>> live from london, the ceremony and pageantry of the state opening of parliament. the official opening was officially held at the end of the year with changes to their election rules. it has now been moved to the spring. queen elizabeth will formally outlined the government's's priorities. >> when it comes to privacy from american citizens, corporate liability, good enough isn't enough. >> what is the future for u.s. cyber security? >> the security coordinator on the administration's concerns and reaction to the cyber bills in congress. >> a discussion about use and environmental activism.

we will hear from a college student in south africa in december. and another student that filed suit against the united states. responsible for protecting the atmosphere for future generations. hosted by the commonwealth club, this panel runs just over an hour. >> thank you all for coming. we will hear about your stories. we will hear about what got you to this point. a few years ago, -- >> activism overall sense from my personal problems it left my

family unemployed and we were about to lose our home, and it is about friendships. i hit rock bottom and they made me question my future. i first ask personal questions and led to me asking community questions. it was one question in particular that led me to, they are facing the same problems i

started with the richmond refinery and that led me to environmental work. >> was there anyone in particular are that awakens you? >> i started watching , at this oil from them. >> richmond as a community with a are large oil refinery. >> refines about 250,000 of oil a day. all i know is specific information, at the age of 18,

-- i did not realize the magnitude and the influence it had in the community statewide and globally. the documentaries about oil and learning, they are not connected to a lot of other movements and issues that are happening as well. >> when did you get involved with the environmental issues? how did that get you to where you are today? >> i guess i started when i was really on. maybe eight or nine. this is an 8 or 9-year-old

perspective, so when i was a kid, these were some pretty an enormous revelations to me. i read the news, that is really weird to say that. i very quickly developed a sense that humanity is part of the biosphere. . .

so i spent a fair amount of time that year working on vermont energy politics, and then i was in mexico, and then in south africa working with the international delegation. >> and we're going to show a brief video of abigail. this is the global united nations conference. the scene here is the lead u.s. negotiator is talking, and this is abigail. let's roll this. >> you'll have eight minutes, thank you.

>> the world's most vulnerable. you must set aside partisan politics and let science dictate decisions. you must pledge ambitious targets not lower expectations. 2020 is too late. [applause] >> what is your name? >> abigail. >> from which group? >> from which group. >> the united states youth. >> why did you interrupt the forum. >> the united states government does not speak on my behalf. >> abigail at the united nations. [applause]

>> give us the back story there. how did that go about? >> this is the second to last day of the negotiations. 20 young people from the u.s. had been at the negotiations. for the two weeks we were there we kept having to answer for our country. we were talking to young people across the world saying why isn't the u.s. taking more of a position of leadership on this issue. we were equally frustrated in watching our country not have the necessary urgency or ambition that they needed to bring to these negotiations. and that being said, there wasn't really that much pressure being put on the u.s. from the media, society, other governments. the u.s. was sitting as the elephant in the room. so as young people we felt that we had to call our country out and make sure that people knew that we didn't think the government was speaking on our behalf, and we were really push

for more urgency and ambition. >> what has been the response since that time? people come up to you, etc. what has been the response afterward of that event. >> the moderator said no one is listening to you. i didn't hear him when he said that. that was good. i kept on speaking. but i think the response was people were listening. when young people speak up, people do listen. we don't have to be tol told--constantly young people are being told we have to wait until we're old for have an influence, and we shouldn't speak now. we have to get degrees. we have to see the world, and then we'll understand. but i think it shows as we can all probably attest that when we do speak up, when we do ask people are listening, people are listening, and it makes an influence. >> your point the u.s. not being in leadership this weekend. the "washington post" wrote an editorial and said that the u.s.

