The students were participating in a statewide conference for the Alaska Youth for Environmental Action, a program of the National Wildlife Federation.
The conference brought high school students from 14 Alaska communities.
During the week-long conference, students also completed service projects, talked to Native Alaskans about recent temperature changes, recorded public service announcements for the radio and camped and hiked on the south side of Kachemak Bay.
“During the hike we learned all about the changing ecology of the forests, particularly the spruce bark beetle epidemic and the secondary effects,” said Katie Gavenus, who chairs the statewide program’s Homer affiliate and participated in the conference. “I think that was probably the most interesting thing ... how one change could so drastically affect the entire forest.”
Students from Juneau to Bethel also developed action plans for educating others in their area about climate change.
Former Alaska Lt. Gov. Fran Ulmer, who now directs the Institute for Social and Economic Research at the University of Alaska Anchorage, was the featured speaker at the students’ presentation on the conference at the Alaska Islands and Ocean Visitor Center on Saturday.
Ulmer said the students had included two important steps in their study of global climate change. First, they had taken the time to know the subject.
Second, they had devised action plans for putting that knowledge to work.
“I would just like to say to the adults in the room tonight — we all have a lot to learn from Alaska Youth for Environmental Action,” Ulmer said. “They are leaders.”
Students also interviewed tourists and commercial fishermen on the Homer Spit to record their experiences with the world’s changing climate.
At week’s end, they calculated the amount of energy used for transportation during the conference and bought a “green tag” to offset the costs of that energy.
The money for green tags, which are offered by the Bonneville Environmental Foundation, are used to invest in renewable energy.
Ulmer noted the students also had learned about steps taken at local, national and international levels — including the Kyoto Protocol, the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement and the Climate Stewardship Act introduced in Congress by Sens. Joe Lieberman and John McCain.
Ulmer said adults should continue to look to young people for leadership on the issue of climate change and its effect on the environment.
“I look to you,” she said. “I think it’s time for another generation to come on with the effort that allows us to sustain life on this planet.”
Ulmer identified former Gov. Jay Hammond and former U.S. Sen. Gaylord Nelson, the father of Earth Day, as two environmental leaders who put an emphasis on protecting the environment. Both died this year.
Ulmer also said she wondered why government officials today are reluctant to take steps to curb the amount of fossil fuels used in this country and the amount of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere.
Scientists identify carbon dioxide as a “greenhouse gas,” and more than 100 nations have signed the Kyoto Protocol, an agreement to cut the amount of carbon dioxide released within their borders. The United States has not signed.
“Is it because we don’t have many leaders in public office who understand what’s happening to the planet,” Ulmer said. “Or is it that leaders simply don’t want to be the bearers of bad news?”
She said new leaders will be able to find out the answer to that question.
“Youthful leadership is a good place to start, if you ask me,” she said.
Homer Mayor Jim Hornaday also spoke at Saturday’s event.
Hornaday said having a healthy environment is also good for the economy, and noted fishing and tourism are two of Homer’s most important industries.
Chris Eshleman can be reached at chris.eshleman@ homernews.com.
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