The public discourse surrounding environmental issues, particularly climate change, is drawing a growing number of young people into the conversation, as the harmful effects of our warming planet continue to threaten not just the future, but our ways of living now.

With the ongoing discussions about federal policies that aim to address and protect the environment like the Green New Deal to the real-time images of widespread fires ravaging the Amazon, these issues are becoming more visceral that it affects not only the policies being heard and debated in government platforms by lawmakers but also in public, communal spaces, and the younger generation is taking part in these important conversations. 

A recent poll asked Americans of varying age demographics about their views on climate change. Between 2015 and 2018, 51 percent of the respondents between 18 and 34 years of age agreed that global warming would “pose a serious threat within their lifetime,” while only 29 percent of those aged 55 years and older agreed with the same statement. The poll shows that “a larger percentage of the younger generation also believed that climate change was a very serious issue in comparison to the older generations.” Moreover, “about 58 percent of the younger respondents believed there was a scientific consensus regarding climate change as of January 2018.” 

Aside from age, certain differences in the perception of climate change is presumed to be due to varying exposure and education, as well political ideology. In New Hampshire, climate change is one of the top issues that concern young voters who are rightfully concerned about how these issues will affect them and their children, the future generation. These young people are empowered to do their part in small, meaningful ways such as buying sustainably produced goods, but they believe that these measures can’t all fall to the consumers. “The government should do something. You need a government that’s not working against you,” one resident said.