A group of students at Clinton High School found a way to show their concern for the environment.
LEAP, which stands for Leaders of Environmental Awareness and Protection, is the name of the high school’s environmental club. Briar Lennon leads that group.
“Our community has been impacted by climate change. And we’ve seen some of the results here in Clinton,” Lennon said.
This year LEAP has lobbied for a state bill to go after polluters, participated in a Clean-Up Day and helped get the Kirkland Trail off Dugway Road ready for use this year.
In March members of the Clinton High School Environmental Club held a small rally on the Village Green. The teens held signs to show support for the Climate and Community Investment Act.
The bill “will create a ‘polluter penalty’ that will fund New York state’s transition to a renewable energy economy, away from the extractive fossil fuel industry and consequent climate crisis,” according to the environmental club.
“We want to show support for it,” Lennon said. “It’s important to talk about climate, and what we think about it and the changes that we want for our future.”
By having the rally, they “have a voice for climate change and for any kind of justice,” she said.
Lennon mentioned that NY Renews is an organization helping with the legislation. NY Renews is a coalition of over 200 environmental, justice, faith, labor, and community groups, and the force behind the nation’s most progressive climate law, according to nyrenews.org.
Under the Our Policies section of the organization’s website, it states, “A version of our first bill, the Climate and Community Protection Act (CCPA), was passed as the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA). Now, we’re working on implementing the law and...