When Isabell Luo was in middle school, she went on a walk with cousins visiting from Wuhan, China. Looking at the Belmont sky, she recalled them telling her they didn’t have the same access as she did to clear air, allowing them to see the “bright and sparkling stars.”
The moment stuck with Luo, now a senior at Phillips Academy in Andover. There, she learned more about climate change and decided to do something about it.
Luo is the co-head of the Andover Climate Lobby and the founder of the Citizens’ Climate Lobby MA Youth Chapter (CCL MA Youth). She has also co-organized the Massachusetts Youth Climate Coalition (MYCC) for the past four years.
“(At MYCC) I will be meeting with Sen. Will Brownsberger and Rep. Dave Rogers, who represent [Belmont] and some other local districts,” Luo said. “And I will be focusing on one of the Massachusetts Youth Climate Coalition Priority Bills called the Interdisciplinary Climate Justice Education Bill and that bill seeks to create this fund that will support interdisciplinary climate education, curriculum development and supporting the local districts and implementing such curriculum.”
The bill will also create a youth advisory council of students and teachers. According to Luo, the problem being addressed is the absence of a systematic climate change curriculum in the public school system. The lack of a curriculum leaves many high schoolers feeling disempowered.
“Through the Massachusetts Youth Climate Coalition, in the last legislative session, we had some of our policy priorities incorporated into this large climate auto risk bill that was passed, preventing gas expansion bills,” Luo said. “We still have like six or five other bills that have still not gotten passed. But the education one has been gaining more progress every year. It’s been getting through more committees and so we’re trying to push on that this year.”
In the summer of 2022, Luo and a group of Andover Climate Lobby students went to Washington, D.C., to join the Citizens’ Climate Lobby to advocate for the Inflation Reduction Act.
“It was really cool to see, like you may have played just a small part in passing the largest climate bill in US history,” Luo said.
This trip to D.C. inspired her to start CCL MA Youth Chapter because she wanted to bring more youth voices into an adult-run and led organization. There is a National Youth Action team that focuses on national level advocacy, but Luo wanted to bridge the gap between the two, and have youth climate advocacy voices on the state level.
The process to do so began with Luo writing a document with the mission statement and getting in contact with Sharon Bagatell, the director of National Youth Action Team. She also connected with a medical student from the Boston area who is a volunteer in one of the CCL adult chapters. Then, she started recruiting students from her school who were interested. Now, CCL MA Youth has 30 members.
“CCL is focused on bipartisanship and doing policies that are able to have support from both sides of the aisle, whether it’s education-focused or electrification or forest,” Luo said. “I found that was a really hopeful experience starting that chapter and doing education workshops through it, because it gives you hope that people could come together for a shared goal even if you have different opinions on specific things.”
Luo received the John Goddard Prize, which is a competitive cash prize awarded to grow “ambitious youth-led environmental initiatives worldwide.” Luo said she wants to use the money to expand the accessibility of the advocacy initiatives because she has noticed the environmental justice youth who are most affected cannot take a step back and really focus on their passion for climate organizing.
Climate advocacy doesn’t always have to be a grand action like passing a bill, according to Luo. It can also start with a conversation with your grandparents and incorporating little practices in everyday life.
