Teen climate activists testify to US Congress
Teen climate activists urge Congress to take action.
Youth climate activist Jamie Margolin appeared on CBS "Morning News" Thursday, following her testimony in front of Congress the day before, and said she admires Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., for her strong stance on climate change.regulation.
"On Monday I got to meet Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez who is ... an icon of mine. And I look up to her," said Margolin, who is 17.
"I was standing out there on the balcony where presidents are inaugurated, and I was looking out and I was like, maybe I'll be standing up here getting inaugurated someday," she added.
Margolin was one of several teens from the group "Zero Hour" who appeared before Congress Wednesday, to testify about the importance of climate change activism. She claimed the world's economy would cease to function without further environmental regulation.
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"I want lawmakers to lead with the message that... climate action is the only practical and sensible way of going about anything," she said. "At the hearing... so many politicians... were saying, 'we need to be sensible. We can’t be too crazy or radical,' but the only sensible thing is to take action... There is no economy. There is no functioning society on a planet that is in ecological collapse.
"Without clean air, clean water, a stable climate, and a livable environment, you cannot have a functioning economy," Margolin continued.
Margolin also said by the time she comes of age to run for public office, it will already be too late to affect any lasting change and said the clock is already ticking before the damage become irreversible.
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"We only have about 18 months left in order to create the political environment in order to solve the climate crisis before it’s too late," she said. "For them to throw it on a 17-year-old's shoulders and say, 'When you grow up you can do this.' No, by the time I grow up, it’s too late."