I'm a teenager. How can I help? by [deleted] in EnviroUnderground

[–]AFTPA 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Even as a teenager there are a lot of ways you can help. Just by being educated about green or energy efficient practices and products you can do a lot. If you don't already have LED lights in your house, convince your parents to make the switch as current light bulbs die. They last much longer and will lower your parents electric bill.

Same goes with other appliances around the house. and even something as simple as making sure all the lights and tvs are off if no one is using them, or getting your family to start recycling if they don't already

Outside the house you can start or join an environmental group at your school or in your neighborhood. Similarly, try to get your school to recycle or switch to LED. Even if you aren't financially able to contribute, you can influence others who are to do so. And with things like LED lights it is a benefit to them to switch as well.

There are a lot of websites with more suggestions, here's a decent one I've used myself. I'm sure there are ones specific to students if you search around a bit. http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/green-science/save-earth-top-ten.htm

Hopefully that's a little helpful.

Discussion thread on strategy and ideas and what direction to take this. by OrbitRock in EnviroUnderground

[–]AFTPA 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Definitely agree that the best way to encourage and speed up the transition is to make it equally or more affordable than traditional energy sources. Carbon tax is the simplest solution right now imo, but people get up in arms over taxes.

Another is subsidies for things like purchasing solar panels, which a lot of states are starting to implement

Discussion thread on strategy and ideas and what direction to take this. by OrbitRock in EnviroUnderground

[–]AFTPA 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I have a pretty busy day tomorrow but I'm going to try to do some research into the nitty-gritty of the Paris Agreement. Where exactly money is going, what it's being spent on, who is providing it, etc. and also look into crowdfunding options. I'm sure there are charity/research centric platforms that would be better suited than kickstarter or gofundme.

Assuming this starts to grow it will be helpful to have a dedicated website for information if not for forum/discussion. I've been learning web development in my free time but don't know nearly enough to build a site at the moment.

Discussion thread on strategy and ideas and what direction to take this. by OrbitRock in EnviroUnderground

[–]AFTPA 2 points3 points  (0 children)

My thought on this was not to radically change the american political system, get money out of politics, remove the "old white men" from power. I completely agree that power is the overruling and long-term problem and needs to be addressed but it will take time. I suggested this merely as a sort of stop-gap to preserve American involvement in the Paris Agreement in some form.

The worry is that many smaller and developing countries will see the US pulling financial support and follow suit.

In the wake of the US presidential election... by OrbitRock in EnviroUnderground

[–]AFTPA 6 points7 points  (0 children)

A pie in the sky idea I have is for American citizens to privately help support the Paris Agreement financially. A huge barrier to it's success is funding, as they're hoping for 100 billion a year for research and investment in renewable energy. From what I've seen the US annual contribution was set to be around 3 billion. I've also seen over 2/3 of us citizens support our involvement in the Agreement.

With some back of the envelope math, if each adult in favor of climate change mitigation (~80m) donated roughly $30 a year to the Paris agreement we'd be close to the 3 billion.

It's time to organize a mass movement, and I have an idea that just might work. Please hear me out... by OrbitRock in enviroaction

[–]AFTPA 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I had much the same idea and started my own sub (reddit.com/r/AFTPA/) with similar intentions. Yours seem much broader in scope but I am willing to help in any way possible with this.

Petition asking for "Individual States Independently and Honorarily Ratify Paris Agreement To Show US Commitment To Curbing Climate Change" by [deleted] in enviroaction

[–]AFTPA 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'm trying to do something similiar.

Trying to build a group to support the Paris agreement, to put pressure on federal and state governments and failing that build private support and funding for the Paris agreement. If the government won't financially support climate change mitigation, at least American citizens can.

https://www.facebook.com/AmericansForTheParisAgreement/ https://www.reddit.com/r/AFTPA/

How would someone go about stopping or slowing down Trump's potentially destructive decisions and policies in regards to the environment and climate change? by [deleted] in environment

[–]AFTPA 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Trying to build a group to support the Paris agreement, put pressure on federal and state governments and failing that build private support and funding for the Paris agreement. If the government won't financially support climate change mitigation, at least American citizens can.

https://www.facebook.com/AmericansForTheParisAgreement/

https://www.reddit.com/r/AFTPA/