honor the emotions that are valid among young people. I'm angry and scared on a daily basis. I honor those feelings by driving it towards action. And a lot of young people don't know where to start. What we try to provide is the first step in the process to what we hope eventually becomes them organizing in their workplace and unionizing with their peers, them working to get out the vote in their local area for local elections that really make an impact in their everyday life and whatever it may be. But social media, having a place to start of, "This is one call to action. Here, you can easily message the administration and urge for an oil drilling project not to happen. This very easily you can submit a false tip line to take a tip line against critical race theory down in Virginia." Whatever it may be, we're trying to provide tools and in that way make people optimistic through the power of collective action.
Cody Simms (10:04):
Let's actually talk about some of the tools that you all have created. I know it's not a climate tool, but let's start with the CRT, the critical race theory mail tool, you just talked about. You guys actually built technology to help young people go do something.
Elise Joshi (10:16):
Yeah, we've done this for reproductive justice, union organizing, and education now. And so, Sofia Leung and Sean Wigs are two of the coders in our organization that are just geniuses. And so when Glenn Youngkin released an anti-critical race theory tip line of, "Oh, if your teacher is teaching about race in schools, submit a tip here." And she was able to code a way that allows people to send an automatically generated tip with song lyrics of Miley Cyrus or the Shrek movie scripts or just really ridiculous tips that eventually got, I believe, a hundred thousand from 97 different countries.
Cody Simms (10:54):
So just flooded out their tip line, basically.
Elise Joshi (10:56):
Flooded out their tip line and they won't release it, a public comment of tips because they know it's full of junk.
Cody Simms (11:03):
Wow.
Elise Joshi (11:03):
When Roe fell last year, we also wanted to organize a direct action campaign. So crisis pregnancy centers are places where people seeking abortions often go to, but they often don't have an abortion provider there and they often try to convince people seeking abortions not to have one. And so with this false information that we know that CPCs have, Sean Wigs coded a way that allowed people to send an automatic accurate review on Yelp indicating that abortion providers are not there. We got a list from our partners from Jane Digital Process and sent 26,000 accurate Yelp reviews, and that's from the creative content strategy and the code from the internal team. Yelp disabled the reviews, but eventually they agreed to put warning labels for crisis pregnancy centers that don't have abortion providers. There's a tangible impact from online social media work. It's not just about the likes and views.
Cody Simms (12:00):
Yeah, for sure. And I saw another one you did, I think you just referenced it a second ago, but for both Starbucks and Ralphs where you basically were flooding them with job applications to help deal with them trying to not honor workers unions.
Elise Joshi (12:13):
Yeah, exactly. So when 40,000 workers in Southern California were going on strike, Ralphs was hiring temporary hires and they had several online applications out for watering down the effectiveness of the strike by hiring replacement workers during the strike. And so we sent 40,000 false applications towards those temporary apps and took them all down, and hopefully being able to support the strikes efforts by preventing scabs from being hired there. And similarly to Starbucks workers, 140,000 false applications for different locations across the country in coordination every time with Starbucks Workers United and preventing them from watering down hours and hiring anti-union workers while workers are organizing.
Cody Simms (12:57):
I thought the title of the Ralphs one being Wreck It Ralphs was pretty clever.
Elise Joshi (13:01):
It's so good, right?
Cody Simms (13:03):
So that's a broad set of different initiatives that you take on across a multitude of different causes. When it comes to climate in particular, obviously I've seen a number of the direct social media type of mobilizations I guess you all have done. Are there any examples of specific climate related campaigns that you've helped to create?
Elise Joshi (13:26):
I don't want to take credit for starting it, but the Stop Willow movement earlier this year was among the biggest online movements in general in this country. And I'm proud to have made the first video, but I want to shout out all of the young people that their first video on TikTok was getting young people to write to the administration to stop the project. That was one of the most fulfilling things, is seeing people feel inspired not to just send a letter to the administration, but also make content encouraging young people to do the same. And so yeah, it was just an amazing campaign.
(14:00):
For some background, the administration had about 30 days to decide whether they were going to approve or reject the Willow Project, which was the largest proposed oil drilling project on US public lands. And so, we had about 30 days from when the Bureau of Land Management submitted the final environmental impact statement recommended.
