The Napa Valley Climate Connection: Youth leaders push for climate restoration - Napa Valley Register

Napa County Youth leaders push for climate restoration

Allison Bencsik and Liliana Karesh, the co-presidents of Napa Schools for Climate Action (S4CA), have been successful advocates for their program, “Fossil Free Future.” The intent of their efforts is to cut emissions at the source by preventing construction of new or expansion of existing fossil fuel gas stations throughout Napa County. This has been supported with ordinances or moratoriums by the cities of American Canyon, Napa, Yountville, St. Helena, and Calistoga.

Bencsik and Karesh are now focusing their efforts on climate restoration. As Bencsik points out, “This is the logical next step. We need to stop polluting, but we also need to restore our atmosphere to its pre-industrial composition. This is what it will take to reduce the impact of climate disasters and reestablish an environment where our generation and future generations can thrive.”

Bencsik and Karesh care deeply about their communities and want to make a significant contribution through their actions.

People are also reading…

Bencsik, a senior at American Canyon High School, took her first community action in 8th grade when she presented a petition for bike lanes to the American Canyon City Council. She currently participates as an intern in Congressman Mike Thompson’s office, is the President of the American Canyon High School Environmental Club and serves as the Youth Commissioner on the American Canyon Open Space, Active Transportation, and Sustainability Commission.

Karesh is a junior at Napa High School, a varsity volleyball player and also interns with Congressman Thompson. She was inspired to work on climate action by her older sister, Alisa, who was instrumental in getting the Fossil Free Future project started. Alisa led our cities, town, and county to recognize the climate emergency through resolutions and a proclamation that commit to achieving net zero climate pollution by or before 2030.

Last fall Karesh participated in the California Youth Climate Policy Leadership Program.

“I can make a bigger impact by getting involved in the policy side of things,” she said. “Right now, we are working on a Climate Restoration resolution for the Napa Valley Unified School District that recognizes the need for climate restoration and commits to increasing the climate literacy of our students to better prepare them for future opportunities.”

The State of California recognized the importance of — and possibility for — climate restoration by passing Senator Dave Cortese’s Climate Restoration Resolution, SR-34, in July of 2023. This resolution formally recognizes humanity’s duty to future generations to restore a safe climate for long-term human survival.

"Climate restoration," as explained by Cortese, “means restoring CO2 concentrations back to safe levels that have historically supported human survival.” To achieve such repair, about one trillion tons of old CO2 must be removed from the atmosphere. This can be done by replicating natural processes that remove CO2. Examples include boosting the creation of limestone and the growth of underwater plants that encourage photosynthesis, which cools the earth. These methods are relatively affordable and have the potential to remove all the world's legacy (human-caused) CO2 that has accumulated over time, by 2050.

Bencsik and Karesh have made presentations on climate restoration to local groups including the Napa Valley Vintners’ Environmental Leadership Committee.

The Schools for Climate Action team, including Madeline Chiu, Maia Medalle, Abner Silva Toscano and Sophie Wassef along with leaders Bencsik and Karesh, is scheduled to present a Climate Restoration resolution to the Board of the Napa Valley Unified School District at their March 21 meeting. Board President Cindy Watter supports their approach, “We owe it to our students to hear their concerns, learn about solutions and take action.”

On April 23 Schools for Climate Action will give a public presentation at the Napa County Library. This meeting, co-hosted by the Napa County League of Women Voters and Napa Climate NOW!, will also feature a screening of “The Climate Restorers” with filmmaker John Bowey and global change scientist, Dr. Phoebe Barnard.

Actions You Can Take

- Attend S4CA presentations to the NVUSD Board and at the Napa Library. For more information see https://napa.350bayarea.org/
- Learn more about climate restoration on the S4CA website: https://sites.google.com/view/napas4ca/home

Contributor Chris Benz is a retired winemaker and co-founder of Napa Climate NOW!

Napa Climate NOW! is a local nonprofit citizens’ group advocating for smart climate solutions based on the latest climate science, part of 350 Bay Area. Info, napa.350bayarea.org