Anasophia Brown: I think living in Carbondale, and the Roaring Fork Valley in general, you really get a different perspective about the natural world because we are lucky to live in one of the most beautiful places on the planet. And I think the thing that really changed [me] was when the Lake Christine Fire happened because I just watched my entire town be rained down on in ash.
And it was kind of heartbreaking to see all of that beautiful natural land be destroyed. Although wildfires are natural, the amount and intensity of them has been crazy in Colorado and have been increasing. So that really made a big impact on me and made me inspired to make change.
KDNK: What kind of change is most important to you?
AB: I think the best way to make change is to inspire young people into fighting for what they believe in. Nobody wants to be a part of a cause that they don't believe in. I think it's really important to show young people how important the issues are. The specific change I think is really important is protecting the Colorado River system. In college. I plan on majoring in environmental science and political science so that hopefully I can make a difference there. And I want to work with protection laws on the Colorado River Basin as well as all of the natural places in Colorado. I just think protection of our recreational places as well as just inspiring the people around you to do something is so important.
KDNK: How do you feel about these issues that, for lack of a better term, you're inheriting as you move into adulthood? What are your feelings?
AB: I mean, absolutely, we are inheriting these issues. I wasn't alive when the fossil fuel industry started booming and I feel like we are the first or second generation who are going to have to live our entire lives with these impacts.
And it's infuriating because we made none of that change that is negatively impacting our planet, and we are sort of required to fix it. But also I think it gives us all a call to action because if we want to live in a world that is beautiful and healthy and supports us, we have to support it.
As much as it is infuriating, I also think it's a push to make a difference and to change the ways that our world functions and to switch from energy sources like fossil fuels into energy sources like solar. I think when people start talking about solar and wind energy, everybody immediately goes to the negative impacts of those.
They say that they aren't sustainable, but they are so much more sustainable than the fossil fuel industry. I've been in so many debates where people start talking about all the negatives of wind energy or solar, and it feels ignorant because you are completely ignoring all of the historical, horrible effects [of fossil fuels]. I don't think there is a perfect solution but I do think we need to immediately move into better solutions. I think the push for solar energy is that.
KDNK: What do you say to people your age who don't really seem to care?
AB: In my [University of Colorado Boulder] political science class, I've come across a lot of students my age, saying they don't really care about politics or they're not interested in it, and I think that's sort of the most ignorant and silly response someone can give me. Politics affect every part of our daily lives. It affects the economy, it affects our natural world. We are lucky to live in a place that is pro-active in action against climate change, but so many other places do not have the same energy.
In Brazil, I lived in a town in a city that had a lot less pro-action towards combating climate change. But the youth were so much more interested and so much more ready to make a change. There just wasn't the adult population who was doing that. And I think living in a place that has the adult population, a lot of people think it's not our problem.
Also when you start talking about politics, I think people think you're overly opinionated and it's not an easy conversation to have. But I think it's so much more important that we have those conversations because conversations bring us together more than divide us. It also helps you understand the people around you.
I think people who are able to both speak about what they believe but, more importantly, listen to what other people believe, make all the difference. If you say you don't care about politics or it doesn't impact you, I implore you to think about all the ways it does impact your daily life, and start having conversations with people not only about what you believe, but what they believe and how to make a difference.
