Eight guests ages 8 to 60 years old share their visions for their neighborhoods in the year 2050, and what climate solutions they’re most excited about to help get us there.
Eight guests ages 8 to 60 years old share visions for their neighborhoods by the year 2050, and which climate solutions they're most excited about to help get us there.
1 Point 5: A Kids Climate Justice Podcast
S1EP12, Where Do We Go From Here?
[INTRODUCTION]
Zanagee: Hello there and welcome back to 1 Point 5: A Kids Podcast About Climate Justice! I’m Zanagee Artis.
Olivia: And I’m Olivia Greenspan.
Zanagee: And we believe that kids like you deserve a livable planet.
Olivia: In our show we explore the challenges facing our planet with scientists, youth activists, and other environmental leaders who have experienced the realities of the climate crisis firsthand.
Zanagee: If you can believe it, today is the twelfth and final episode of Season One of 1 Point 5. Thanks so much for being on this journey with us!
Olivia: Yes, and what a season it’s been! We’ll share some closing thoughts with you at the end of the show, but for now, we’re so excited because we’re taking a different approach to this closing episode, and it truly is SUCH a treat.
Zanagee: Such a treat, yes. In today’s episode you’ll hear from eight different guests ages 8 years to 60 years old sharing what they hope their neighborhood will look like in the year 2050, and what climate solutions they’re most excited about to help get us there.
Olivia: Some voices you will recognize from past episodes, and some voices are new. We heard from listeners across the United States about their vision for the future, what they see happening today to help get us there, and what role they hope to play in the future. Thanks to all who contributed. We hope you enjoy listening as much as we did.
[GUEST AUDIO]
Zanagee: So, to start, it’s time to hear from a few of our past guests who have shared their expertise this season on 1 Point 5. We asked guests to respond to the following prompt:
Let’s take a listen.
Dr. Heather Price: Hi, my name is Dr. Heather Price. I live in Seattle on Duwamish tribal land. I'm most excited about electrification and decarbonization. I love to think about what the world is going to look like, sound like and smell like. In 2050, as we electrify transportation, my kids' school bus isn't going to stink anymore or bring on asthma attacks when I'm walking in my neighborhood.
I think about how the air will smell better and it will be safer to bring. Homes are going to retire toxic methane so-called natural gas stoves, and there will be fewer kids with asthma. We know that children living in homes with gas stoves have significantly higher rates of asthma. So as we electrify everything and decarbonize our world, it's going to be healthier and safer for us and for our families.
Jaike Spotted Wolf: Hi, my name is Jake spotted Wolf. I am of the three affiliated tribes that Samish, Mandan, and had.su out of North Dakota from the Fort Berthold reservation. I'm currently on occupied Duwamish territory or so-called Seattle Washington in the Pacific Northwestern part of turtle island or the so-called United States. Hawaii has now instituted the practice of replacing a lot of the white board members that were not local to Hawaii.
And instead replacing them with natives who had a strong knowledge of the land and of cultures and traditions. And in that what they're doing is instituting a, say, permits, uh, that you have to buy to go to, uh, local hiking trails and. That reduces, you know, the footprint of people that are coming into the parks from, you know, say 3000 a day down to like 75 and the impact that will have on the local ecology, um, on, you know, the birds that nest there that feel safe enough to nest there because they don't see all this traffic from human beings and therefore, you know, fear that their eggs could get stolen.
And, um, that will impact their climate. Um, because they are focused on making sure that the ecology thrives and making sure you know, that people are wearing, uh, reef safe, sunscreen, um, you know, that ensures that the underwater ecology thrives and is, um, protected and cared for, uh, and that they're, you know, asking for, um, like a.
Uh, a fee when you come to the island that goes back into the environment to fund. When you, you fly in as a tourist, there'll be able to, um, you know, take care of their parks with that revenue, take care of the local environment, which will in the long run, when you see fewer people impacting a space, because there are more regulations put in.
Um, you'll see the ecology start to thrive in the environment, uh, picks up on that and therefore the climate does, um, respond to that. Um, and I think that that's an important discussion right now, you know, uh, letting the world know that there are people that know how to steward their land and how that positively impacts climate.
Is it a really important discussion.
Dr. David Montgomery: Hi, my name is David Montgomery and I live in Seattle, Washington.The climate solutions of the present I'm most excited about now are electric cars and the potential to build up soil carbon. Um, what will that do in terms of my own neighborhood? Well, and other people's neighborhoods and our global neighborhood, it could mean more healthy trees and flowers and vegetation in our lives and less exhaust. I’m happy about all that.
