The largest rally so far during the presidential campaign, in the first state to vote, was led by 16-year-old Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg and a teenage crew of Iowa City climate strikers. That should be a wakeup call to Democratic presidential candidates — and even President Trump. Advertisement: In fact, according to most estimates, the youth-led climate strike in Iowa City in October — coming off a year of unrelenting weekly protests — dwarfed the largest turnouts so far for Sen. Bernie Sanders, flanked by rising Democratic star Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez; emerging Iowa frontrunner Pete Buttigieg; and former Secretary of State John Kerry, campaigning on behalf of Vice President Joe Biden. There's more: The young climate voters in Iowa aren't just turning out. They are organizing and mobilizing on a timeline set by global scientists for drastic reductions in carbon dioxide emissions that transcends political parties or Democratic campaigns. Galvanized by the fact that global carbon emissions have increased by 4 percent since the last presidential election, youth climate activists have upended politics by forcing Democrats to meet their climate agenda, instead of kowtowing to a Democratic Party establishment that refused to host a debate on climate change. Advertisement: The year-long wave of the student climate strikes has spread across the state, the rise of the take-no-prisoners Sunrise Movement has interrupted speeches, carried out sit-ins and hammered down commitments to the Green New Deal from every major candidate, and myriad grassroots voter registration efforts have forced every Democratic candidate to present climate plans that would have been unthinkable a few years ago. Beyond their numbers, young people in Iowa have made attention to the climate crisis a litmus test for candidates. In the process, they have changed the climate narrative in all the Democratic presidential campaigns — and have even reached the tweeter in chief in the White House. After Trump's mocking tweets about Thunberg's appearance at the UN climate summit in the fall, the Swedish teen told Iowa reporters that Trump and other leaders want to "silence" young climate activists because "they can sense that we are making an impact."Advertisement: Here's why that matters in Iowa: Our antiquated system of voting in person at the caucus, which requires an entire evening of someone's time, hinges on dedicated and organized campaigns. Before we vote, we mingle with our neighbors, listen to campaign pitches and experience the messy process of democracy. As Time Magazine's Person of the Year, Thunberg understands this persuasive role of youth well. So do the student climate strikers in Iowa City, who have already forced the "adults in the room" to pass climate emergency plans in their local school district, the city council and even on the university level, in line with the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change goals to cut CO2 emissions by
Will youth climate activists be the crucial swing vote in Iowa?
The largest rally so far during the presidential campaign, in the first state to vote, was led by 16-year-old Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg and a teenage crew of Iowa City climate strikers. That should be a wakeup call to Democratic presidential candidates — and even President Trump. Advertisement: In fact, according to most estimates, the youth-led climate strike in Iowa City in October — coming off a year of unrelenting weekly protests — dwarfed the largest turnouts so far for Sen. Bernie Sanders, flanked by rising Democratic star Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez; emerging Iowa frontrunner Pete Buttigieg; and former Secretary of State John Kerry, campaigning on behalf of Vice President Joe Biden. There's more: The young climate voters in Iowa aren't just turning out. They are organizing and mobilizing on a timeline set by global scientists for drastic reductions in carbon dioxide emissions that transcends political parties or Democratic campaigns. Galvanized by the fact that global carbon emissions have increased by 4 percent since the last presidential election, youth climate activists have upended politics by forcing Democrats to meet their climate agenda, instead of kowtowing to a Democratic Party establishment that refused to host a debate on climate change. Advertisement: The year-long wave of the student climate strikes has spread across the state, the rise of the take-no-prisoners Sunrise Movement has interrupted speeches, carried out sit-ins and hammered down commitments to the Green New Deal from every major candidate, and myriad grassroots voter registration efforts have forced every Democratic candidate to present climate plans that would have been unthinkable a few years ago. Beyond their numbers, young people in Iowa have made attention to the climate crisis a litmus test for candidates. In the process, they have changed the climate narrative in all the Democratic presidential campaigns — and have even reached the tweeter in chief in the White House. After Trump's mocking tweets about Thunberg's appearance at the UN climate summit in the fall, the Swedish teen told Iowa reporters that Trump and other leaders want to "silence" young climate activists because "they can sense that we are making an impact."Advertisement: Here's why that matters in Iowa: Our antiquated system of voting in person at the caucus, which requires an entire evening of someone's time, hinges on dedicated and organized campaigns. Before we vote, we mingle with our neighbors, listen to campaign pitches and experience the messy process of democracy. As Time Magazine's Person of the Year, Thunberg understands this persuasive role of youth well. So do the student climate strikers in Iowa City, who have already forced the "adults in the room" to pass climate emergency plans in their local school district, the city council and even on the university level, in line with the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change goals to cut CO2 emissions by
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