Cody Simms (14:20):
Just to make sure I understand, this was an oil drilling project sponsored by or created by ConocoPhillips in Alaska that was originally approved by the Trump administration I think back in 2020 or so, yes?
Elise Joshi (14:32):
Yes. So the Trump administration originally approved it, and then a US judge struck it down because of a faulty environmental impact statement that didn't account for the Endangered Species Act and other environmental protection laws and required a second environmental impact statement. And so the administration, after reviewing that new impact report, had about a month to decide whether they were going to approve that project and continue it from the Trump era. And so they had legal authority not to, they were worried about the legal aspects of rejecting it, but ultimately they decided to approve the project in spite of hundreds of millions of views on TikTok and across the internet as well as 1.1 million letters written to the White House to stop it.
Cody Simms (15:13):
So talk about the campaign work that you all did at Gen-Z for Change to help push the Stop Willow movement further.
Elise Joshi (15:20):
When that first video took off, I was really surprised honestly. I mean, every creator knows that there's ups and downs with your viewership on TikTok. My average views were nowhere near the 300,000 views that video got. And so I was like, "Oh, people are interested in this." And so continuing to push it, but then in addition to that, Gen-Z for Change has hundreds of creators in our network. And so, reaching out to the particularly environmentally passionate creators and recommending to push that video out. And on the backend as well, strategizing on messaging with other creators who are already pushing that very heavily.
(16:00):
And so there was so many FaceTime calls between me and my friends of like, "Okay, CNN is interviewing us. Let's align on messaging of exactly what we're asking the administration." And then of course, being on coalition calls with people who live closest to the project that have the most to gain and lose from the project happening or not, and getting advice from them of what's the best messaging stance, especially after the project was approved. And so it was a lot of, again, a very authentic organic communication between creators and organizers on the ground.
Cody Simms (16:33):
What did you find in terms of the messaging that was really resonating with your core audience? The mass audience, totally different story probably. But with core audience in your demographic who were really passionate and wanting to lean in and participate, not just consume, was it the carbon emissions of the project? Was it the biodiversity loss of the project? Was it the impact on indigenous peoples? I'm curious which of these areas was really getting people fired up? Probably a little bit of everything, but any feedback you have just on how people are thinking about the change that needs to happen in the world is super interesting to hear.
Elise Joshi (17:09):
Absolutely. So something I've learned by working at Gen-Z for Change being one of the only climate organizers there is how to talk about things beyond my audience so that not just "environmentalists" are engaged in a campaign. And that's really what happened with Willow. It wasn't anyone's audience. It ballooned to over 500 million views on just the #StopWillow hashtag.
(17:33):
And so, what I've noticed that is really necessary for environmentalists is to not really mention climate jargon in general. The 1.5 degrees, the carbon budget that we have, emissions in general, it's important. I'm very grateful for scientists for delivering that information to us, but what's most important is making it immediate for people and making climate something that people realize impacts their every day, which it does. So communicating a drilling project all the way in Alaska for many people in the Lower 48, it's not tangible. But what I realized that young people felt that I almost didn't have to communicate is emissions from that project impact our health in California, intensify fires in my backyard, intensifies floods in New York, intensifies the heat that Miami waters are getting, is everywhere. Emissions in one place affect Greece and affect Africa and affect Ecuador where my family's from. And no one had to say that. That was knowledge among young people. And so, really engaging that idea that this is polluting our bodies everywhere is what really was effective in continuing to drive the progress of movement.
Yin Lu (18:47):
Hey everyone. I'm Yin, a partner at MCJ Collective, here to take a quick minute to tell you about our MCJ membership community which was born out of a collective thirst for peer-to-peer learning and doing that goes beyond just listening to the podcast.
(18:59):
We started in 2019 and have grown to thousands of members globally. Each week, we're inspired by people who join with different backgrounds and points of view. What we all share is a deep curiosity to learn and a bias to action around ways to accelerate solutions to climate change. Some awesome initiatives have come out of the community. A number of founding teams have met, several nonprofits have been established, and a bunch of hiring has been done. Many early stage investments have been made as well as ongoing events and programming like monthly Women in Climate meetups, idea jam sessions for early stage founders, climate book club, art workshops and more. Whether you've been in the climate space for a while or just embarking on your journey, having a community to support you is important. If you want to learn more, head over to mcjcollective.com and click on the members tab at the top. Thanks and enjoy the rest of the show.
