amonette, who lives in rural southwestern montana as a full time technical writer, has volunteered with the citizens climate lobby (ccl) since 2013, working to promote bipartisan climate policies to congress. her passion for climate change began during an internship in washington, d.c. where a conversation about climate change and listening to dr. james hansens’s warnings pushed her towards advocating for solutions.

read the interview with amonette below.

editor’s note: this interview has been edited for length and clarity.

maggie rhoads: how do you connect with farmers on climate change?

alex amonette: i help get columns written in local newspapers through the media. there are little rural towns across the state of montana, and they each have a newspaper. that’s a good place to tell stories about how climate impacts farmers and ranchers. my job is to make friends with many of the editors of these newspapers and submit our articles to them. 

mr: how do farmers feel about climate change? 

aa: it varies. some people don’t want to talk about it. you get a lot of farmers and ranchers who want to put solar panels up and nobody has talked to them about climate change. they are just trying to cut their electric bills in half.

mr: i’m assuming these farmers who put renewable energy sources such as solar panels and wind onto their properties just to save money are getting any benefits from the inflation reduction act or the bipartisan infrastructure law.

aa: the inflation reduction act helped fund a program administered by the usda called reap, or the rural energy for america program. until the trump administration, that program was going into full force. now it’s frozen, and many of these ranchers and farmers were counting on reap funding that was funded by the inflation reduction act to put solar panels on their barns and things like that. 

mr: what policies should be implemented to address climate change concerning farmers? 

aa: we’re advocating for preserving clean energy tax credits from the inflation reduction act. no republicans voted for the inflation reduction act. however, many states like texas took advantage of the clean energy tax credits and they’ve got many windmills. they’re not doing it for renewable energy because they believe in climate change. they’re doing it because it’s a great opportunity to have more of a diversified renewable energy source. 

mr: does your status as a rural citizen make it easier for you to connect with people like farmers about climate change?

aa: oh yeah, i’m surrounded by ranchers and farmers. i’m talking to ranchers and farmers all the time. there are some people, a dear friend passed away from covid-19 a few years ago, but she and her husband deliver eggs. he is a fox news listener and never wanted to discuss climate change with me, but i really enjoyed them. they were my good friends, and i could count on them as neighbors. the fact that we disagreed on climate change never came between us, not as an issue. 

mr: is he a believer in climate change? 

aa: no.

mr: no? he doesn’t believe in it. 

aa: no, he followed rush limbaugh for years. and, you know, climate change was a hoax, and you can’t talk to him about it. he says, oh, that’s for the birds. 

mr: so he shuts down the conversation.

aa: yeah. it’s like, you’re joking, alex, get out of here. however, i also want to tell you that it’s getting easier to talk to people who their whole life have voted republican. maybe they don’t believe in climate change. and that’s not to say that there aren’t a lot of republicans who know that climate change is happening. my senator knows that climate change is happening. he’s seen the data. he can tell it’s happening. he may not want to talk about it because he doesn’t want to lose a chance of getting re-elected, and a large part of his base doesn’t believe in climate change. it was a taboo topic to talk about, but that doesn’t matter anymore. 

mr: so people would rather talk about the economics behind climate change benefiting them. 

aa: some people don’t want to talk about it. i want to tell you a little anecdote. one time, i was at a farmer’s market. i had some leaflets, talking about the carbon fee and cash back policy. i handed one to these guys, and they looked a bit, and both of them just started ranting at me.

“you know, girly, carbon dioxide has been around forever. it’s part of the carbon cycle.” they went on for 20 minutes, talking at me instead of with me about climate change. and i relax. it was a hot day. i had lemonade. i just sipped my lemonade, listened to them, and nodded, just listened to them. and after a while, they got tired of talking to me and said, “well, thank you for listening.” i said it was my pleasure. i learned a lot talking to you guys. would you like me to explain why i’m standing here with this leaflet about this policy? and they said, well, ok.

and i think that part of the problem is that people don’t feel listened to. so listen to people, let them rant. give them the time of day. let them tell you what their concerns are, you know, and then, when it’s appropriate, talk with them. 

in 2015, pope francis wrote his encyclical letter laudato si’, calling catholics around the world to environmental action. in 2021, pope francis followed this by telling catholic organizations to launch a seven year plan to create environmentally sustainable efforts within their communities. some catholic organizations in washington, d.c., like the washington theological 2022年世界杯亚洲预选赛结果 and its member school within the catholic university of america (cua) have also chosen to follow the pope’s encyclical. 

gabrielle choate is cua’s director of sustainability and is solely in charge of the campus’s operation and engagement for the school’s community. “i’m a one person team,” choate said.

engaging students in sustainability

while cua does not have an environmental science program, they offer a sustainability minor along with programs in environmental chemistry and environmental engineering. as part of their efforts to engage the community, choate said she invites faculty in for monthly meetings to discuss how to implement conversations about sustainability into their classrooms for subjects that are not necessarily about the environment. 

“the student body, the staff and faculty are receptive to sustainability, especially as we relate it back to the church’s teachings,” choate said. 

one example, choate said, is a business professor incorporating a lesson on sustainability into a marketing course. she added that this allows students who may not have previously encountered sustainability concepts to engage with them in their studies.

like many universities, cua also organizes a green move-out in which departing dormitory denizens recycle unwanted belongings, runs the cardinal closet, a free thrift store funded by donated clothes for students, and much more. but choate said that her favorite program is cua’s community garden.

