The students of the Energy and Sustainability Club at Thornton Middle School are passionate about the environment. We are dedicated to promoting good stewardship of our common home, Planet Earth. We are elevating the pollution crisis to the Thornton community and are working to change the culture of our throw-away society. Students are taught the importance of recycling, trash reduction, and waste separation and participate in these programs throughout the schoolyear. We organize active transportation events to create opportunities for students to reduce their carbon footprint and commute to school in a healthy and safe way. We want to inspire students to get involved in the climate movement and take action against climate change because we all interconnected and it is the moral thing to do. We are preparing the next generation of climate literate citizens who will lead their community and country to a sustainable future.
Goals:
Encourage Active Transportation at our school. Increase the number of students who walk, bike, take AC Transit, and carpool to school. Reduce the number of cars coming onto our campus each day. Increase the margin of safety for our students.
Cultivate the habits of recycling and waste separation. Eliminate single-use plastics from the lunch stream.
Increase civic engagement by campaigning for climate champions who are running for state and national office.
Bring awareness to the student body about climate change by conducting a rally during COP week. Educate students about climate change. Increase climate literacy and decrease climate skepticism by producing videos and announcements, and hosting special events.
Celebrate Earth Day in April.
Climate Resolution
Dear Readers,
This climate resolution is the sum of my learning. I was frustrated by the lack of a "Moonshot" climate speech from Democratic Party and the haphazard introduction of climate bills by California lawmakers without an overall guiding plan. I wrote this resolution to provide a comprehensive but general framework that any entity from any sector of society can get on board with. As a former software engineer, I used the principle of starting with "the What" in order to do "the How." I also had in mind the Green New Deal, a framework based on the idea that if you have to remake the energy economy, why don't we fix some problems in the process? The Green New Deal focused on workers rights. I went a step further and thought about the impact of unrestrained consumption and pollution on the environment and how to "fix it." I took many recommendations from the House Select committee on the Climate Crisis and Netflix "Our Planet" series.
This resolution lays out five elements to solving the climate crisis.
1) A climate emergency declaration
2) Recommendations from the the House Select Committee recommendations on Solving the Climate Crisis: The Congressional Action Plan for a Clean Energy Economy and a Healthy, Resilient, and Just America
3) Enables a just transition for workers and communities affected by the shift away from fossil fuels to ensure that no worker is left behind and defends frontline communities
4) Recognizes that we can no longer afford unrestrained economic growth that tolerates externalities to the environment
5) Supports the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act (H.R.5744) that puts a price on carbon and returns a dividend to the people.
6) A call to action
I hope you are inspired by the vision of a sustainable, clean energy future. Please join us as we fight for our kids, Planet Earth, and for future generations.
Regards,
Lisa Oliver
Sept. 27, 2025