Cody Simms (19:48):
And then let's talk about the work you did after it got approved by President Biden who had to sign off on this directly, I believe. Is that correct?
Elise Joshi (19:57):
The Department of the Interior did. His administration did.
Cody Simms (20:00):
Okay, his administration did. And so then you were invited at that point to a summit in DC called Voters of Tomorrow, which was, I presume, meant to be a very inclusive gathering of folks that the administration assumed was excited to support the work that they're doing and to help people like you continue to amplify a lot of their messages. You maybe came into that with a little bit of a different focus.
Elise Joshi (20:26):
Just even to backtrack right after the administration approved Willow, I flew to DC and talked to members of Congress, talked to the Department of the Interior, talked to members of the White House's administration in various roles, and talked about what next steps look like. We helped get over 80,000 emails and 8,000 calls to Congress to suspend Willow permits that eventually AOC would lead a letter to suspend Willow permits that was sent to the DOI. So there was still massive engagement efforts after Willow to just suspend permits until the litigation was complete, because they were groups suing this decision and meeting with members of the administration to discuss what next steps look like, what can they do to show that they really will meet their promises of no more drilling on public lands.
Cody Simms (21:15):
By the way, that was a campaign pledge and an executive order from the Biden administration, yes?
Elise Joshi (21:20):
Yes. I voted for him and told people on TikTok to vote for him because he would stop drilling on public lands. I organized for the Biden campaign, not affiliated, but I was encouraging on people to vote for him on the basis of his climate action. And so there was a personal responsibility there, I mean, as somebody who's passionate about the climate justice future that we could have, but also personal responsibility of "We voted for you to do this." And when this Youth Summit happened, it was for the purpose of young people going out to vote and implicitly voting for the Biden administration. And so yes, Karine Jean-Pierre was invited to speak, as was Nancy Pelosi. And then on the more progressive side, Jamaal Bowman who I love was there, Summer Lee who I love was there to speak. Maxwell Frost was there. So progressives were attending, but also members of the administration.
(22:18):
I realized there was no security. That was one thing, and didn't know how that slipped through the cracks. But I was talking with my team because over 10 members of Gen-Z for Change was there, and I asked them, "Does this sound crazy to you? We're sitting in our seats. I know she's speaking. It's maybe 15 minutes away from her going up on the stage. I don't want to misrepresent the organization. What do you think?" And everybody on our team said, "We trust you and we know you believe in this heavily, and I know that you'll communicate it well and just do whatever your gut tells you." I thought she was going to speak last and she ended up speaking in the middle of the event.
Cody Simms (22:57):
This is Karine Jean-Pierre, the Biden's Press secretary, yes?
Elise Joshi (23:00):
Yes. The White House press secretary comes on the stage well before I thought she would, and so I had to muster up the courage right then and there. I thought I had more time to get my body and mind in check. But yeah, when she mentioned climate change and how much the administration has done, I stood up. I asked her a question of whether their administration was going to meet the promises that they made to youth.
Cody Simms (23:24):
In particular, around not drilling on federal lands and halting fossil fuel projects, I think was the particular push, yeah?
Elise Joshi (23:30):
Yes.
Cody Simms (23:31):
She said she would be happy to have this conversation with you outside of the speaking event. Did anything come of that?
Elise Joshi (23:36):
No.
Cody Simms (23:37):
And I'm curious, maybe recount the actual moment for folks who haven't seen the video. We'll try to include the video in show notes just so people can actually actually see you because it was very clearly... We could tell you were nervous.
Elise Joshi (23:49):
Yeah. You can tell I was nervous. I definitely stuttered in the beginning, but when I stood up, I realized I'm already standing, I might as well speak. And I said, "Excuse me," still trying to be polite even though I know I'm interrupting her.
Cody Simms (24:05):
How old are you, if you don't mind me asking? Sorry.
Elise Joshi (24:06):
I'm 21. Just 21.
Cody Simms (24:06):
21? Okay.