Olivia: I loved how Dr. Price mentioned that her kid’s school bus isn’t going to stink or bring on asthma attacks. This echoed what Dr. Price mentioned in our interview with her on episode 3, when she mentioned that her vision for a climate just future meant hundreds of more people per day simply living every day from not burning gasoline and coal and diesel and oil in our homes.
I also appreciated Jaike, who we spoke with on episode 9, highlighting structural changes, like Hawaii starting to replace white board members not local to the land with natives who have strong local knowledge, both of the land but also of local cultures and traditions.
And of course, Dr. Montgomery, would it be Dr. Montgomery, if you didn't mention building up soil carbon, which he explained in episode 11 as a great and totally under-appreciated solution to the climate crisis, I really can't recommend learning about soil carbon enough.
Zanagee: Absolutely.
From Jaike, I loved hearing about the inclusion of indigenous peoples in government and decisions about ecology and our environment. And that actually supports indigenous sovereignty and promotes climate justice. And seeing this in action in Hawaii is solidarity in practice. And it's something that I hope can be spread elsewhere in other governments nationally, around the world, because this is something that we need to see so much more.
And, for Dr. Montgomery, also super excited to see electric cars on our streets.
Olivia: Have you ever driven an electric car? Oh my God. It is like nothing you've ever experienced. It goes so quickly and it's so quiet. It's like driving a spaceship.
Zanagee: Wild truly. And honestly, I'm even more excited about the potential for high speed rail and public transit to think that we could get places anywhere in the country with no emissions. So fast, faster than we've ever traveled in cars is I think another really exciting possibility.
And these are all very exciting solutions and visions for 2050 from some of our guests this season. More audio – this time from listeners ages 8 to 17 – right after this quick break.
[BREAK]
[KID AUDIO]
Zanagee: Welcome back to 1 Point 5, a Kids Podcast About Climate Justice. It’s time to hear from listeners about what they hope their neighborhood will look, smell, feel, and sound like in the year 2050, and how they’ll help contribute to making that happen.
Olivia: Now, we’re going to hear from some amazing kids about their own perspective. We asked these guests to respond to the following three questions:
Number one, what do you hope your neighborhood will look, sound, smell, and feel like in 2050? Two, what actions need to happen today in order to accomplish this? And three, what role do you think you'll play in making this happen?
Let’s take a listen to what these kids hope their neighborhood will look, sound, smell, and feel like in 2050.
Sophie: My name is Sophie and I am eight years old. And in the year 2050, I will be 37 years old. I live in Rhode Island.
I want my neighborhood to look like a beautiful place where everybody can feel safe. I want it to smell good. In the summer, I want it to smell like flowers. In the spring, I want it to smell like happiness. In the fall, I want it to smell like gorgeous leaves falling off the branches. And winter, I want it to smell like snow falling.
Sophie’s Dad: Is there anything you don't want it to smell like?
Sophie: I don't really want my neighborhood to smell like car pollution, truck pollution. I don't want it to smell like people being mean. I don't wanna see that or smell that. The car to bring that into your brain, and remember that.
We need to plant more trees. We need to use electric cars. We need to. instead of the trash on the car bit in, on the ground, you want to put it in the trash can or the recycling. If you have paper put into a cycling for the paper. If you have a plastic bag, put it in the trash.
Lauren: My name is Lauren. I am nine years old and in 2050, I will be 37 years old. I live in Wisconsin. For the first question, I think my neighborhood would look like there would be more trees and solar panels. And the air would, would smell cleaner than ever. And the way to achieve that is by having planting more trees, adding more solar panels and using less energy.
Annabel: Hi, my name is Annabel. I am 10 years old and in the year, 2050, I will be 38 years. I live in Wisconsin. In 2050. I hope my neighborhood look clean, no trash in the streets, more people walking or biking, rather than driving more plants and gardens and more animals. I hope I hear dogs barking. Birds chirping, bees buzzing and people laughing.
I hope I smell flowers and other plants. I hope it will feel peaceful and calm. In my neighborhood, the actions we need to start now that will make this happen is not littering, recycling stuff like papers or cardboard, planting more trees far and other plants also, you can try eating less beef cows burp out something called methane. This will go into the atmosphere and create something almost like a greenhouse covering earth. The heat inside the atmosphere will stay track inside and it will build up. That is one thing that causes global warming. But if we eat less beef, there'll be less of a need for cows.