was delinquent in leading the world on energy. that was on the editorial page echoing those concerns. let's talk about food. food is an issue you've all been involved in, and something that you can all relate to and connect with. tonya, let's talk first with you on how you grabbed on to food to connect with the environment with those in your personal life and around you. >> when i started community activism, i started with the refinery. i was doing advocacy. i soon found out that not many people were interested in that issue because there were other pressing issues in their lives such as poverty, drug abuse, violence. so i then realized that i had to find something that, you know, everybody had in common. regardless of the race, economic status, we can all come together

in this issue and work together. that was one of the ways i got involved with food. because at the green way, which is where i work, we have garden beds. what makes it unique, it doesn't have fences so people can come and join whenever they want. that's really what i was aiming for. i was wanting a common space where people can come and join regardless of what they were dealing with or economic status. that's really where i started getting more involved with food. >> this is a garden with no fences. can people come steal the food? >> yes, they're more than welcome to steal it. that's the purpose, for others to come steal the food. >> you also got involved with food in your school. that's another place where youth get connected with the food in your school. it wasn't so good, and that's something you got involved with as well. >> that's something i want-- >> you want to have organic

food-- >> all public schools, i brief, should have a local farm that they are getting the food from. especially because educational situation basically shows students--the principals, the philosophy of life and how we should be, and i think public school should lead by example. the fact that schools--a lot of public school lunches are really unhealthy, and they serve pizza most of the time or hamburgers. i think it's unacceptable, and it needs to be changed. that's an issue i want to work on in the future. >> let's hear your connection to food. i know you worked on the obesity issue and others. talk about food as a connecting point for youth. >> i really didn't have a background of food at all, but one of the organizations i worked with, and what they do is an social entrepreneurial work. one of their focus is food justice. coming, i had no idea. i get i go guess i got the ideai

needed to get involved with food justice. food is an uniting factor. people say what is an issue that connects people regardless of race or gender or economic status? food is really the connecting factor. by giving people access to healthy--like affordable food, and regardless of where they live, regardless of what their economic status is, you solve a lot of other problems at the same time. you can solve poverty. you can solve drug issues and foster a community that is critical. making their lives better. that's what it's all about. we're trying to make people's lives better. food is not only one of the easiest, but one of the best ways go about doing so. something that the youth can really get involved in. you don't need to have a degree to get involved in these sort of

things. you don't need to have experience. you just want to have healthy food accessible. i got really involved with the groups that are currently pursuing food justices, particularly in the oakland area. it's been encouraging to see so many youth who have gone through so many personal hardships. i can't begin to describe, to be honest. yeah, we're still commit to the idea of food justice and having healthy food available to everyone. look, this is something that i think everyone should focus on. >> so is it the idea that some how organic food is only for those people who--it shouldn't be only for people who can afford it, that sort of thing. food is an issue. >> yes, as you said, i grew up working on a dairy farm. for me that helped launch me in the food movement because it instilled a lot of values. suddenly i was responsible for

this task of collecting eggs or responsible for a certain part of the garden. those ideas of responsibility and ownership are really important for young people because a lot of things we don't feel ownership over. and so the idea that i could participate in something and see real tangible changes that if i didn't water, if i didn't weed, then it would affect the success of the crop. then bringing those values into something like being a part of the political process, when we're engaged in making food and growing food, i think we can show how those connect to being engaged in other decisions. >> there is another aspect here which recently there has been a lot of awareness of how people eat may be a bigger contributor to their carbon footprints than what they drive. all the fossil fuels that go into food production and it's a big deal for each individual's carbon footprint. another aspect is green jobs.

the idea that this are jobs in these new technologies, in these areas, and it's something that can't be exported. that's something that is probably a concerned. >> yes, definitely. we really have a high unemployment rate. one of the things---we just dont grow food. we grow people because we're seeing urban agriculture as a tool to educate people on bigger issues. so we recognize that we need to change our culture that has been--that create like violent cycle and abusive cycle. we're trying to change that and you urban agriculture as a hub, almost, where people can come together and talk about thee larger issue, but you know, share this intimate experience of eating food together. >> michael said you get to vote with your fork three time a day. the an area where people can have an impact. you don't need to be settle to o that. let talk about voting.

