In the spring of 2020, Sunrise Movement had a goal of making 300,000 phonebank calls on six congressional primary races. Sunrise decided to create volunteer teams to manage other volunteers, liaise with campaigns, set goals, and develop strategy. The volunteer leaders of these teams took on a level of responsibility and autonomy typically reserved for staff. The team members took responsibility for setting goals, creating strategy and tactics, liaising with campaigns, and managing the work of thousands of other volunteers.

Young people who feel threatened by climate change and want government action are highly motivated to vote. Untapped potential among the 4 in 10 youth who believe in their ability to have influence on the climate issue: The largest group of youth identified in our analysis (40%) do not currently report being directly affected by climate change, but believe they have the ability to have influence on this issue. However, they are participating in civic actions (both on climate and other issues) at lower rates than other youth. These youth are more likely to be Black, from lower income households, and younger. A majority of youth (56%) do not identify as strongly Republican or strongly Democratic, and many are still undecided who they will vote for: Party affiliation and vote choice for two of the groups align with each of the two major parties. However, many unaffiliated youth were found across all groups, and in the two remaining groups that are not strongly Republican nor strongly Democratic, many youth are still undecided who they will vote for in the 2024 presidential election.

Young Americans don’t believe the Biden administration has done enough to combat climate change or to hold oil and gas companies accountable. Young Americans particularly want to see the administration close outdated oil and gas pipelines. 64% of young Americans aged 18-34 support closing outdated oil and gas pipelines. 59% of young Americans aged 18-34 support preventing new oil drilling on federal lands and waters. 54% of young Americans aged 18-34 support halting the expansion of methane gas exports. President Biden is deeply underwater with young Americans aged 18-34. This group is twice as likely to say that Biden is doing a “poor” or “not so good” job as president (65%) as to say that he is doing a “good” or “excellent” job (32%). Biden is even further underwater with this group on his ratings for combating climate change (24% excellent or good / 59% not so good or poor) and for holding oil and gas companies accountable (15% excellent or good / 61% not so good or poor).

Climate change ranks among the top issues for young people in the 2024 election, and young people who prioritize climate change feel especially motivated to vote. When asked to choose their top three issue priorities, the cost of living is the dominant concern for this age group: the majority of young people (53%) cite the cost of living / inflation as a top-three issue. Climate change (26%), jobs that pay a living wage (28%), and gun violence prevention (26%) form the clear next tier of priority issues for young people after the cost of living / inflation. Importantly, the poll finds that youth who prioritize climate change are poised to play an outsized role in the 2024 election because climate-motivated youth are especially politically engaged relative to their peers.

The Sunrise Movement has had successes but also experienced internal difficulties. This article, a personal reflection on Sunrise experience, argues that the energy and mobilization of the 2018-2020 years that led to a surge of youth joining the Sunrise Movement won’t be possible in the next four years unless a new organizational strategy is built in the youth climate left. This author organized with a local Sunrise “hub” and then joined national leadership teams. However, Sunrise internal politics were based on who you knew.

Last month, President Joe Biden announced the launch of the American Climate Corps, or ACC — a program that will train some 20,000 young people in careers in climate and clean energy. In this resource, Sunrise Movement co-founder Evan Weber discusses the years of Green New Deal organizing that led to the landmark new jobs program to address the climate crisis. A broad paint brush of tactics contributed to the win that is the American Climate Corps. These tactics included 500 young people getting arrested for blocking the White House in the summer of 2021 while demanding a fully-funded civilian climate corps in the Build Back Better negotiations. They also included behind-the-scenes lobbying and policy negotiation, coalition building and the electoral work that delivered some of the highest youth voter turnout in modern history — with climate being the reason that happened. The latter is also the reason President Biden went more aggressive on climate and updated his climate policy.

Climate and the environment are top issues for young Americans in the 2024 elections. When asked to pick a maximum of three important issues that will inform their vote ahead of next year, a quarter of young Americans say health care is top of mind, closely followed by the economy and housing affordability at 24%. Along with issues related to reproductive rights (23%), climate change (21%), and gun violence (20%).

Young voters are pessimistic about everything from the economy to the direction the country is headed to their ability to handle an unexpected $1,000 expense. Beyond that, they don’t think politicians keep their promises. They blame the Supreme Court for blocking President Biden’s loan forgiveness plan and worry about being able to afford groceries. There is a striking gender divide in topics such as how young people identify politically (men see themselves as more conservative while women, trans, nonbinary, and gender-nonconforming people are more liberal) and the podcasts they listen to (men are inclined to listen to The Joe Rogan Experience and The Ben Shapiro Show, while women are bigger fans of This American Life and The Daily). 41% percent of women surveyed identify as politically progressive; only 24% of men do. Meanwhile, 23% of women consider themselves to be liberal, while only 15% of men feel the same; 18% of the men surveyed count themselves as conservative, compared with only 11% of women. 11% percent of men say they are most aligned with “MAGA,” or Donald Trump’s brand of politics, while only 3% of women do.

Language teachers have a key role in ensuring that students not only engage with the climate crisis but with climate justice too. Developing students’ understanding of these cause-and-effect connections that affect people around the world is just one of the aspects to focus on the language classroom to raise awareness of climate justice. To engage students and teach them the importance of cross-disciplinary collaborations, consider teaming up with other teachers for projects and involve students in decision making as much as possible.

Leading eco-influencers are harnessing online platforms for education and social change around environmental, climate, and justice issues. Kristy Drutman of Browngirl Green and Green Jobs Board is working to improve the anti-racist practices of environmental organizations and publicly speaks on climate justice. Isaias Hernandez of QueerBrownVegan creates online educational climate content and collaborates with writers, communicators and researchers. Sophia Kianni of Climate Cardinals is working to make the climate movement more accessible by translating and sourcing crucial climate resources into more than 100 languages.