With use of TikTok and lawsuits, Gen Z takes on climate change

As Kaliko Teruya, 13, was coming home from her hula lesson Aug. 8, her father called.

The apartment in Lahaina, on the Hawaiian island of Maui, was gone, he said, and he was running for his life trying to escape the deadliest American wildfire in more than a century — an inferno fueled by powerful winds from a faraway hurricane and barely hindered by the state's weak defenses against natural disasters.

Kaliko is engaged in efforts to raise awareness about global warming and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

In fact, last year she and 13 other young people, ages 9-18, sued their home state, Hawaii, over its use of fossil fuels.

With active lawsuits in five states, TikTok videos that mix humor and outrage, and marches in the streets, it's a movement that is seeking to shape policy, sway elections and shift a narrative its proponents say too often emphasizes climate catastrophes instead of the need to make the planet healthier and cleaner.

“We see what's happening with climate change, and how it affects everything else,” said Elise Joshi, 21, executive director of Gen-Z for Change. “We're experiencing a mix of anger and fear, and we're finally channeling it into hope into the form of collective action.”

The youth vote's mounting frustration with the Biden administration's climate agenda is a wild card factor in next year's presidential race.

They are particularly livid that President Joe Biden, who pledged “no more drilling on federal lands, period” during his campaign, has failed to make good on that promise.

Young people are helping organize a climate march in New York next month, during the United Nations General Assembly.

And their force is being felt even in deep-red states such as Montana, where a judge Monday handed the movement its biggest victory to date, ruling in favor of 16 young people who had sued the state over its support for the fossil fuel industry.

In that case, a lengthy fight resulted in a surprise victory that means the state must consider potential climate damage when approving energy projects.

“The fact that kids are taking this action is incredible,” said Badge Busse, 15, one of the plaintiffs in the Montana case.

“But it's sad that it had to come to us. We're the last resort.”