Elise Joshi (24:08):
Just all these emotions that, I voted for this campaign, I encourage other people to vote for this campaign, I got millions of views asking people to vote for this administration, and I've had meetings. I went to the White House for the Inflation Reduction Act signing. I was on the White House lawn to support the administration moving forward on climate, and here I am standing and demanding what is not just incrementally what we need. This is an all hands on deck moment. We have to act with the urgency of the crisis. And so I felt that when I stood up and started speaking very nervously and asked her to acknowledge the 1 million plus people that wrote to the administration to stop a project and ask her to meet the campaign promises of the administration. And in time of us communicating, I hope it sounds like I got more and more confident. I realized I knew what I was talking about. The administrations approved more permits in the first two years in office than the Trump administration did.
(25:07):
those stats here somewhere? The Biden administration has approved 6,430 oil and gas permits in their first two years, and the Trump administration in that same timeframe approved 6,172.
(25:18):
This is coming before the Inflation Reduction Act where there's mandated oil and gas leases and tying that to any leases for wind. So we can't afford that. And the IEA just released yet another report a few days ago that indicates we can't afford that. And that's the IEA. That is the most reputable. They require so many resources to come to the conclusions that they do, and they're saying, "No more investments in coal, oil and gas. No more new projects. It doesn't make sense." It doesn't economically make sense let alone the science to build a project 10 years out using expensive Alaskan oil on top of permafrost that's melting. It's dystopian. And so all this to say, she let me talk. I think that was with the knowledge that there was no one there to stop me and be conversed for a little bit, and she just continued to revert back to what the administration has already done, and that wasn't what I asked.
Cody Simms (26:14):
And I'm curious. From where I sit, the administration on the positive side, with a lot of the Inflation Reduction Act, has created a lot of positive incentives to drive electrification. They've created a lot of positive incentives to drive EVs, to drive heat pumps, to drive battery storage, like all this stuff. I think what I'm hearing you say is, "Yeah, but then there's also what are we doing to then not just add to the energy mix, not just add electrification on top of oil and gas, but what are we doing to actually start to shrink the fossil fuel footprint?"
Elise Joshi (26:42):
Exactly.
Cody Simms (26:43):
That's the question, right?
Elise Joshi (26:44):
That's the question. It's not just about the demand side and the carrots that we can give for homeowners to be specific of, "This is how you can get money back for a heat pump or induction stove." First of all, renters are left out of that. But second of all, what about the supply side? That's just as important. And let alone the existing projects that we will have to not abandon but to phase out in time, but new projects, new projects that will cost billions of dollars that we're going to have to build roads out in the remote parts of Alaska, we're going to have to build drilling pads that require blasting the tundra for gravel mining. This is huge investments for things that we cannot afford. And so, it's winding down the existing production, but what's truly mind-boggling is why we're adding more fossil fuels to the mix. Why? And so that's what I was calling on, is to address a very big and a crucial aspect to our plans for reaching net-zero.
Cody Simms (27:48):
I've read some reports that basically said that the administration ultimately, in this case with Willow, ultimately concluded ConocoPhillips had legal leases and whatever, and there's nothing they could actually really do or they wouldn't hold up in court. Whether or not you agree with that or believe that or not, to some extent, I would like to think that the work you have done and the work the Stop Willow campaign did, even if it didn't actually Stop Willow, it's going to make it a lot harder to start whatever might be the next one of these. Do you agree with that?
Elise Joshi (28:17):
Absolutely. And I will continue to advocate that this project shouldn't move forward. The next one was approved not much later. Mountain Valley Pipeline got the green light for all their permits in the debt ceiling bill. We did get good news that seven leases in the Arctic Refuge would be canceled by the Department of the Interior. We got that information a few weeks ago. And I hope that was in part due to the public pressure and that the administration was facing with Stop Willow and other campaigns like the March to End Fossil Fuels in New York. So I hope that this reaches the administration, that this establishes to the administration that time and time again, young people want a healthy, sustainable planet for themselves and their future, and it's going to be that much harder to approve a project.
Cody Simms (29:05):
I saw some polling from Data For Progress. We had Danielle Deiseroth the executive director of Data For Progress on the show recently. I saw some polling that they had done that said after Willow, support for people aged 18 to 29 for Biden's climate and environmental policy dropped 13% down to 35% approval.