is that a meaningful he can pregnant? due voting matter? people think vote doesn't matter, and people don't vote, young people don't vote. >> i'm voting. >> you're voting for the first time. >> yep. >> do you think that your vote will have a significant impact. >> yes, to be perfectly honest honest--i go my individual vote probably doesn't count, but the idea of 100 those or a million people say my vote doesn't matter, if a million young people don't believe or how many people don't vote. each individual vote matters. some people have an idea that the vote doesn't matter and that nothing happens. we can complain to the people that we don't want are in power or the laws we don't want are getting passed. if all the people who generally didn't like those laws or those politicians would vote for people they wanted or laws that

they wanted, i'm pretty sure we would have that change happen. all politicians, despite the fact that a lot of them are bought out by corporations and the like, they're accountable to us in a lot of ways. they still will want to be re-elected. people say, oh, one vote doesn't make a difference or your vote doesn't make a difference. that's a pretty big lie. anyone who says that, i completely disagree with them. if everyone honestly voted, cared, and i if you genuinely think your vote matters, then it does. you can vote and get that change across. it's the only way a lot of us have that power. a lot of us aren't rich enough to buy off politicians. oh, i said it. oh, oh. a lot of us don't have the desire to run for office or for important positions or things like that, but we can vote with our vote. that's redundant, but yeah, that's what i believe. >> are a student at stanford

university, and an bail is a student at university in vermont. i want to talk about your vote. do your peers think that voting matters? is that an avenue for change? >> in vermont we had a decision by the vermont house to close down our nuclear plant which was providing a third of our energy. some of my friends and i were thinking what if we could replace that energy with clean and renewable technologies. during the governor's election we spent almost the entire year trying to get young people mobilized around the voting for the governor and have the governor come in and say i want to replace the nuclear plant with wind, solar, hydroand bio mass. we registered thousands of young people to vote. we had to do it with different ways. because it was the summer, and because students weren't in

school, and voting in a midterm election is really not that exciting. so we went to the highest peak in vermont and registered voters who were hiking up the mountains. we got a tricycle and we had a registration and we started riding around streets and riding all around the state registering young people to vote that way. so we have to, you know, we have to employee creative means to get young people engaged. but i definitely thing voting matters and the results of the election shows that young people did come out and started voicing their opinions. >> and was there a shift away from nuclear to the clean energy? or is that still in progress? >> yeah, it's still in progress right now, but we had a governor who came in and made a strong statement saying that he was committed to shutting it down. >> tonya, in your community do people think their votes matter? can they engage in the system and engage that way?

>> there are people who think their vote doesn't matter. but i do work with a group of people who do see that their vote matters. locally we've created changes through policy which proves to me that my vote really does matter because for a while i was kind of skeptical about he voting because i was, oh, it's not going count. but after being in the process i realize how powerful that is when people unite and vote for one thing. >> and you made a video, an award-winning video that was connected to proposition 23 in california a couple of years ago, which was initiative to basically suspend california's main climate change laws backed by a couple of texas oil companies. was that impactful? >> definitely, yeah it was. i got a crew of people. it was like me and four other people, most of them were younger than me. we went around, basically, and let people know about it, and

then asked them if we could videotape their response. for a lot of people they didn't know. most of the people who we interviewed were people in high school, high school students. and it was, like, really interesting. even the personal connection like us talking to them about it. some of them got frustrated and mad because they didn't know. so it was kind of like--it was a learning experience for us and the people who we interviewed. >> a lot of talk about young people these days don't read newspapers. i would like to know where you get your news and information, and what sources do you trust? >> i really like democracy now, but i look at different sites to see what they have. like "new york times," cnn, c-span. i just browse around to see different perspectives.

>> an abigail, where do you get your news? >> i think it's interesting at the college we hear from our teachers and friends, and then on the internet, facebook and twitter, almost everything is overwhelming. i found that i learn best through conversation. then i can read articles and i can read op-eds and all these things. but i formulate my ideas best when i'm talking with other people. >> like today. perfect for climate one. >> i like of the websites i go, i think it's critical to get a broad spectrum of websites. everyone has their biases and reporters, after all, they're all human. i think the most important to take away no matter what you read, take everything, even if you like a particular site, like, with a grain of salt, and try to get the story beyond the