“you can’t get better than an afternoon or a morning hanging out in the community garden,” choate said, adding there are many birds, butterflies, and dragonflies to watch. 

even though she is a one-woman team, choate said she spends her days performing many different tasks. she might begin in the community garden before checking out the thrift store. she also added she fills out award applications, updates cua’s website about their sustainability efforts and meets with students, faculty and staff. 

“it’s exciting,” choate said. “every day is different.” 

the standard solar project

although not directly run by the university, across the street to the west of the basilica, cua leased out land to standard solar, a solar project developer, to create a solar panel farm to benefit nearby communities. the farm has been in operation since the summer of 2024. 

cua was not directly involved in the construction of the solar panel farm, but choate said they pay for power at a reduced price. standard solar mainly sells the power to pepco who then supplies district residents who have signed up to receive community solar benefits. 

before the solar panel farm was constructed, the site was a naturally wooded area. of the original 40 acre property, approximately 15 acres were cleared to make space for the solar panel farm while the remaining 25 acres were left untouched. 

choate added these efforts were made to support the local ecosystem by also planting the first round of pollinator plants beneath the solar panels this past fall. the dc beekeepers alliance has also installed three beehives on the property to further promote biodiversity.

“the bees are very happy, very productive,” choate said. 

according to choate, it is estimated that the bees have produced 25 pounds of honey so far with hope for much larger amounts in the future once the bees fully establish their colonies.

she also said the area has a couple of large stormwater retention basins, which hold runoff rainwater from surrounding areas and temporarily hold it to prevent rapid release into storm water drains. choate said this benefits the bees as well since they have a water source nearby their hive and plants. 

catholic connections

to the south of the basilica are the headquarters for the washington theological 2022年世界杯亚洲预选赛结果 which include 10 theological graduate schools in the eastern and western tradition located in the washington metropolitan area, pennsylvania, and central virginia, one of which is cua’s school of theology. 

headed by executive director larry golemon, the washington theological 2022年世界杯亚洲预选赛结果 educational programs offer a certificate in ecology and theology. students are required to obtain five credits to achieve the certification, but each school in the 2022年世界杯亚洲预选赛结果 has different courses which meet the requirements. 

for example, golemon said students at wesley theological seminary near american university have a course on ecology in the anacostia river along with one where they go hiking in west virginia to learn about fracking and forms of mining. by providing green curriculum to the 2022年世界杯亚洲预选赛结果 ’s partnering institutions, they are lifting the “visibility” of available courses at these schools. 

he also mentioned students often do not come to a school associated with the theological washington 2022年世界杯亚洲预选赛结果 with plans to obtain a certificate in ecology and theology, rather they take one class fulfilling a certificate requirement and decide to take more. 

but golemon said these sustainability efforts extend beyond their institution’s educational offerings. at the virginia theological seminary in alexandria, va., the four new faculty homes built on campus were the first residential buildings to obtain leed certification in alexandria. the family dorms also located on the campus have leed certification as well. 

in the washington theological 2022年世界杯亚洲预选赛结果 offices, golemon said they only have recycling programs and little reminders to turn off the lights before leaving the room. but golemon said this is for good reason. 

“if there’s any action going on in the 2022年世界杯亚洲预选赛结果 , it’s certainly not in our offices,” golemon said. “it’s on the campuses of our schools.”

when then-recent college graduate luke bolar stepped on capitol hill  working for sen. chuck grassley (r-iowa) then rep. steve scalise’s (r-la.) offices, never would he think the climate divide would spin out into what it is today. 

bolar now works as the chief external affairs officer for clearpath, a conservative organization focusing on solutions to produce more clean energy and lower emissions but with a focus on innovation over regulation. but bolar has said that since the cap and trade debate emerged from the american clean energy and security act in the late 2000s, division on the topic of climate change has only widened in american politics. 

read the interview with bolar below.

maggie rhoads: i mainly want to spend this interview talking about the american clean energy and security act. can you just talk a little bit more about what that means?

luke bolar: that was the big piece of legislation that would have created a cap and trade system that was probably started as a concept before 2009 and then really came to congress as something that was debated in 2009. it would have essentially created [a system] where you force certain technologies like more renewables onto the grid and cap emissions from others.

a cap and trade system allots a certain amount of greenhouse gas emissions allowances that companies must adhere to, given the amount of allowances they may purchase.  

lb: in some cases, it would have made it really hard to continue using [non-renewable energy technologies]. from our perspective at clearpath, that’s not the right system because we think the ability to scale up a new technology of any kind, if it’s low emission should be accelerated and supported.

mr: ok, so it was mentioned that 2008 and 2009 was a turning point in terms of how climate change has become so divisive. can you talk a little bit more about that? 

lb: i started my career on capitol hill, and climate change was not political. i was fresh out of college, writing press releases for a republican lawmaker about how we needed more wind energy to lower emissions. we need more renewable fuels because they would reduce dependence on foreign sources of oil and gas and lower emissions. 

