High school student takes initiative, empowers youth to fight climate change - The Aspen Times

High school student takes initiative, empowers youth to fight climate change | AspenTimes.com

High school student takes initiative, empowers youth to fight climate change
Theo Corwin/Courtesy photo

After taking an AP environmental science class her junior year at Glenwood Springs High School, Emma Hostetler found herself feeling lonely and hopeless about climate change.

“Before I took the class, I knew that climate change was a bad thing, but after taking that, I realized how little we all know about what really matters in climate change,” she said. “In all honesty, the class destroyed me for a little.”

As a 17-year-old, she is unable to vote and said she felt like she had no say when it came to climate change and its effects on her and her generation.

“It was frustrating,” she said. “I remained figuratively voiceless in any discussion or decision about my future because I am underage and unable to vote.”

Right around that time, Hostetler began working on her senior capstone. Beginning that process made her reflect on her feelings of loneliness and isolation. She said she hoped to focus her capstone on curating a group of like-minded people who could support each other through feelings of climate burnout — and created the Roaring Fork Youth Hiking Club.

“Roaring Fork Youth Hiking Club is focused on advocating for the rights of this valley’s minors and their right to a long future outside. The seven of us meet once or twice a month, pick a hike, and talk about climate change,” she said.

Each member feels burdened by climate change and it affects each of them differently. The goal of the group is to provide a safe space for them to talk about their feelings while getting outside and enjoying the beauty of the valley.

“Since we can’t vote yet, the best thing we can do is educate ourselves about our political system, factors that affect climate change, and what reliable news sources look like. These discussions are so important because they ensure that when we are given our voices, we already have the ability to make educated and thoughtful decisions,” she said, adding that these discussions are helping to educate her for when she can vote, as she is just a few months away from her 18th birthday.

She and her group also said the way older generations talk to them about climate change has a significant impact on them.

“The thing that I’ve heard over and over is this doomsday perspective that the older generation has and usually sounds something like, ‘Well, we’re all gonna die anyway,’ or ‘Good luck, kid. You’ll need it.’ Instead, we need to talk to our kids about what climate change means for them and how we can support them,” she said.

Now a senior, Hostetler and the Roaring Fork Youth Hiking Club are hosting a Community Charity Hike this coming Sunday on Sunlight Mountain. The entire event is student-organized and student-run and will feature live jazz performed by local students and a spaghetti dinner. All profits will be donated to Protect Our Winters (POW), a non-profit dedicated to giving the outdoor sports community a national voice.

“I did some work with POW in middle school and really appreciated what they were doing at a legislative level. They are bringing climate discussions to Washington, specifically advocating for Colorado’s winters, and really represent the kind of action my club has been discussing,” she said.

This elaborate fundraiser was dreamed up by her in July. She felt that while the discussions she and the other group members were having were beneficial, they were missing the action part that she hoped the group would be centered around. By hosting the Community Charity Hike and donating profits to POW, she feels her group is taking action against climate change.

“I realized that in the act of my team supporting (POW), we were putting our voices on the table,” she said.

What: Community Charity Hike

When: Sunday, Oct. 8. Event registration starts at 1 p.m., hike starts at 2 p.m.

Where: Sunlight Mountain Resort, labeled route up Grizzly Road, back down Ute

Register: roaring-fork-hiking-club.webflow.io/contact

To reach Audrey Ryan, email her at aryan@aspentimes.com.

High school student takes initiative, empowers youth to fight climate change

As a 17-year-old, Emma Hostetler is unable to vote and said she felt like she had no say when it came to climate change and its effects on her and her generation.
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