Mary Jetmore grew to love nature during Cope Environmental Center visits.
On Monday, the Richmond High School freshman and other Youth Climate Action Team members supported a climate resolution before Richmond Common Council. That resolution eventually passed 7-2.
“That instilled a lot of importance of nature into me, and then as I’ve grown older and seen the negative impact of climate change, it really hit me hard," said Jetmore, who is a member of the RHS Green Club, which was started by Hannah Jensen-Sizelove, another Youth Climate Action Team member. "I want everyone to be able to experience all the amazing things I’ve seen as a child. So climate change is really important to me.”
Council member Bill Engle asked Jetmore what is most important among the six parts included in the resolution.
“To me the most important part of our resolution is to create a Climate Action Plan, because this plan will help us move forward into the future and to see what impact we’ve made to climate change," Jetmore said.
Another part of the plan involves the hiring of a sustainability coordinator. Council member Ron Oler explained that for the next two years, a position funded by a Beat the Heat grant would function as the sustainability coordinator. Then, another grant or grants would be needed to fund the position when the Beat the Heat grant expires.