then, you start getting into the cap and trade legislation, which was a policy dispute because of how it was structured. most republicans opposed that policy, and as part of the political lexicon and the debate at the time, the republicans who opposed that piece of legislation were labeled as climate deniers or anti-climate solutions, which wasn’t really the case. and then it escalated from there. now, over the last five years, that’s starting to change back into depoliticizing climate and just the lexicon of climate change. 

mr: and just to confirm you’re saying that there’s an effort now to depoliticize climate action. how exactly have you seen that?

lb: a lot of republicans in congress talk about the concerns they have that climate impacts can have. you also saw that from president trump’s nominees for the energy-related agencies, the environment, the environmental protection agency, the department of energy, and the department of interior. administrator lee zeldin, secretary chris wright, and secretary doug burgum all got asked about climate change in their confirmation hearings, and they all addressed it in a way that, yes, climate change is real. we should focus on what they see as viable solutions. 

mr: and you would say that those who tend to be more left leaning said, ‘oh, because you’re not supporting this solution to climate change, that means you’re against the climate.’ 

lb: that’s very fair to say. that was pretty well documented, with plenty of news media and congressional testimony from democrats who would make that case at the time. and that continued for the next decade.

mr: do you think that climate change should be a controversial issue? or no?

lb: i don’t think it is. we actually do a lot of polling. i just ran a nationwide survey recently, and 6% of the american public doesn’t think climate change is happening. you don’t have many people in this country who believe climate change is not happening. based on that, it’s not controversial. the solutions can be controversial. and when you get into economic viability and technology, there will be policy disagreements, and that’s good. and if you think those are controversial, that’s okay, but i don’t. 

mr: but is it being covered in a controversial manner because of the solutions that people are proposing?

lb: [the controversy] may have started before a false narrative of fossil energy versus renewable energy. that gets covered as if you’re not all in on renewables, then you’re not for climate change. or if you support fossil energy, then you’re not for climate change. we think that’s a false choice. that’s a false narrative. 

we produce fossil energy in america cleaner than most of the rest of the world, and we think there are great technologies to continue to make those technologies produce even lower emissions. and that’s what i’m talking about with our innovation agenda, lowering those emissions from fossil fuels because fossil energy doesn’t cause climate change. it is the emissions from them. if you can find ways to lower emissions, you can ultimately see a world where we will continue to use fossil energy in a way similar to what we do today. 

mr: clearly you’re arguing for a deregulatory way to approach climate change, but where is the compromise? where are you willing to compromise on what you stand for? 

lb: yeah, i don’t call it a deregulatory agenda. we are thinking of modernizing the regulatory system. many of the environmental laws in place today were written in the 1970s. we needed strong environmental laws, and those were actually, in most cases, written and implemented by republicans. 

at the time, there were a lot of environmental concerns that we needed to address, and we put good, strict laws in place. but how we build and produce energy today is obviously different from the 1970s, so we look at regulatory policy as modernizing it and keeping pace with the newer technologies, not deregulating. having good environmental standards in the us is important, so it’s about modernizing that deregulation.

mr: yeah, but where’s the compromise?

lb: there’s going to be a great compromise when you look at permitting. regulatory policy has many different directions to go, but based on how you permit an energy project, if you ask a democrat or a republican, should we update and modernize how we permit an energy project? both of them will say yes, we should. 

there is a broad compromise on the need to improve how we permit projects, which would be regulatory policy. so there already is a general consensus, a general bipartisan consensus. now, you get into some of the nuances and some of the specific laws. how do you change those? that’s when you start to get into some of the disagreements, and, again, that’s part of the process, and that’s ok.

mr: do you think compromise and bipartisan support are the same thing? 

lb: they can be, but not necessarily. good policy needs to be politically durable, which means it needs to be bipartisan. and so oftentimes, that does mean compromise, but it doesn’t have to mean compromise. it may be a different approach, or we could get to some piece of what i would have wanted in a different vehicle, legislatively. they’re different, they’re similar, they can be the same in legislation, but not exactly the same.

tucked away behind a catholic organization building in northeast washington, d.c., lies a vast solar farm soaking up the sun’s rays as energy for catholic buildings. 

dan last, the co-executive officer of mission energy, which is partnered with the catholic energies program, helped build this solar farm for catholic charities along with 18 other solar farms for catholic organizations in the washington metropolitan area. but most recently, last said he has been taking screenshots of the united states department of energy websites because of the “uncertainty” president donald trump’s administration has introduced into the industry. 

“rather than going out and trying to give nonprofit organizations equal access to solar and help develop new projects so that i can employ my people, i am a highly paid ceo who is taking screenshots,” last said. 

since taking office, the new york times reported the trump administration has taken down more than 8,000 web pages from across more than a dozen u.s. government websites. this includes more than 3,000 pages from the center for disease control and more than 1,000 pages from the office of justice programs. 

several pages mentioning environmental policy initiatives have also been taken down from the department of the interior website. 

what last is screenshotting in response are energy community maps. last said these are areas “disproportionately” impacted by power production, meaning they are communities surrounded by infrastructure like power plants or mining sites. 

these screenshots last took shows individuals in areas eligible to receive an extra 10% of direct pay for renewable energy projects affiliated with the inflation reduction act.

former president joe biden passed the inflation reduction act (ira) in 2022 which partly helped individuals and businesses receive tax credit if they install renewable energy on their property. for last and his clients at catholic nonprofits at mission energy, the inflation reduction act subsidizes 30% to 50% of the costs for their projects through direct pay. 