Nathan: My name is Nathan. I'm 11 years old. And in the year 2050, I will be 40 years old. I live in Maryland. I hope that my neighborhood would look like will look clean and it wouldn't be polluted and would have a lot of trees and grass, basically what it looks like now. But future. Today, we need to stop pollution, carpool and all the stuff that, um, are stopped doing the stuff that are increasing climate change, my family and I, um, we have made many measures against polluting, like we take the bus to school for instance, and we compost and we use less plastic. That kind of stuff. And we recycle.
Samantha: Hi, my name is Sam. I'm from Maryland. I'm 17 years old now and in 2050, I'll be 45 years old. So I hope Maryland will stay the same in terms of look, um, though I'm sure that's kind of like inevitable considering how close we live to DC and how like things, like new infrastructure is constantly being added.
Regard to sound, I hope it stays the same. I already know. Near like a busy ish town. Um, there's a lot of trains and like cars. So I don't think I can handle more sound like it already drives me nuts. Um, so I hope it'll stay where it’s at. Like I don't need more sound, maybe less sound if possible.
Um, I hope it will feel the same. This question. I think it's like in my, I don't know I'm going to answer it like it's in terms of like weather and climate and stuff, but I hope it will feel the same again. Um, I like having four seasons. Um, but with climate change, I don't know if that's gonna happen. Um, actions needed, or definitely politicians stepping in, especially like smaller level things, like smaller level politicians.
Um, I think starting small and then moving our way up to like, national government, um, is probably the most efficient way, especially since like national government does neglect, like a lot of problems in my opinion.
Zanagee: Now let’s hear our guests' responses to the prompt, “what role do you think you’ll play in making this future happen?”
Sophie: Well, my dream, since I was seven years old was to be a koala doctor. And I feel like it would play a good role because we're really harming not just our earth, but the animals that live in it.
I feel like we're, we should be saying, sorry to them right here and there. As we are making the mistakes, and we should be fixing our mistakes as these mistakes are big ones. Our pollution is too much, there's too much. These squirrels, our fish. And also we kill these animals too. Like we kill our fish just to have fish for us to eat when we should be helping them get food.
And it really is important that everybody has enough in this world, as we are not the only thing, person, or animal on this planet. So we really need to share, not conquer.
Lauren: And for the last question I said, I will always try to save all the animals. And do all I can, to save Earth. And in the future, I think I want to go to Australia and save animals there.
Annabel: How I am contributing to this is by recycling and I also walk to and from school every single day. Another thing I do is pick up trash at my school playground. In the future. I will continue doing this and also sign up to volunteer, to do local cleanups and remember doing some of these little things can make a big difference.
Nathan: Um, if I get my dream job of being a mechanical engineer, I'll try to get my company and my boss to make products that are more environmentally friendly.
Samantha: Um, what role I will play. I don't know, I'm going to college next year. Um, I want to, I want to study political science and then hopefully go to law school.
Um, I would like to run for delegate in my district in Maryland. Um, but we'll see at 45 if I do that. Um, but if I do, climate injustice will definitely be on my agenda. Um, cause I feel very passionately about it. Yeah, thanks.
Zanagee: There's so much in these responses as well.
I love how Sophie said that she wants it to smell like happiness in the summer, and doesn't want it to smell like people being mean.
And that is so incredible because I think it picks up on something we've been talking about this season. That means no environmental racism. It means no people having to experience pollution just because of where they live, because of how much money they have about their identities. And that's huge. And so not smelling like people being mean also means now environmental racism.
And from Lauren loved hearing about trees and solar panels and clean air because clean air is a right, and we of course, will be fighting with you all along the way for those rights.
There's no reason why in the richest country, in the world here in the United States, we continue to get the bare minimum from our leaders, clean air and clean water are human rights and you deserve to have those respected.
And from Annabel, save the bees. Yes, we have to save the bees. We have to preserve biodiversity and biodiversity is essentially, um, helping the variety of life on our planet thrive.
And Annabel also mentioned eating less beef, and again, picking up on this idea of a more plant-based diet. And so I think something that is highlighted here is that seemingly small actions, joined together can make a big difference. And that's how movements are made.