story. try to see it past all the emotional--what they try to stir up in you. this is what happened, the actual fact of what happened, and then you can decide for yourself how you feel about that. then don't let the media tell you how you're supposed to feel. i think that's the biggest issue with media, and that's why news is such a controversial thing. people say, oh, all the news is biased. it's all about you determining whether or not it's biased. if that made any sense at all. i hope it did. >> are you more likely to trust something that a friend post on facebook or somebody stumbled upon, and oh, my friend thought this was a good article, so therefore it must be? >> i'm more likely to read it if a friend suggested it. i think that's one of the values of social media. we're able to share things pretty quickly, but we have to be wary, again. >> your friend could have got

duped. >> mm-hmm. >> just because your friend read it doesn't mean it's a good thing. let's talk about social media and the work you do. that's probably something you barely remember, the world before facebook. >> there was a world before facebook? >> yes, it was antiquated. let's talk about social media in the work and information that you're doing, particularly in your community. tonya, is that a big part of what you do in richmond? >> not as much, but it's still--i'm still active. i did videos for a while on social justice issues and journalisms, and i still do journalism for "richmond post," which is a youth-led newspaper. i cover stories from art to social issues, and i really enjoy it. it challenges me to go out and talk to people and interview certain people that i probably wouldn't talk to if it wasn't

for the articles. >> abigail, social media a good thing? you've been working internationally. that must an big deal to connect youth internationally. >> it has been great. i think we've been able to connect with each other pretty quickly and on a huge scale, which is amazing. i think something that is a challenge is how we connect with people who aren't already plugged in. >> to reach beyond the choir. >> impactly. we can post things, and people can like what we have online but how do we get beyond the laptop. for some of that it's going out in the communities and it can't be this virtual world and call that activism. it has to be on a more personal level. >> our guests are abigail and ton i do notonya, and ardarsha,g dalton.

do any of you own a car. >> i do. >> ardarsha, you don't own a car. do you aspire to own a car. >> that's a different thing. when i need to i drive my mom's car. ultimately i want to get a car, but at the same time i'm not in a major rush mainly because i'm in college at stanford, and it's not very car friendly. >> deliberately so. are there car shares? >> yes, that's the thing. if i need a car i want one that is not a gas guzzler, one, i don't need one. and, b, the gas prices are really high, and c, the environmental reasons. i think we're more apt to incline towards the most environmentally friendly cars. right now my wallet is pinched and spending a lot of money on gas is not something that we

want to go done, especially when your any college and you have other financial things to deal with. there is a natural tendency to shift to greener technology. financial reasons are as good a reason as many to shift to the greener technologies. i am not going to get a car until i really need one. >> and this move towards collaborative consumption which is a fancy name for sharing things, your car shares, that sort of thing, you would have to own a car to use it when you want it, and you don't have to pay for it when you don't want it. you both own cars. what kind of cars are they? >> mine is a truck, and i use it for work. sometimes i wish i didn't have a car. there is insurance and gas and everything, but it definitely comes in handy when you work in a garden. >> abigail? >> yes, i go all over vermont getting to and from school and different places, it's definitely a challenge lacking

basic transportation. >> our whole country is built around the need for having a car. >> mm-hmm. >> let's talk about who you respect in the environmental movement. who are some people that you really look up to that inspire you today? tonya? >> for me it would be my executive director because she's committed to working at a gras grass-root level. i really expect that. she wants people to be on the streets and talking to people one-on-one, and she is all about local--hiring local, growing your food local, strong local economy. when i barely started working with her i wanted to go to africa, go to mexico and all these different places to help the world, and she grounded my roots and really made my roots strong where i was at. she made me understand that you don't have to travel to help the

world. you can make a stronger impact when you stay in your community because you already know a network of people. so she really inspired me, and that's why i feel like i'm where i am today in really looking at a local economy as strong solution for the future. >> abigail? >> it's not one particular person. i'm really inspired by the young people i work with. i would probably say without the energy and excitement and the enthusiasm and sort of relentless optimism of the young people i work with, working in the international climate movement is incredibly difficult because i feel like every time we have a great thing we have come up with, and i'm not sure it's being heard. we come to conferences and fundraise. we write policy statements, we write media statements, and we're constantly working towards