“it really was a game changer for nonprofit organizations,” last said. 

on trump’s first day in office on jan. 20, one of 26 executive orders he signed titled, “unleashing american energy,” stopped individuals and organizations from receiving funding for projects like the ones from mission energy. this order still remains in effect.

“all agencies shall immediately pause the disbursement of funds appropriated through the inflation reduction act of 2022,” the executive order stated. 

last said he is not sure what will happen if ira funding completely goes away. but if it stops, the funding of renewable energy projects will shift back towards power purchase agreements, a method organizations used before the ira. these agreements have third party developers pay for renewable energy projects and are paid back from the organizations to investors over a set amount of years. 

“[third party developers] like working with our groups because churches, catholic healthcare systems, religious communities are not going anywhere and in some cases have been around for hundreds of years,” last said in a previous planet forward article.  

third party developers for renewable energy projects are only allowed in at least 29 states and washington, d.c. 

out of mission energy’s 40 completed projects, 26 of them have used a power purchase agreement. since the passage of the ira, only two out of the 14 projects under construction are having a power purchase agreement. all 14 projects are using some ira benefits with 12 of them using direct pay. 

besides working with catholic institutions, mission energy also works with other nonprofits. last said before the ira, most groups chose to go the power purchase agreement route. last year last said only one power purchase agreement was settled for a project.

“i’ll proudly say this as a ceo of a solar company, i think it would be ludicrous to repeal the direct pay,” last said. 

amid rising temperatures, increasing floods, and intensifying storms, americans are seeing the effects of climate change but research shows they frequently have opposing views on how to address its impact. 

while the science is clear, polarized public opinion make response to the climate crisis a challenge, as shown in recent research from the proceedings of the national academy of sciences (pnas) nexus and a 2016 report from pew research center. as the 2030 deadline approaches to cut global greenhouse gasses by 47% outlined in the paris climate accords, reaching a consensus is becoming critical despite growing conflict between opposing groups.

but there are a few nonpartisan public and private climate organizations working to appeal to all parts of the political spectrum. by combating climate change through shared interests, they hope to benefit communities by directly connecting americans to the environment. 

connecting communities, big and small

since its founding in 1986, the rails-to-trails conservancy has created more than 41,400 miles of nature trails for public use. vice president of trail development at rails-to-trails liz thorstensen said she is working on building a network of walking/biking trails communities and commuters could use. 

a national network of interconnected trails and “active transportation” has the potential to cut as much as 12 million tons of carbon dioxide annually, according to a 2019 rails-to-trails report.

thorstensen said every trail rails-to-trails project is meant to be interconnected with other trails to create more access for communities by going through both residential and commercial areas. 

“in a lot of communities your only choice is to get around in a car,” thorstensen said. “we want to increase those transportation choices.”

thorstensen said rails-to-trails receives their funding from the bipartisan infrastructure law, giving funding for local projects alleviating the effects of climate change and benefiting other areas of the economy. rails-to-trails also ensures funding granted to state governments is going towards creating trails.

specifically, according to the rail-to-trails conservancy website, they receive funding from a subset of the bipartisan infrastructure law called the reconnecting communities pilot program (rcp). the rcp provides $1 billion in funding for projects relating to “restore community connectivity,” by creating infrastructure related to areas such as mobility. 

“it gave us an unprecedented amount of funding for our movement,” thorstensen said in reference to the bipartisan infrastructure law and rcp. 

beyond the environmental health benefits and its funding, thorstensen said rails-to-trails recognizes communities have different priorities for what type of trail they want. to make sure these communities take advantage of the trail when it is in place, they connect with community members and local organizations. there are often a wide range of opinions and concerns. 

for example, some communities in the upper midwest requested their trails have outdoor lights along them as it gets darker outside sooner in the winter and residents still want to be able to safely use them. 

some other projects thorstensen said they worked on were the baltimore greenway trails network, with a metropolitan population of 2.8 million, and milwaukee route of the badger, with a metropolitan population of 1.4 million. 

one of the bigger projects the organization is working on is the great american rail-trail spanning 12 states and 3,700 miles.

“the key is actually engaging with the different stakeholders depending on where the corridor travels through,” thorstensen said. 

protecting beloved spaces

coastal communities are often the ones taking the hardest hits during hurricane season. the 2024 season was the second costliest on record, according to the scalia laboratory at ohio university, and produced five major hurricanes, including multiple rated as category 5.

climate central, a nonprofit researching the impacts of climate change, reported hurricane wind speeds increased by an average of 9 to 28 miles per hour in 2024 due to elevated sea surface temperatures caused by climate change.