Elise Joshi (29:28):
That was an amazing thing to learn. It's not amazing that young people don't feel satisfied with their administration, but it should signal to the administration that what we really need measurable action for is fossil fuels. And if he wants people to be supportive of his general climate policy... And there's amazing aspects of the Inflation Reduction Act. My professors would not let me come on here and not share that there's amazing aspects of the IRA that will significantly reduce emissions in this country. But 35% approval and that big drop happened from one campaign. That's an indication through the numbers that the administration should be listening.
Cody Simms (30:10):
What would you like to see as we move into a presidential campaign? I haven't heard a lot of conversation yet about what should be the climate platform for 2025. I've heard some people say, "What do you mean? We already got the climate platform. It was the Inflation Reduction Act and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, and it's done." From where I sit, it's like, "Oh my gosh, there's so much more to be done around, in my opinion, there should be a whole resilience and adaptation funding mechanism to help the federal government help deal with wildfires, floods, et cetera." There are lots of additional incentives we could do around things like sustainable aviation fuel or things like that to drive conversion off of fossil fuels, shipping, trucking, transport of goods. There's a lot of other policy, but those are carrot policies, which is where my mind goes. So I'm curious how much you've thought about what, in your ideal world, the 2025 platform would look like with respect to climate change.
Elise Joshi (31:06):
I believe that he's getting there in terms of listening before the 2025 campaign starts, but really encompassing what the Green New Deal is meant to be. That is an all hands on deck, all sectors of economy drive, not just for the climate crisis, but really to embed the climate crisis in every issue that we need to deal with. It's not just about electric vehicles, it's about we have a problem with how our cities are built to require that the half of driving trips are three miles or less. Why are half of driving trips three miles or less? I live in Oakland and I have the BART system and I still have trouble not owning a car. And so, implementing walkability in cities and the incentive to just slow down and interact with your environment and your community around you and accessible and free buses you can rely on to get you to school every day. Obviously an integrated high-speed rail network, but really just funding public transit within a city itself.
(32:08):
It's about single-payer healthcare because we have a public health crisis on our hands with every additional wildfire that we get with more intensity than we've expected. When it comes to immigration, how are we going to instead of blame people who are coming more and more due to climate disaster but rather prepare our cities, especially for more people in general? We don't even have housing to fit the people within the city already. What are we going to do when millions of people come to the US in the next 50 years due to climate disaster? We need a housing, a Green New Deal for housing plan to implement social housing within major cities across the country. I mean, this is really encompassing how the administration, how the federal government, how the public sector can expand to meet the crisis. That definitely comes through carrots and demand side policies, but it also comes with how do we stop polluting industries from giving children asthma in Richmond, California because Chevron has its dirty hands all over that city.
(33:09):
And so it's an all encompassing agenda. The IRA is absolutely inspired by the Green New Deal's movement in 2019. But again, it's mostly for homeowners and of course the private sector is loving it. We need it to have a tangible impact on everyday working people that are living paycheck to paycheck.
Cody Simms (33:28):
What will be your focus and the focus of the organization going into the 2024 election cycle?
Elise Joshi (33:33):
Bottom up policies. We're really focusing on bottom up organizing down ballot races. Turns out when you get people excited for a ballot measure or a city counselor or even an apolitical seat that's really crucial for transit or housing in your city, you're going to check the box for the president too. You're going to vote for the president, you're going to vote for your senator. But what's harder for especially young people is to vote all the way down. It's not just the president that impacts your day-to-day life. More than the president is your mayor. More than your president is your city counselor. Every position on the local and state level, particularly.
Cody Simms (34:11):
Judges. It's so hard to find info about what judges to vote for.
Elise Joshi (34:14):
Yes, right?
Cody Simms (34:15):
When I look at my ballot, those always are really challenging.
Elise Joshi (34:18):
We'll drive up youth turnout for the presidential by inspiring people all the way down. You don't even have to prioritize it. And I hope young people come out to vote in a new fresh way of local organizing.
Cody Simms (34:30):
We started the conversation, I said I suspect a lot of polling doesn't take into account how activated young people are today. The challenge historically, especially young people again who lived through COVID, who've lived through all these wildfires and floods, et cetera, and are in many cases getting the opportunity to vote for the first time in a federal election or a presidential election, I suppose, I think the challenge always has been young people are motivated, but then actually getting them to show up and actually do the voting is where things tend to break down. How do you see that playing out?