something that we're not sure if it's going to work or not. we're always bringing humor and enthusiasm. i don't think i would be able to continue the work if it wasn't for that type of spirit. >> you're talking about sustain us. tell us what sustain us is. >> it's a u.s.-based organization run entirely by youth. it's definitely that type of energy in sustain us as well as the entire youth climate. >> ardarsha? >> i'm going to echo abigail here. i think it's a disservice for me to say it's any one person or even a group of people. i would go with everyone--almost everyone in the sustainability, climate change movement. because through my work i've met a lot of people. i'll get e-mails were people who know very little english, places like ghana, tanzania, and places

like that. they will be asking, hey, can you help? they're putting effort in, and they ask, can you please help with an idea that i have. at first i was not really sure how to respond. but i would given my advice, we would get in an conversation and to see people across the world. youth, people who are older than me, it doesn't really matter. people who are willing to lay everything out, no matter what their situation, try to make their communities their lives and whether they know it or not, the world a better place regardless of the consequence, regardless of the cost. no matter what the obstacle is they will not quit. no matter what. if they have three choices, one, climb over it, break through it, or go around it, and it's great

to see people that dedicated. it sounds cheesy but it's true. >> one of the things that has been in the news is the keystone pipeline. president obama recently announced he wants to expedite approval of half of it that is already in the united states, holding up the part that crosses the border from canada. is that something that you can relate to? it goes through the middle of the country. it doesn't go through california or vermont. is this relevant to you and the people you're working with? tonya? >> yeah, definitely it is very relevant. it's part of a bigger movement of trying to get dirty oil into communities. tarzan is one of the dirtiest oil you can extract. and in richmond the refinery wants to expand in order to

refine tarzan's. >> heavier crude? >> heavier crowd. we're part of that movement trying to stop dirtier oil coming into communities, and creating even more health impacts and environmental impacts. >> to be clear, the tarzan oil would go to texas. it wouldn't necessarily come to car. but other kinds of heavy crude. >> they want to bring it from canada to california. so just tarzan in germ. >> hardarsha how is the keystone development relevant to what you're doing. >> again, we're not getting a lot of direct impact. but it's the principle. it's all about how they're lying pretty blatantly. the official reports indicate not many jobs will be made by this. it wouldn't have a major effect on gas prices. the oil company's record is not convincing. hey, guys, it's going to be

clean and environmentally friendly--no, not really. the principle on these matters we can't say it's okay. we have to draw a line and say, no, you can't could that. just no. end of the story. and in that case, although it may not affect me directly, if we say yes, that's okay, it would have an overall negative effect on the country and the climate. we let them do whatever they want, and then it becomes harder and harder to stop them. they have a massive lobbying industry. if we don't stop them here, then it will be hard for stop them in the future. >> abigail? >> for me it's a issue of how applicationpoliticians represenr interests. when we see americans wanting

renewable, and politicians are going against that and siding with big oil, gas, coal, i think we need to hold them accountable. the climate movement has been fighting the basketball fro--fie battle from the get go. but i think it's just another example, as you were saying, corporate dollars are influencing our politicians. >> we're discussing climate change at climate one. we're going to put a microphone right here and invite your participation. that's often the best part of the program. please go out the doors right there. the line will form. please don't walk in front of the camera. we'll invite your one-part question or comment. particularly for the young people in the audience. let's get people involved in the

conversation. if we have to put the mic down, we can do that. let's have that part. i'll ask a question of--how would you assess president obama's environmental performance so far? >> right now president obama is committed to all of the above energy policy. i think we could do more. i think we could be more ambitious, especially in terms of the international negotiations. >> what is wrong with all of the above? energy is complicated. we have nuclear. we have coal. it's not going to go away immediately. what is wrong with all of the above. >> i think we could do better. i think we could take a real position of leadership and say we're going to go with the clean, safe technologies. we're going to launch a green economy and create jobs. >> even if it costs nor money? >> i think so.