“you had communities that had no dunes, no real beaches, and they got destroyed,” said dan ginolfi, senior vice president at warwick group consultants, llc. 

warwick group is a private firm assisting businesses and government entities with coastal infrastructure and flooding projects. ginolfi is working with coastal local governments such as in new jersey and florida to add more beach nourishment, such as sand and dunes, to combat hurricanes causing flooding.

according to data shared by ginolfi, coastal communities spend roughly $175 million to $200 million on beach nourishment per year to combat flooding. maintaining the beaches by adding new sediment supports beach tourism, generating approximately $520 billion in return, ginolfi said. for every $1 spent on beach nourishment, ginolfi said this yields $3,000 in economic return for the community. 

ginolfi often talks with people in these coastal communities who do not attribute flooding issues and beach erosion to climate change. but to these individuals, he said, there is “no doubt” rising sea levels and hurricanes are destroying tourism in their communities. 

“mother nature doesn’t see boundaries,” ginolfi said. “mother nature doesn’t see politics.”

besides extreme weather events, he said these communities also face “sunny-day flooding,” or when areas flood during normal high tides rather than storms. the national oceanic and atmospheric association reports sunny-day flooding has increased from 400% to 1,100% compared to the year 2000. 

ginolfi said he works on getting the authorization for communities to spend money for beach restoration/nourishment projects through the water resource development act, which provides funding for flood control, navigation, and ecosystem restoration for communities affected by flooding. he also said there can also be state and county assistance depending on the area. 

ginolfi said there’s something “particularly american” about the pastime of going to the beach, as he noted many people will drive from places like pittsburgh, pennsylvania, all the way to myrtle beach, south carolina, to experience coastal relaxation. 

he also said these coastal areas are not only where people vacation, but also where they live, retire, and work.  

“when i’m at the beach, i look around and i just remind myself that, wow, everybody’s having the time of their life,” ginolfi said. 

shared passions break barriers 

the national audubon society, headquartered in new york city, seeks to protect birds and the places they habit. according to the organization’s website, part of their mission is to reach “across aisles. across landscapes. across borders.” 

sam wojcicki, the senior director of climate policy at the national audubon society, said he is working toward building a healthier planet for the birds through state and federal legislation. 

“as many as two thirds of north american bird species could go extinct if we fail to address the climate crisis,” wojcicki said in reference to the organization’s research. 

he said audubon works to prevent their risk of extinction by advocating for cleaner and renewable energy such as offshore and solar. the challenge, according to wojcicki, is what society wants to spend their money on is not necessarily renewable energy. 

but like for rails-to-trails, these economic concerns are alleviated under the federal government. for audubon, renewable energy programs are not only funded under the biden administration’s bipartisan infrastructure law but also inflation reduction act, giving funding to projects like renewable energy.

in “most cases” renewable energy is cheaper than fossil fuel-based energies, according to a report from the united nations. and according to a 2023 report from the international renewable energy agency, an intergovernmental group focused on the energy transition, after decades of falling costs and improved performance in solar and wind technologies, the economic benefits are “now compelling.”

rather than directly advocating for new forms of renewable energy or supporting any one political party, wojcicki said audubon instead shows the public how climate change is affecting the connection between birds and people.

“most people do not spend their days thinking about energy, but there are a lot of people who think about the birds,” wojcicki said. 

before joining audubon, wojcicki worked for rep. sean casten (d-ill.) where he learned people put their guard up when having a conversation about climate change or transitioning to renewable energy, but they were emotionally affected when hearing about birds going extinct. wojcicki said many americans have bird feeders in their backyard or like to go bird watching. 

“everybody’s got a bird story,” he said. 

to americans there is a “powerful” presence of nature and interest in the diversity of species in our environment, he said, which makes people care about birds. this means, wojcicki said, the national audubon society can have conversations with the public about the warning signs of climate change, and how these changes could impact the birds living by their homes, and in their communities.

“it’s not a story about politics,” wojcicki said. “it’s a story about nature.”

on oct. 17, 2024, as a part of the world food forum in rome, italy, the fao hosted a discussion session for high-level leaders and representatives to discuss their global framework on water scarcity in agriculture, or wasag.

wasag is a partnership initiative of fao and brings together “government agencies, international organizations, research institutions, advocacy groups and professional/membership organizations,” according to their website.

their discussion session outlined 10 ways that wasag plans to build upon their partnership with the fao and combat water scarcity. the session had three goals in mind:

• to enhance collaboration and mobilize commitments,
• to agree on key wasag governance, and
• to highlight priorities in addressing scarcity in agriculture, while strengthening the connections between the agriculture and water sectors.

water scarcity has already caused massive crop failures worldwide, and this issue will only continue to grow. the fao reports that around the world we’ll need to produce 50% more food by 2050, when the global population is expected to hit 10 billion — requiring at least 25% more water. the broader goal of wasag is to make water more accessible to ensure a higher level of food security. 

“wasag is core to fao’s commitment to integrated water resources management for the effective transformation of global agrifood systems to be more efficient, more inclusive, more resilient and more sustainable,” fao director-general qu dongyu stated on the wasag website. 

wasag was created in 2016 to help fao uphold its commitments related to the 2030 sustainable development agenda. wasag focuses on sustainable development goals 2 and 6, which include alleviating poverty and creating clean water and sanitation, respectively.

the 10 actions presented at the rome conference ranged from supporting partnerships between wasag and all fao member nations that address water scarcity, to establishing a technical advisory committee that would provide technical advice to wasag members and partners.

the technical advisory committee will meet twice a year as well as annually with the leaders of working groups and task forces. there are six groups of wasag, including water and migration, drought preparedness, financing mechanisms, water and nutrition, sustainable agricultural water use, and saline agriculture.  

one of the youth representatives from the world food forum youth assembly, maggie markow, suggested that the advisory committee would need to expand its scope to be successful.