Elise Joshi (35:02):
We're jaded, one. We have to be inspired that the president and every office that we end up voting for when we walk in the ballot box will actually do something for us because that's the concern among youth. It's not that we're lazy. It's that we see something so deeply wrong in how our system works and whether it's actually prioritizing us. And the climate crisis is the best example. When the big red alarm has been sounded by all the scientists and no action, no tangible action is met, we are not going to meet our 1.5 targets if we continue at this rate, how are we supposed to trust that this system is working for us?
(35:42):
And it's not our job to trust in these politicians that are leading us. It's the politician's job to establish strong relationships with young people and show them through their agenda that they are taking every crisis seriously, and particularly the climate crisis seriously. I hope that campaigns, whether it's the Biden campaign or any campaign, recognizes that it's going to take bold policies to inspire us. They don't have to worry about us voting GOP, we're not going to vote GOP. You have to worry about people not showing up.
Cody Simms (36:13):
Just showing up. It sounds like a conundrum. We just talked about how support for these policies dropped by a double-digit percentage in the last six months, and yet these are the very people that the Biden administration needs to show up at the polls to actually win what'll be a tight election in many locations.
Elise Joshi (36:29):
Exactly. And if Stop Willow got hundreds of millions of views, that's the number one thing young people remember about Biden's climate policy and it's not the IRA. So you can't just run on IRA if the number one thing people remember, especially 18 to 29 year olds, that he approved the largest oil drilling project on public lands in the year of 2023.
Cody Simms (36:51):
So what are your predictions? What do you think is going to happen up and down the ballot?
Elise Joshi (36:54):
I have no idea.
Cody Simms (36:55):
No idea?
Elise Joshi (36:56):
Don't trust me on that one. I'm honestly not electoral of a person, but I have no idea. I think the entire GOP party is atrocious. That definitely helps the administration that they're clunking heads right now and saying that we need to repeal the Green New Deal when that's not how laws work. I look forward to inspiring young people to show up to the polls. I hope that the administration recognizes how crucial it is that they set a bolder agenda.
Cody Simms (37:24):
On the topic of young people in general, we had a guest on the show once who said they were inspired because they work in the startup world and they meet all these young people building innovations and working on startups and really believing this notion that young people will save us from the climate crisis. And we actually got a bunch of negative comments on social media from that quote that we published, young people saying like, "Why is it up to us to save the world from the climate crisis?" I'm curious how you think about that framing.
Elise Joshi (37:56):
I see it as a deflection if it's somebody in power or someone who has the privilege of acting too. It is an all hands intergenerational effort. We are not the politicians. We are not the CEOs. And when we get to those positions, it's going to be a hell of a lot harder to reach our goals. If it's up to us, it's going to be quite difficult to get there, so we're going to need every sector of the economy. Union workers, 150,000 UAW workers on strike right now, and the president is talking about climate justice. That's amazing. That's labor climate solidarity that I've never thought I'd see. That's the energy we need. It's okay if you don't care about the emissions. Do you care about pollution? Fight with us. And if you care about housing, this is part of housing, this is part of immigration, this is part of transit.
(38:44):
I mean, we need all hands on deck. And if you can try just a little bit, that would be greatly appreciated rather than just saying, "Oh, I'm inspired by this one girl standing up at a press conference. She looks like she's got it." I don't got it. This is supposed to be an all hands on deck moment.
Cody Simms (39:01):
Let's talk a little bit more about your organization, Gen-Z for Change. How are you funded? How are you supported? If listeners are inspired by what you're doing and want to get involved, get engaged with you in somehow, what are the pathways for that?
Elise Joshi (39:13):
Oh, my gosh. Thank you for asking. Gen-Z for Change is a 501(c)(4) and recently a 501(c)(3). So if you want to go to our website, genzforchange.org, you can donate and support our work if you like what we do. We had $0 in the bank in March 2022. And luckily now I can work full-time here. And so yeah, I'm really grateful. And it's a large part due to small dollar donations of people really liking what they watch, so thank you.
Cody Simms (39:44):
I am also the co-founder of both of 501(c)(3) and 501(c)(4) political action nonprofit called Climate Change Makers. It's hard to raise money for a 501(c)(4) because you don't get the tax benefits and all this stuff. But maybe explain to people who don't know the difference between the two. With a 501(c)(4), what does that allow you to be able to do?
