The Will Steger Foundation is kicking off the summer with research to develop and launch an innovative mentorship program within the RE-AMP network that connects youth climate leaders with veteran staff from climate-focused non-profit organizations across the Midwest.

Mentorship is defined as a mutually beneficial learning relationship between two people that involves caring, commitment and trust. This project, which received grant funding through the RE-AMP Strategic Initiative Fund, aims to build egalitarian and intergenerational relationships that allow both participants to gain powerful new insights and perspectives.

That is what various student groups and organizations gathered to discuss on the last day of Black History Month. The Will Steger Foundation sponsored Clean Air: the New Civil Rights Struggle at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities last week with a diverse coalition of partners, including Sierra Club, Black Motivated Women, Black Student Union, Native American Law Students Association, Black Law Student Association, American Indian Student Cultural Center, and EcoWatch.

 On Tuesday, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa P. Jackson spoke at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities about the role of science in public health and environmental protection policy. The audience also got a glimpse of Jackson's personal life. She shared the story of her own son who suffers from asthma and her favorite policy, the "right to know" laws (I'm speculating this may have inspired the latest EPA website that makes information about the nation's largest greenhouse gas emitters searchable though an interactive map).

Today, we stopped by Senator Klobuchar's office to deliver 1,145 postcards signed by young people across the state urging her to protect the Clean Air Act. Young people in Minnesota need Sen. Klobuchar to stand up for our future and be a champion for clean air safeguards. Any delays or compromises will jeopardize our health and the environment we are inheriting.

Student Group Delivers Over 1000 Petitions to Ask for Clean Energy

Campus Beyond Coal members, UMN-TC students, and community members gathered outside Xcel Energy Inc. on Wednesday, December 7th to deliver petition cards, hear individual’s clean energy stories, and stand for clean energy and a clean future for Minnesota. Students and community members carried wind turbines to demonstrate that the path toward a clean energy future involves renewable energy and energy efficiency. Student leaders and community members representing the Sierra Club, Will Steger Foundation, Campus Beyond Coal, and the Minnesota Youth Environmental Network were present.

Minnesotans gathered at Edina Library last Saturday for YEA! MN’s Learnin' from Durban: Global Action on a Local Scale event. Sheltered from the cold and snow, attendees checked-in on the climate negotiations happening halfway around the globe in the 90 degree heat of Durban, South Africa. Will Steger Foundation Delegates Paul Thompson and John Howard offered their firsthand account of the 17th Conference of Parties (COP 17) to the United Nations' Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) via a skype call. We also heard from Steve Suppan from Minnesota’s Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, and delegates from countries who will face serious impacts as the climate changes.

Last Wednesday, young people across Minnesota participated in a statewide call-in day for clean air. Over 400 people picked up their phones to thank Senator Klobuchar for voting against Senator Paul’s recent dirty air initiative and to urge her to continue to reject further attacks.

Last week, Senator Klobuchar voted against a proposal from Kentucky Senator Rand Paul that would have increased pollution and threatened public health. Siri Simons, Campus Beyond Coal Co-Chair, and I stopped by Sentator Klobuchar’s Minneapolis office on Tuesday to show our generation’s appreciation for her commitment to protecting human health and the environment.

We hand delivered a letter for Senator Klobuchar on behalf of 11 youth-based organizations who represent over 90,000 youth and alumni. The letter urged Senator Klobuchar to continue to stand with our generation by rejecting any legislation that weakens or delays clean air safeguards.

Senator Klobuchar will soon vote on the Coates-Manchin Bill that would delay the implementation of two Environmental Protection Agency air pollution regulations – the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule and the Utility MACT rule. This bill blocks public health protections against mercury, soot, smog and other air pollutants and will put tens of thousands of American lives at risk every year.

We hope to see Senator Klobuchar continue to protect human health and our environment by rejecting the Coates-Manchin Bill and any other proposal that blocks public health safeguards against mercury pollution and other dangerous pollutants.

In October, I attended Midwest Power Shift, which lived up to the hype of being an epic and unprecedented gathering. Over 400 Midwest youth climate activists converged in Cleveland, Ohio for trainings and actions to move toward a clean and just energy future. The conference was evidence that our generation in these “fly over states” is serious when it comes to stopping dirty energy, getting corporate money out of our democracy and building a green economy where it matters most--the heartland.