“let this water dialogue be a stark reminder water is just not technical, it is political, and it is our responsibility to ensure it is accessible to all,” markow said. 

besides markow, dongyu also said people should not only learn the technology behind combating water scarcity but also learn why it is so important to fight against water scarcity and its related issues.

“we should be learning the spirit of fighting against the situations we are facing like climate and weather change,” dongyu said. 

wasag ended their declaration reiterating they want to make all their resources established in other parts of the declaration available for their partners. they also stated they want to keep working with fao, as supported by the director of the land and water division at fao li lifeng.

“fao is supporting all member countries to jointly address the water scarcity challenges. “wasag is a flagship partnership in the fao new water journey. we look forward to hearing solutions and experiences that can be brought to the global arena,” lifeng stated on the wasag website.

tucked away in the basement of a brick building on george washington university’s mount vernon campus, lives the loop, a free clothing exchange that opened this semester.  

the loop, run by sustainable gw, is open weekly on fridays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in academic building room 122. the exchange includes clothing, shoes, and accessories donated by gw community members, and free to the community. sofia tjia, an intern at sustainable gw, said the loop’s goal is to make sure students on campus have access to clothes they need and to teach students to be more mindful about their consumption habits.  

tjia said the loop started as a “random room” but was turned into a store by another intern who thrifted furniture and other decorations to create a space. besides the clothes, the addition of comfortable couches and trendy music playing in the background makes the clothing exchange a hang-out space.

“we wanted it to be a fun place people can get the clothes they need,” tjia said. 

accessing the loop

the loop is located on gw’s mount vernon campus, a 15-minute shuttle ride away from the main foggy bottom campus. tjia said she has spoken with customers who live on the foggy bottom campus who make the journey over to mount vernon simply for the loop. 

“it’s so cute people plan to go to the vern just to come to the loop,” tjia said. “it’s really heartwarming.”

tjia said the loop’s grand opening day held on aug. 30 was “very busy,” but what keeps the “momentum” of community members coming back to the loop is making it clear the clothes available change “very often” since they get new donations every week. 

in the two weeks leading up to halloween, tjia said the loop also created specific racks with customers so community members could get affordable and sustainable costumes.

limiting over-consumption

even though everything at the loop is free, customers are not required to exchange clothes but tjia said they “encourage” an exchange. tjia said she tells community members to be “mindful” about overconsuming even second-hand clothes. 

“the hype of everything being free at the loop can sometimes overshadow the fact we still do not want you to overconsume,” tjia said. 

she also said the loop is trying to draft a “policy” that discourages the over-consumption of clothes. she said the main goal of the loop is for community members to find clothes that make them happy and that they will bring back to their wardrobe and wear consistently. 

keeping clothes out of the landfill

since the opening of the loop, tjia said she has helped divert almost 2,000 items from landfills.

according to gw’s office of sustainability, they receive more than 25,000 pounds worth of clothing donations per year. before the loop, these went only to their community partners. 

these community partners include bread for the city, which provides clothing and other services to low-income residents in the district, and love and light, which helps veteran and military families in woodstock, va., among others. 

engagement associate at the office for sustainability juliana carvalho manages the loop along with other programs related to engagement and outreach on gw’s campus. 

according to carvalho, she helped create the loop thanks to several students who had the idea of creating a permanent thrift store rather than occasional pop-ups, and receiving a “surplus” of donations through bins located around gw’s campus. 

she said the loop receives clothes their community partners do not want, such as bulk sorority shirts. carvalho said the more “interesting” items they have received are a canvas tote bag with approximately 55 plushies sewn onto it, which was adopted by a patron in the first few minutes after the loop’s grand opening, and tall platform neon gym shoes which are still looking for a home. 

affordable clothing

besides the sustainability aspect, she said the loop is also addressing the needs of the gw community by providing affordable clothes students might need.

“there are certain kinds of clothing that college students might be looking for that are particularly expensive, like business casual clothing, for example, clothing for their internships and summer jobs,” carvalho said. 

she said the loop makes sure students in need are also aware of other resources available for them on campus, such as the store, which is a student-run food pantry providing resources for students experiencing food insecurity. 

“the students who come to the store know that the loop exists,” carvalho said. “we’re just cross-promoting the resources.” 

besides being open every friday, carvalho said they open the loop at different times to specific student groups who would benefit from having extra time to look around for clothes they need. 

