A youth mandate for climate action
[Originally delivered as testimony to Colorado Senate Committee]
My name is Matt Washburn and I am from Aurora, Colorado and live in Boulder. I am here today, representing myself, to urge you to support house bill 19–1261, a “Climate Action Plan To Reduce Pollution.”
As a graduate from CU Boulder, and having worked as an organizer on multiple environmental campaigns, I can attest that the health and safety of our environment is one of the most pressing issues for the members of my generation. Effects of climate change have been exacerbated by oil and gas operations and have led to the American Lung Association ranking Denver the 14th most polluted city in the US in 2018. With pollution correlated with high rates of asthma, heart disease, and cancer, it is imperative we begin taking this data seriously in order to ensure the quality of life that Colorado’s residents experience. Likewise, studies conducted by the UN paint a much more bleak image of climate change’s effects than previously thought, indicating we have 12 years to revamp our energy infrastructure to prevent the worst effects: large food shortages, droughts, 143 million displaced from their homes by 2050, and a mass die-off of coral reefs by 2040.
This issue is of particular importance for me because we owe it to the upcoming generations to work as hard as we can to leave them an inhabitable planet. I want each person to have clean air regardless of geographic location or socioeconomic status. People currently die each day due to the effects of air pollution and as urbanization increases and Climate Change accelerates, public health will only worsen. If I ever have kids, I don’t want them to ask me, “Why didn’t you solve this when you had the opportunity.” We owe it to future generations to work on this issue now.
House bill 19–1261 will reduce carbon pollution, by at least 25 percent by 2026 and 90 percent by 2050 compared to 2005 levels by directing the Air Quality Control Commission to create cost-effective regulations to cut pollution- improving public health and advance our state economy into the 21st Century by setting the infrastructure for clean energy jobs and technology.
Young people care about climate change, and youth voter turnout in Colorado was the second highest in the nation in the 2018 midterm elections. We elected leaders who campaigned on the promise that they will make responsible environmental decisions by creating and passing common sense legislation such as House bill 19–1261. It’s been demonstrated that decisions made collaboratively in Colorado indicate the way the rest of the country will move in the near future. By passing this bill, Colorado will set standards for the rest of the nation to aspire to.
Please vote yes on House bill 19–1261, and ensure a better, healthier future for all Coloradans. Thank you for your time.
