Channeling Hopelessness into Action
This commentary, by four Duluth East High School Seniors, Amelia Gilbert, Zoe Pierson, Mauren Pierson and Kate Yapel, was published on April 17, 2025, in the ‘Minnesota Reformer.’ We reprint this commentary under the ‘Reformer’s Creative Commons Licensing option; we appreciate it!
By now we know that climate change is one of the biggest threats to our collective futures.
From coast to coast, devastating fires and hurricanes have destroyed homes and livelihoods and changed the landscape of our country.
Closer to home, we’ve grown used to extreme weather and breathing the toxic air that wafts east from fires out West.
Too many politicians have ignored these changes in the face of fossil fuel companies flooding the political and media ecosystem with cash and disinformation, and it’s at times driven us to hopelessness.
As high school seniors, we’re rejecting hopelessness and channeling these frustrations into action.
Our climate club started seven years ago, when we were in sixth grade. Although we were young, we were aware of the environmental damage occurring all around us. But seeing reduced snowfall in the winters and experiencing the warming of Lake Superior spurred us to do something. We eventually decided that getting solar panels for our school would be a good first step.
Duluth East High School Seniors; provided photo
Our original plan was to encourage our district leaders to install a 40 kilowatt solar array on our middle school, enough to offset the electricity used by the gym lights. We researched, collaborated with energy experts from the city, and presented our findings to the Duluth School Board.
Despite the energy savings and carbon reduction the panels would bring, it was too expensive.
We didn’t let that stop us though. We sought solutions. We went to the Legislature, and lobbied and testified for the passage of the Solar for Schools Grant, a program providing funding to schools across Minnesota for solar panels. To this day, over 150 schools in the state have used this resource.
When the pandemic arrived, we were frequently out of school and our club’s numbers suffered as a result.
Last year, however, we restarted the club with renewed passion. We quickly gained nearly 30 members and continued to pursue our original goal of solar for our district. Again, we researched, worked with professionals, and worked up a plan.
Last June, we spoke at a school board listening session and explained the risks of the climate crisis to all of us, as well as the opportunity in solar and for Duluth to become a leader in renewable energy.
We discussed how the Solar for Schools Grant and Inflation Reduction Act (now at risk from the Trump administration) would drastically reduce the price of a solar array, large or small.
We got the school district on board with a project, and they have since submitted an application for the Solar for Schools Grant. They are planning on pursuing an array of about 100 kilowatts on the administration building, which is smaller than we hoped for, but is still a step in the right direction. Hopefully, our school district will recognize the environmental and economic benefit of solar, and install more in the future.
As young people, we are constantly reminded that we will be the generation to fix climate change. (The headlines and horror stories and our own personal experiences are reminders enough; you all can stop telling us now!) We also want to stress that combating climate change will require hard work from all of us, not just young people.
From our seven years of work on this project, we have learned that everyone and anyone can pitch in, but putting ideas into practice takes work.
We all need to start doing more and pushing others to do more.
One easy thing everyone can do is banish hopelessness and demoralization. These mentalities, although they are often our initial reaction to bad news, only give us an excuse for inaction.
We hope our story about a little climate club illustrates that we all have the power to make our own decisions, and stem the tide of the climate crisis.
The young people are asking you to try. Let’s do it together.