>> hardarsha. >> i think personally, i think take less offense. i don't think coal and oil are good, i'm leaning towards nuclear and natural gas. >> you favor nuclear. >> not favor nuclear-- >> if necessary. >> it's not as bad as people make out to be when it's done right. i think we need it give every option a fair chance. for example, big oil has a bad track record comparatively speaking. however, i'm not as harsh on obama--i'm not harsh on his ideals. he still wants green. but it's a little too long term

to my liking. he's tending to be too nice, and in an ideal world there is some amount of compromise and things get done. but in this climate compromise really gets nothing done. it's sad that we've reached this stage. anything that gets passed is really a watered down--very watered down and ineffectual compromise, really. because well, we're not going to do much with regard to a new plan, and he caves in too much. that's what i think. we need a show that he's actually serious about this. >> i agree with the other two speakers. i think as the u.s. we have so much power and resources we can really lead the way and be more ambitious, and really change things around. at the same time, he doesn't have all the power, so i'm

understanding of that. >> let's have our first audience question. yes, sir, welcome to climate one. can you talk in the microphone? >> so how can younger kids under ten stop climate change and stop the problem. >> well, i work with students under the age of ten, and they are very much involved. if you ask little kids, they can demand stuff from us, us who are in high school, older, adults. if you see something, you can tem us about it. hey, i want to do this. i want to do that. we'll listen to you. so as someone who works with little kids, so many of you have really interesting questions, you're so outgoing and so wanting to learn so many things that you have so much power in you, and you can do so much. but you need to start speaking

out. when you don't see things that you don't like, then speak out. tell people around you about it. that's a start. that's something that you can start doing now. >> do you do some things already? >> um, let me think of it. i have a really hard life and i have to remember. >> okay, get back to us. any other thoughts that young kids can do. >> first off, what's your name? >> kai. >> kai? >> how old are you. >> six and three-quarters, and my birthday is in two weeks. >> i think you should tell--if you're interested in something, right, you should tell people who are older than you who have more resources and availability. but at the same time get to the point where i agree with everything that has been said, but i guess there will be people

older than you who don't listen because of how young you are. ignore them. oh, a kid is talking, you're, like, oh well. those people, like, it doesn't matter who doesn't listen to you. if one person listens and helps, it's totally worth it. some people will say, oh, you're just a kid. i don't know what this kid will do. it's been awhile since i was six, i don't know how a six-year-old hears no, so just move on. if you feel passionately about something, no one can stop you. don't let anyone older than you say, you're just six, you don't know. ignore them. people who listen to you are the ones who matter. >> okay. [laughter] >> thank you, kai. >> i like you. [applause] >> the youngest question ever.

>> my maim is wenley. i have a question for anyone who would like to answer. i'm wondering how do your parents or do your family respond to the path that you've chosen to take in terms of environmental activism and i would like to hear your story of how your parents responded. >> at first my mom thought i was crazy. she wanted to take me to a psychologist, actually. because she couldn't understand why her little girl, who, you know, wore tons of makeup, and wore heels, and dyed her hair all the time, like all of a sudden wanted to be this activist and change the world. so she thought some switch went off, and it wasn't really working. but then after i kept being persistent with the work that i was doing, now she's really proud of me. she asks for my advice all the

time about products, food, and medicine. >> an guying, what do your parents think when you disrupted an international negotiation? [laughter] >> yeah, that's an interesting question. my father first learned about it when he was listening to npr on the way to work. he sent me an e-mail. he would have called, but i was in south africa. he sent me an e-mail sayic, hi, i just wanted to make sure that they got the name right, and it wasn't one of your friends. i think it was interesting for them to see how passionate i was about this. my parents always felt that climate change is real, but it will happen in the future, like the long future. so they realized that because i was working on this, and i had been working on it for a while, because i had done something so extreme that they sort of woke up. they were saying, is this something that we should be concerned about? should we be thinking about this right now? so i think seeing my passion led

