Wow, that was an amazing week. Just the fact that it’s taken me till day 7 to sit down and write something should tell you something about how much we’re doing here in Iceland. It’s about 11pm here, it’s still completely light out (the sun goes down for about 3 hours per day, but it’s never really dark), and I am exhausted. This has honestly been the best week of my entire life, hands down. I’ve achieved at least 5 of my life goals, and I’m expecting a few more over the next part of this journey. Let me list a few here: For one, I saw my first glacier... (continue reading)

For many reasons, the climate change movement has not been able to bring about the scale of changes we need to actually solve the climate crisis. Even though there are millions of people putting hundreds of millions of dollars and years of time into the effort, are we any better off than we were 10 years ago? Sure, there are more “activists” now than there were then. But at the same time, there are more deniers, and the political system has become so crazy that we can’t even get support for a diluted climate bill that has so many loopholes for the fossil fuel industry that... (continue reading)

On Saturday morning, a wind turbine in North Dakota exploded, leading to the biggest wind spill since 1987, in Copenhagen. The turbine, developed by NextEra Resources was one of 99 active turbines on the ND farm. A NextEra representative told reporters the cause of the leak is blade failure. While the exact chain of events is still unclear, the failure led to an ignition of the flammable wind around the turbine, and then an explosion that destroyed the entire turbine. There is now a gaping hole where the turbine used to be, and wind is leaking out quickly. NextEra refuses to tell the... (continue reading)

Well, last week was Earth Day. And here I am. I’ve been in 5 cities in the past week, and am scheduled for 6 more this next one. It’s pretty crazy, but it’s been so exciting to be a part of the celebrations. Earth day began 40 years ago this year, after Senator Gaylord Nelson took a trip to Santa Barbara (just up the coast from where I live) to see the devastating oil spill of 1969. The Wisconsin Senator, already an environmental activist, was blown away, and he decided to hold a national teach-in that was to be held on every college campus in the country. Today, Earth Day is the... (continue reading)

Exhaustion. Excitement. Disappointment. Hope. Confusion. Contentment. All emotions I felt on my last day in Copenhagen. I’m home now, and what an adventure this has been. Despite the problems with the final agreement (which I’ll talk about in a minute,) I’m totally glad I went and proud to have taken part in this historic event. My last day was very fast paced and exciting. I gave a presentation, saw Al Gore, and I made some great connections for the million kid march. My presentation was to a group of high school students from Copenhagen, and they were really a great audience.... (continue reading)

It finally happened. I didn’t get into the Bella Center at all today. I knew it was just a matter of time. But something happened today at the conference center, and I’m not exactly sure what. I woke up this morning, and we walked through the snow to the metro center, but it said that the Bella Center station was closed… because of “crowd control.” Yeah, right. Then later in the day, it said that there was a demonstration going on. Then they completely shut off all NGO (non governmental organization) access for the rest of the day and no NGOs at all are allowed tomorrow and... (continue reading)

Wow, I feel so inspired while writing this. The highlight of my day was a speech by Al Gore calling upon the world leaders to take real action for the youth of this and every generation. He began and ended with a standing ovation from the crowd. And right after a joke about a farmer in a car crash saying “I feel fine,” he noted a group of people who aren’t formally represented and don’t have an official voice in this process. And that is the generations who follow us. There is no way the negotiators will create a binding treaty in the next 3 days. But they can make some sort of... (continue reading)

Today was my third day in wonderful Copenhagen, Denmark for the COP15 UN Climate Change Conference. The conference center is just so overwhelming, in a good way. There is so much awesome going on at once, it’s hard to take it all in. I started off the day pushing through a mob of hundreds of people trying to get into the Bella Center, where the conference is held. It was crazy… I felt like we were trying to get into the 2012 survival ship or something. Especially with this whole ‘badge’ thing. For the last few days, they are cutting back on the amount of people allowed in, and... (continue reading)

I’m writing this from the apartment of my wonderful host family here in Copenhagen Denmark! Today was my second day in the city, and it was a bit of a day off. Both for me, and the negotiators at the conference. Yesterday, my mom and I got into Copenhagen at around noon, after leaving at 3am (Los Angeles time) the day before. After we got in, we spent an hour wandering aimlessly around the city trying to find this apartment. We finally took a cab here, spent a good 15 minutes settling in, and then left to go straight to the conference center, where I was to give 2 presentations. I... (continue reading)

Alec Loorz here. Founder of Kids vs Global Warming, youth leader for the Alliance for Climate Education, and proud RYSE member! I wrote the Declaration of Independence from Fossil Fuels, from the youth of America. It states that we no longer want to be governed by the fossil fuel industry, just like the original Declaration declared our independence from a foreign government. I am going to be doing a press conference with Senator Barbara Boxer this month, so we need as many signatures as we possibly can before then! You can sign online at AceSpace.org (<click that) to make your voice heard... (continue reading)