“we really wanted to create an experience where students would feel excited about coming in and getting their clothes,” carvalho said. 

the associated press called the race in the early morning of nov. 6. the final battleground state of arizona was called saturday evening, leaving trump with 312 electoral votes, including all seven swing states, and harris with 226 electoral votes. 

based on trump’s 2024 campaign platform, known as agenda47, the republican national committee (rnc) platform, and trump’s past denial of climate change, trump’s second term in office is likely to have far-reaching implications on climate change efforts.

energy production:

“republicans will unleash energy production from all sources, including nuclear, to immediately slash inflation and power american homes, cars, and factories with reliable, abundant, and affordable energy,” the rnc platform states. 

the rnc agenda also stated their goals of making america energy independent again and achieving lower energy prices than during trump’s first administration. 

on trump’s agenda47 website, regarding energy, they cited research from the heritage foundation, an organization “mobilizing” the conservative movement, stating biden has increased the cost of gas and oil by 50%. 

the agenda47 website also states biden’s climate regulations have caused the u.s. to surrender its economy to china. it also identified what they considered negative outcomes of biden’s climate regulations, including stopping drilling for oil in alaska’s arctic national wildlife refuge and canceling the keystone xl pipeline. according to agenda47, the pipeline would have “created 830,000 barrels of oil per day” for american refineries and “created high-paying jobs.”

paris climate accords: 

trump’s campaign website stated that if he wins the 2024 presidential election, he will exit the paris climate accords again.

united nations climate change states the paris climate accords is an international treaty designed to combat climate change. the treaty was adopted on dec. 12, 2015, by 196 countries, including the united states, at the climate change conference cop21 in paris, france. 

trump during his first administration announced his intentions to leave the paris climate accords on june 1, 2017, because of the “unfair economic burden” it left on americans. 

on his first day in office on jan. 20, 2021, president biden rejoined the paris climate accords. as part of rejoining the agreement, biden pledged to cut all greenhouse gas emissions from the u.s. electric sector by 2035 and make the u.s. a carbon-neutral country by 2050.

politico reported trump leaving the paris climate accords for a second time would mean the u.s. would no longer be among the 200 world governments that have made non-binding pledges to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions.

inflation reduction act:

one of biden’s main efforts to address climate change during his presidency was through the inflation reduction act (ira), signed on aug. 16, 2022, which provided funding for local projects focused on clean energy, climate mitigation and resilience, agriculture, and conservation-related investment.

trump said that if he wins the 2024 presidential election he would pull funds away from the biden administration’s inflation reduction act during his second term. trump did not specify what programs funded by the ira he would pull back on.

“it actually sets us back, as opposed to moves us forward,” trump said. “and [i will] rescind all unspent funds under the misnamed inflation reduction act.”

but in trump’s previous administration, the new york times reported that by the end of his presidency, trump had completed “rollbacks” on 98 environmental policies and was in progress on an additional 14. 

trump’s climate change denial:

before trump ran for president in 2016, he was known for calling climate change, or global warming, a “hoax”: “the concept of global warming was created by and for the chinese in order to make u.s. manufacturing non-competitive,” trump wrote on x in 2012. 

more recently, on sept. 29, three days after the impact of hurricane helene on the southeastern u.s., trump denied the existence of climate change, during a campaign rally in pennsylvania, calling it “one of the greatest scams of all time.”

trump did not address climate change in his victory speech. 

he will be inaugurated as president on jan. 20, 2025, on the west front of the u.s. capitol.

republican nominee and former president donald trump and democratic nominee and current vice president kamala harris will face off on nov. 5 for the presidency and have stated differing opinions on climate change.

the harris’ campaign

harris, with current president joe biden, has worked to address climate change through legislation such as the bipartisan infrastructure act and the inflation reduction act. 

both the bipartisan infrastructure act and the ira gave funding for local projects which will alleviate the effects of climate change and benefit other areas of the economy. the ira was signed on aug. 16, 2022, and a year after it was signed the biden administration stated it has made changes. 

within the first year the ira was signed into law, there was $110 billion in new clean energy manufacturing including $10 billion in solar manufacturing. the administration also awarded over a billion dollars to protect communities from the impacts of climate change when struck by hurricanes or droughts. the white house stated within the first year of the ira’s implementation american families were projected to save between $27-38 billion on electricity bills between 2022 and 2030.

in a speech regarding its second year anniversary, harris spoke positively about the ira while running for president, saying the legislation is also improving manufacturing and innovation. 

“while taking on the climate crisis and lowering utility bills for families, it is helping us to rebuild american manufacturing and drive american innovation,” harris said.

but there is a question of whether harris will continue to address climate change in her agenda called new way forward if she wins the presidency. seth schuster, a spokesperson for the harris campaign, said there is not another candidate who will “fight harder” to combat climate change. 

“she’s proud to have delivered the most significant climate legislation in american history with president biden,” schuster said. 

according to her presidential campaign website, as president she will “unite” citizens to tackle climate change and build on president biden’s “historic work,” including environmental justice, increasing resilience to climate disasters, and lowering household energy costs.  

“she and governor walz will always fight for the freedom to breathe clean air, drink clean water, and live free from the pollution that fuels the climate crisis,” her website states. 

harris picked minnesota gov. tim walz as her running mate and democratic vice presidential nominee in early august. 

as governor, walz has championed many initiatives on climate change, including 40 during the 2023 legislative session in minnesota. one legislation included a law requiring all minnesotans to get all their electricity from carbon-free sources by 2040 to stop climate change caused by coal and gas pollution.   

a report from npr stated climate change activists have given “praise” to harris for picking walz as his running mate, including from jamie henn of fossil free media.
“tim walz had the best climate record of any of the vp contenders and has been unafraid to take on big oil,” henn wrote on x.

trump’s outlook

before trump ran for president in 2016, he was known for calling climate change, or global warming, a “hoax,” which he attributed to china in 2012. 