them to really understanding the issue a little bit more. >> interesting that it took you being reported in the media for that to happen. you just couldn't tell them over dinner. >> right. [laughter] >> hadarsha? >> my parents are really, really supportive of me. their biggest concern was that--i am a very passionate and fiery individual. >> i'm getting that sense, yeah. >> yeah, i think a lot of people did. it's kind of crazy. he's energic. he's going to do it whether we say he can do it or not. i just thought alone for myself how to express myself and get my point across. >> let's have the next question. >> do you feel like all of the

corporate america is really taking environmental issues seriously? if not, is there something that we can do to change that? >> an guying? >> i think a lot of corporate america is not taking environmental issues seriously. if they are dressing it, it's green washed. they'll use the world "environmental" or "green" as a ploy for us to get interested in their product. we get the idea that we're buying green, but maybe we need to look at our practices. should we be buying an extra recycled water bottle in the first place. do we need new things. we need to hold corporations accountable as well, look with e their money is going and how it's influencing us. >> next question, welcome to

climate one. >> hi, i'm on the board with hadarsha. i'm glad i know this amazing person. this is an issue that bothers me all the time. we have oil in our environment, and there are hundreds of thousands of people who are vested in keeping it this way. they want to keep it. how are we going to convince them to transfer to a clean energy economy. how is that going to happen. >> systemic change. >> hadarsha. >> i feel it might be controversial, but a lot of people in the oil companies will not bother until they see a more profitable option. they need to see a profit. when oil becomes less profi profitable, oil going down,

something becomes more profitable, then the oil companies will naturally switch. at that point, they have a very vested interested. it's understandable. so the only way i really feel excelling that rate of change is to really get people who are not just the youth, although the youth are a very important component, but get people in general motivated to change the status quo. for oil companies there are very few options. they can get behind us or get out of our way. it's as simple as that. >> i think holding them accountable for the environmental problems they cause. sometimes we look at their profits, but they're actually not cleaning up their mess. when we actually start charging them to clean up their mess, we'll realize that a lot of their profits will go to cleaning up the mess they made.

even in the gulf oil spill they don't even know right now the magnitude and the amount of money that will go into cleaning this area. in brazil and ecuador and the environmental damage that they're creating, they're not cleaning up. us not holding them accountable in cleaning up their mess will make them less profitable, and maybe they'll rethink the way they're making their profits. >> next question? >> hi, my name is jeffrey. i have a question for all of you. what to do when sort of your peers, you talk to your peers about your feelings about climate change. and if they disagree or how you can get them motivated about the topic and trying to help stop climate change. >> yes, make it acceptable and make it fun. why i'm involved is because we

have the atmosphere, and we're polluting, but we have to make it tangible. whether it's there gardening, recycling, or a project where we can really see it, and we can see that our actions make a difference, and we can make a change. also making it fun and a party, so making sure that we celebrate our successes, and maintain good spirits about it so it's not something that depresses us or drains us, but something that we can really rally around and get excited about. >> there is a lot of doom and gloom, but that can be paralyzing. >> i totally agree. another way to think about it, i think it's true for anyone. you don't need to talk about it as climate change. a lot of things that you do, oil, for example, a lot of are using more than climate change. can we make the world a better place a healthier place for a lot of people.

not just if we want to lower our greenhouse gas emissions, we can make the world better, but that's what we're trying to do, make the world a healthier better place. then people are willing to--who is going to say, no, i don't want to make the world a better place. what? i think if we do it like that, a lot of more people are accommodating to us. >> i think relate to go issues that they--that are personal to those people. climate change falls under a super big umbrella. there are so many pieces to it. find out what your friends are interested in, and then connect it to climate change. >> we're talking about youth advocates at climate one. we have tonya and abigail and hadarsha. let's have our next studio question.

>> how can i get others, kids around my school get active and help the world become a better place, and get them away from video games? >> solar powered video games maybe. >> yeah, i think one of the first things is to get outside. part of that is having a community of people who are working on similar issues. i don't know, maybe you can speak more on that, and how you get people outside. >> yes, being outside is really fun. there are a lot of cool activities. i play with my students that are really fun and they really enjoy. actually one of the things that is important is how do you make it hands-on. how do you make it not so much of a lecture. okay, i'm going to tell you how we're going save the world, but create a worm bin or plant something and watch it grow and do fun activities with people.

