From time to time, GSHE will feature NH homeschoolers who are making a difference in their communities. We want to share all the wonderful and exciting things our students are doing, whether it’s volunteer work at a homeless shelter, organizing a trash pick-up in their neighborhoods, or getting involved in hot issues of today. We want to shine a light on homeschoolers being awesome!
Today’s feature is by homeschooler, Ilinca Drondoe, who is passionate about environmental concerns.
If you have something you’d like to share with us for a future newsletter edition, please send it to info@GraniteStateHomeEducators.org. We’d love to hear from you about all the great things your child is doing!
Hurricane Dorian has decimated the Bahamas. Meanwhile, the Amazon rainforest is burning, with over 80% of the fires estimated to have been deliberately set to clear land for business expansion. Alaska, Bolivia, Russia, and Indonesia are smoldering with wildfires. This past month of June was the hottest on record, and an entire glacier in Iceland has melted.
Once upon a time, climate change seemed abstract and required a strong grasp of science to understand, but now we just need to look at the headlines on the news to realize its impacts. Or even out our windows! The natural disasters that have been occurring all across the globe all have a common denominator – they were exacerbated by our continued burning of fossil fuels at an unprecedented global rate of over 40 billion tons per year.
My name is Ilinca Drondoe, and I am a homeschooled high school student and environmental activist. As a young person who cannot vote, it is easy to feel rather hopeless about your chances of making a difference, but the truth is that just as small drops can create an ocean, small actions like standing up for what we believe in can create a sea of change. When Greta Thunberg began striking from school every Friday in front of the Swedish Parliament last year, she began a global youth movement that fights for climate justice, action, and awareness. She inspired me and countless others to join her in voicing our outrage at the lack of global action to mitigate climate change. I am one of the organizers of the New Hampshire Youth Climate Strike, our state chapter of the Fridays for Future movement started by Greta.
On September 20th, the youth of the world will strike for the climate, with over 5165 strikes scheduled to happen in 180 countries. We are striking because, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s most recent study which references 6,000 reports and was written by over 60 authors from around the world, we have less than 11 years to transform our energy systems and reduce our carbon emissions to prevent the worst effects of climate change. We are striking because our leaders have yet to acknowledge, prioritize, or properly address the climate crisis. We are striking because we need them to face its reality and enact policy before it is too late.
In New Hampshire, we will come together on September 20th in Prescott Park, Portsmouth NH from 11:00am – 1:00pm. As citizens ranging from youth activists and community leaders to scientists and elected officials, we will raise our voices in the fight for climate justice and protest the creation of additional fossil fuel infrastructure such as the Granite Bridge pipeline. We also will be gathering at a Pre-Strike Action Workshop from 9:30-10:30am at the Portsmouth Public Library, with tables from NH advocacy organizations and resources on other ways to take action, as well as more information about climate change and our movement.
Ultimately, I wish that instead of taking to the streets, we could all focus on our learning while knowing that when we are old enough to vote and to be environmental scientists and world leaders, our generation will live on a planet as healthy as the one our parents and grandparents inhabited. However, we are the generation that is going to be affected by failure to address the climate crisis now. We are the generation that will have to deal with the consequences of industrialization and money driven decisions. If we unite, we will show those in power that we are no longer willing to settle for empty promises, nice words, and vague goals. We need climate action now.
Just two days after the global climate strike, world leaders are convening at the United Nations to discuss climate policies. Let’s shout loud enough on September 20th so that they hear us!