Olivia: There really was a lot in there and a wide variety and it speaks to how much kids know, um, you know, these were kids ages eight to 17. And we really don't give kids enough credit for how much they understand about the climate crisis and also the value of their vision for the future.
Zanagee: If any of you listeners want to share responses to the prompts today - no matter your age - we’ll share an email at the end. We’d love to hear your thoughts.
[FINAL COMMENTARY & SEASON OUTRO]
Zanagee: And with that, that’s a wrap on today’s episode AND season 1 of 1 Point 5. Thanks so much for being on this journey with us.
Olivia: Uh, you can't see me, but my hands over my face cause I'm emotional. It’s been so amazing to work on this show with you, Zanagee.
Zanagee: Likewise! It has been such a joy. And it’s so great to reflect on what we’ve accomplished this season.
Olivia: Absolutely. There’s always so much more to learn about what climate change is and how it affects all of us differently.
Zanagee: Thanks again to our guests for contributing to this episode and listeners to you for being here for this whole journey.
Olivia: Well, Zanagee, don't think I was going to let you get away with not answering our prompt. What climate solutions of the present are YOU most excited about? And how will those solutions change how your neighborhood looks, sounds, smells and feels in 2050?
Zanagee: I’m excited for millions of people to have access to nature, to our National Parks, and so many other places in the country through high speed rail that runs on electricity. And I’m excited to power our homes and workplaces with renewable energy. I want to see wind turbines and solar panels in our landscapes. And most of all, I’m excited to work on passing laws that eliminate environmental racism and finally defend the rights of Indigenous peoples. For hundreds of years the environments that people of color live in have been waste sites and dumping grounds for pollution, and that has not changed today.
Climate justice means ending all pipelines, it means transitioning coal energy to renewable carbon dioxide emission-free energy, it means restoring biodiversity! Climate justice also means creating an entire global system of living based on sustainability and sharing our environment with other life on Earth.
So what does that new world look, sound, smell and feel like in 2050? It looks like every kid on the planet being able to play outside and breathe fresh air and have access to clean water. It is a world where the smell of exhaust from trucks and power plants is a distant memory. It is a sustainable world that allows us to continue preserving our planet for generations of people to live on planet Earth after us.
So that is my vision. And what about you, Olivia?
Olivia: Wow, that was such a beautiful response.
And as for the question, climate solutions, I'm excited to touch my life personally. Um, right now I live and work in Manhattan and I am most excited about buildings being decarbonized because right now, over 70% of new York's greenhouse gas emissions actually come from buildings 70%.
Um, that's according to the mayor's office. Of sustainability, uh, things like decarbonized buildings, and of course, electric cars will not only prevent even more climate change, but they will also make the air in New York so much cleaner to breathe, especially in the most dense and underserved communities.
Um, when I was going to school in the Bronx, I had a friend Natalie, such a cool friend, and she walked around with an air quality monitor. And she saw for herself how, even the air on our campus, which had a lot of vegetation and not as many cars, the air in our campus was so much cleaner, just compared to a few blocks off campus.
And that's simply unacceptable. So all of us to say in the future, I hope. Neighborhoods smells like clean air and vegetation. I hope it sounds like people having conversations with friends and kids playing. I hope I see trees and electric buses and safer bike lanes, and I hope I feel safe, healthy, and supported.
But most of all, I hope that I can trust that my fellow global citizens can say the same, like our very wise friend, Sophie.
Sophie: “We are not the only thing, person, or animal on this planet. So we really need to share, not conquer.”
[CLOSING]
Olivia: Thank you, listeners, for joining us today and throughout this season of 1 Point 5. And thanks again from the bottom of our hearts to all of our guests – Dr. Price, Jaike, Dr. Montgomery, Sophie, Lauren, Annabel, Nathan, and Sam – for sharing their visions of their future neighborhood with us and what it will take to get us there.
1 Point 5 is written by me, Olivia Greenspan
Zanagee: and me, Zanagee Artis.
Olivia: Our show is edited and produced by Cat Petru with help from Matthew Winner and the team at Sound On Studios. Our executive producer is Jelani Memory. And this show was brought to you by A Kids Podcast About.
Zanagee: This show is inspired by our book, A Kids Book About Climate Change, and the millions of young people around the world fighting for our right to a livable future.
Olivia: You can write to us at listen@akidspodcastabout.com. And check out other podcasts made for kids just like you by visiting akidsco.com.