This is the script to my pitch for anyone who’s curious.

Climate change is a very disputed topic in our country. Republicans and Democrats argue about the causes of climate change a lot, but never really change anything to help our planet. Sure, electric cars and net zero houses are being introduced, but only roughly 3% of Vermonters have electric cars and net zero houses aren’t popular yet either. Other popular solutions are the three R’s, Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle, but climate change is getting worse quicker than people thought it would and those 3 things are too outdated to really have an effect anymore. We need solutions that people will accommodate into their daily lives, something that isn’t happening now. We have good ideas, we just need to motivate people to do them.

Most people accept climate change. They agree that yeah, it’s a big problem and that we are the reason it’s getting worse. But not a ton of people really change their daily behaviors for the greater good like becoming 100% vegan, not traveling by air, having 1 or less children, owning an electric car and living in a net zero house. These things need to become the norm if we are going to meet the 2 °C climate temperature  increase budget by 2050. That gives us 30 years to change.

Most people would say, “Of course I’d be willing to do that, anything to help the climate” but then they won’t change their ways. I want to know why this is, why when we say we accept climate change, we deny it every single day. Why aren’t people  willing to change their behaviors?

This is a huge topic, so I want to break it down a bit. I want to talk to people, especially students, about climate change action and why it isn’t very effective. I want to focus on the psychology of people changing their behaviors for a cause and how we can motivate people to change their daily routine and actions to reflect our acceptance of climate change. But I can’t do this alone.

I am looking for a team of other students ready to take their future into their own hands. This is our planet and our problem. Let’s stop waiting around for someone else to make the first move and let’s take action towards helping our society prepare for climate change.