>> i think that. >> sure. >> i totally agree. speaking as a guy who plays video games. it's, oh, sad face. the most important thing is really hands-on, tangible impact mainly because that's why i think school gardens are really a great way. nine out of ten, when you do your home work, you can't eat your home work. well, you can, a, it tastes horrible. and b, you have problems. but you can have a school garden and you can eat the results. it's more tangible and tastier. you can see the results, feel the results, eat the results, which sounds weird, that will go a long way in making people interested. but if you plant this garden, you put in work, and you can really reap the benefits of it. it does a lot to make people interested. >> next question, please? >> hi there, i would like to ask

what do you think it would take to get the international committee on this issue and especially the role the youth movement would be in. >> get the u.s. more engaged internationally. you are engaged, but tell us--respond to that question. >> i think right now we've politicized climate change and environmental issues to be on liberals on the side of the environment, and conservatives on the side of economics. we have to figure out how to do it so it's not so divided on party lines. we need both parties involved in the solution. until we depoliticize the issue we're not going to have success in congress. we're not going to be able to bring anything to the table internationally. >> it used to be that way a lot

of was done by republicans in a nonpartisan way. another question. >> i'm ceo of mentors.com inned. i invest in different projects. besides a reusable toothbrush made out of yoplait or yogurt cups, what would you suggest i invest in to assist in climate change. >> hadarsha. >> any technology marketed towards developing third world countries. clean burning stoves or solar powered lamps. in those countries we're talking about really, really poor peop people. in those areas of the world, can i get food, shelter, heat for my

family. a lot of those things are very, very dirty, not only for them but for the environment as well. if you can invest in clean-burning kerosene lamps or lamps that last longer and overall cheaper for the families, there are loads of difference in those areas. not only would it have an impact in increasing the family's health but get those people do understand--the people in developing countries which are probably going to be the bigger source of carbon footprints in the future, you can have economic advancement and still be clean at the same time. you can choose between jobs or money or health and the environment. you can teach those people at a very early stage that it's not either/or. you can do bother at the same time. time--you can do both at the

same time. >> hi, i'm also a college student. i was wondering if you guys have any understanding where your college endousements were invested, and there was transparency. actually, sometimes we don't know where money is invested currently and it could be invested with exxon, and i wonder if you know where your endowments are invested, and if there is any transparency on that issue? >> hadarsha. >> to be perfectly honest, i have know idea if stanford makes that knowledge available. i really hope that the institution i go to, like, holds itself up to the standards we try to, i guess--the standards that we are taught at the school. but i will definitely look into

that. i don't know if they are publicly available, but i think--even if you don't know those things we can put a lot of pressure on the school to get it's endowments from other sources. if enough people in the school say, look, hypothetically if we had an endowment from exxon that would not be in keeping with the standards that we hold the rest of the community to. then they would quietly shift away from those kinds of endowments. >> there is a real and somewhat effective precedent for that, which was the anti anti-aparthed movement in the 80s. we did find out where the college endowments were invested. the university of california invested in south africa whic, n

that case it effected u.s. policies which effected a country overseas really works in that case, and we know that it happened in south africa and the government changed eventually. we have to wrap it up quickly. one thing you want to leave with the audience and young people out there. closing words. >> find something that you're passionate about, and do it responsibly. take everything into consideration when do you it. >> i think be a part of decision making and realize that your voice matters in this process. i think holding politicians accountable is important and speaking up when you don't agree with something. you can also vote with your dollars, vote with your votes, and any action you take will be heard. >> i agree with everything that they both said. if you're genuinely committed to a cause don't let anyone stop

us. don't let any financial institution or anyone stop you. if you don't do what you want to do or what you think needs to be done, then no one else will. in a lot of ways you have that kind of power, exercise it. >> thanks to hadarsh a and tonya, and also a abigail. i'm greg dal upon. thank you all for coming to climate one today. >> thank you. [applause] >> coming up this evening, next, q abandoner a. then