Elise Joshi (40:01):
Yeah, so we were a (c)(4) first. We should have done both at the same time.
Cody Simms (40:05):
We were a (c)(4) first as well, to be clear.
Elise Joshi (40:06):
Yeah. [inaudible 00:40:09].
Cody Simms (40:06):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Elise Joshi (40:08):
We largely don't do (c)(4) work, but it's the more political side, is endorsing a candidate for example. And so as we ramp up for 2024, there will be more (c)(4) related hours logged at Gen-Z for Change as we continue to endorse and create content to support various candidates that we like. And the (c)(3) side is more of apolitical work where it's just, for example, supporting union workers who are on strike and asking for a fair contract. And so that's really where the discrepancy is, and we're navigating that balance.
Cody Simms (40:39):
So (c)(3) work, you can kind of raise awareness of broader issues. You can educate, you can inform. (c)(4) is where you're actually advocating like, "This policy or this candidate is the thing you should get behind."
Elise Joshi (40:50):
Yeah, it's when you get into the party area. And then just general education on even a policy in general, that's totally okay, but once you say Democrat, Republican, then it gets into (c)(4) territory.
Cody Simms (41:00):
And then a few other things that I think are probably worth sharing for folks who want to learn more and follow up. I see you've created a couple of open shared Google Docs over the years of resources for folks. Maybe explain a little bit about those and where people can go to find them.
Elise Joshi (41:14):
So when I was really starting to get interested in climate science and solutions, I would read a lot of books. And because it was COVID, I had the opportunity to also turn those books into color-coded documents that detailed everything that the book described and that I thought would be important to remember. I use that as reference for a lot of my videos, but I figured it would be a smart idea to allow people who don't have the time to read a bunch of climate books to put it online for public viewership. So yeah, I have stats and projections of the climate crisis based off of Uninhabitable Earth by David Wallace-Wells, a revolutionary optimism book document based off of, oh my God, All We Can Save. Yeah, I've just got a few of those. I find it really helpful to just have it all in one place. And maybe it makes it easier for another person watching too.
Cody Simms (42:05):
And it looks like you also have a list of climate organizations that people can look at and go find a home for their own organizing base.
Elise Joshi (42:12):
Yeah, that too. My first one was Trump's Presidency Failures and Unkept Promises, which a lot of people use during phone banking in 2020.
Cody Simms (42:21):
Where would people find these?
Elise Joshi (42:23):
You can go to my link tree. It's in the LinkedIn, my TikTok, in Instagram and Twitter.
Cody Simms (42:29):
What are your handles for people who want to go find you?
Elise Joshi (42:31):
@Elise Joshi on all channels.
Cody Simms (42:34):
On all channels. Nice job. Well, Elise, anything we should have talked about today that we haven't covered?
Elise Joshi (42:39):
Just a personal fact, if it wasn't obvious from my rant about public transit, is that I am super into urban planning, and I believe that we can reduce car dependency significantly. I bike around as my main form of transit and it's the best thing ever even though it can be difficult sometimes. So I encourage anyone to advocate for that in their city if you think walkability needs to be improved.
Cody Simms (43:02):
Elise, I so appreciate you joining us today. Thanks for all the work you're doing, raising awareness, helping people understand how they can plug in and utilize their own voice to make a difference. I can't wait to continue to follow your work. It seems like there is much to follow and much more to come.
Elise Joshi (43:19):
Thank you so much for having me. I had a great time.
Jason Jacobs (43:21):
Thanks again for joining us on My Climate Journey podcast.
Cody Simms (43:26):
At MCJ Collective, we're all about powering collective innovation for climate solutions by breaking down silos and unleashing problem solving capacity.
Jason Jacobs (43:35):
If you'd like to learn more about MCJ Collective, visit us at mcjcollective.com. And if you have a guest suggestion, let us know that via Twitter @mcjpod.
Yin Lu (43:48):
For weekly climate op-eds, jobs, community events, and investment announcements from our MCJ Venture Funds, be sure to subscribe to our newsletter on our website.
Cody Simms (43:57):
Thanks, and see you next episode.