“the concept of global warming was created by and for the chinese in order to make u.s. manufacturing non-competitive,” trump wrote on x. 

during his first administration, the brookings institution said trump was more interested in stopping climate policy than addressing climate change, highlighting his 2017 executive order stating for every new regulation, two regulations have to be eliminated. 

the new york times reported that by the end of his presidency, trump had completed “roll backs” on 98 environmental policies and was in progress on an additional 14. 

trump’s agenda47, a plan detailing what policies he would enact during his possible second administration, does not state climate change as an issue which should be addressed. he instead focuses on making america produce more oil.

trump stated, “america must have the number one lowest cost energy and electricity on earth” through producing more oil. his website also stated this will lower inflation and allow america to become the manufacturing “superpower” of the world. 

“to keep pace with the world economy that depends on fossil fuels for more than 80% of its energy, president trump will drill, baby, drill,” his website states. 

during his 2020 presidential campaign, trump also spread misinformation on climate change, saying wind turbines cause cancer and sink property values by 75%. 

during a recent rally in pennsylvania on sept. 29 for his 2024 presidential bid, three days after the impact of  hurricane helene, trump denied the existence of climate change. 
jd vance, trump’s running mate and the vice presidential republican nominee, responded to hurricane helene in relation to climate change during the vice presidential debate between him and walz, hosted by cbs on oct. 1.

vance took a bipartisan approach to hurricane helene by saying he and walz’s “hearts” and “prayers” go out to those affected, calling it an “unbelievable, unspeakable human tragedy.” he said they both want the federal government to help people affected by natural disasters.

but vance said he and trump want to make the environment cleaner and safer since americans worry about these “crazy weather patterns.” 

“we want as robust and aggressive a federal response as we can get to save as many lives as possible,” vance said. 

the last day for u.s. citizens to cast their ballot is election day on nov. 5.

nasef partnered with the united states department of state to create a modified version of minecraft, dubbed farmcraft, to teach students about new innovations in farming through gaming with the broader goal of connecting play and learning along with showing students farming as a possible career path. chief innovation officer of nasef claire labeaux said farming in recent years has been more innovative and farmcraft is looking to provide students with this new knowledge. 

“our objective is to help kids view what careers they might pursue and then help them sort of get a little sampling of it,” labeaux said.

learning by playing minecraft

maurizio pastore developed farmcraft for nasef by designing the gameplay students experience. he said students are given enough money to begin the game where they buy their first plot of land in the rural area and choose a crop to plant.

the plants include fictional crops such as posh plum, ring radish, moon melon, root fruit, dream berry, and bloom bean. the end goal of the game is for students to grow 1,500 of each of the six crops. 

students then plant their crops and start by watering them. but pastore said plants dry out, weeds begin to grow and bugs infest plants, which students either need to manage manually or pay up for machines in the game to take care of those problems. 

after the first round pastore said students harvest then sell their grown crops for money, which they can then use to purchase upgrades in the laboratory for the crops or technology, along with more plots of land, to make more productive farms.

“farmcraft 2024 is focused on the impact of digital technology on agricultural productivity,” the farmcraft website states. 

pastore said the newest version of farmcraft, or farmcraft 2024, introduced students to farming in suburban and urban areas. he said students are forced to purchase plots in these areas because certain crops grow the best there. 

getting kids excited about solving real world problems

pastore said nasef and developers tried to make farmcraft as applicable to the real world as possible.  

a volunteer, who helped run the game at the wff and wished to remain anonymous because she is not associated with nasef, showed local middle schoolers how to play the game and educated them about its real world applications.

“kids are really interested while playing minecraft because they actually learn and remember things,” the volunteer said. 

the volunteer was present for all four days of the wff and said people and students have kept coming back to try out farmcraft. 

“people kept going so there was a line to play,” she said.

labeaux said every year nasef releases a new version of farmcraft with 2024 being the first year they introduced suburban farms with greenhouses, and urban vertical farms. she said they decided to include these different farms to show students how technology has evolved within farming. 

“farming today is not what a lot of kids view it as,” labeaux said. 

tapping into a global community

besides having students play at the wff, labeaux said nasef takes farmcraft to other conferences to introduce the game to students. labeaux also said many elementary, middle, and high schools have implemented farmcraft as part of their curriculum. 

“this game is played around the world,” labeaux said. 

she said more than 12,000 students from more than 63 countries, including colombia, japan, kenya, and the united states, have played farmcraft.

labeaux also said after students have finished playing farmcraft at the world food forum, they have the option of joining farmcraft’s virtual programming. she said there are two challenges that students aged eight through 18 years old can join along with virtual exchange programs. 

students are first challenged with creating a minecraft world educating others on food transportation in the student’s area. another challenge is using a custom map created by nasef to grow crops then ship them to a desert biome where crops cannot be grown. 

nasef with farmcraft also hosts virtual exchange programs connecting students with other students around the world to discuss their different educational and personal experiences. the virtual exchange programs for 2024 will happen on nov. 12 and dec. 12. 

“we would love to have them join,” labeaux said.