From Protesting Outside The White House to Working Within

JEROME FOSTER, YOUNGEST MEMBER, WHITE HOUSE ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE ADVISORY COUNCIL: Yes, yes. Thank you for having me. And I think just being a part of this council is an incredible eye opener for so many young people to know that our voice was heard. Especially in the U.S., 17 percent of every vote was cast by young people. And now, actually having a seat at the table to affect the policies that will help to save our climate is incredibility ambitious, incredible responsibility driven. But now, it’s time the take action. It’s time to get policy to paper. And that’s the work that I am doing now.

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR: So, I’m going to get to that in a second. But I just want to know what it was like. I mean, you took a decision. I think — I mean, I said you were in New York. You must have had to travel every week to Washington, D.C. to sit outside the White House with your sign. Was your — were your parents supportive? Was your school supportive?

FOSTER: Yes. So, I was born and raised in Washington, D.C. and I would go to the White House climate strikes. And it was definitely nerve-racking going out there and striking every Friday. Because there would be people from all different political perspectives walking by, frowning. Some school children that I will never forget that were just smiling and waving because they knew and were aware of the climate crisis at that young age. And every week, it was just continually seeing how broad this climate crisis is affecting even our entire generation. And now, it was — my parents weren’t as — in the first. Like, so, they were confused and they were like, why are you doing this? What is this movement all about? Why are you taking time out of school? And when I explained it to them and broke down the scale of the climate crisis and what action needs to be taken, they were 100 percent behind me and they were with me, they were helping to make sure our message was heard. And a part of my climate strike was the patch to climate change education act and it still hasn’t been passed. But now, through this position, we’re going to continue to push that movement forward.

AMANPOUR: OK. So, was your school supportive? And what exactly would that do, the climate change education act?

FOSTER: Absolutely. So, my school was not that supportive, unfortunately. A lot of my teachers would not allow me to make up old assignments. They were very combative and things like that. But as a schoolwide, it was a mixed bag. There were teachers that were helping and there were teachers that were definitely trying to be confrontational. But at the end of the day, it was just about what I was there for. If I am studying for future that doesn’t exist, then why am I there? If I am going there every singly Friday and every week and showing the scale of urgency around the climate crisis, that is a much louder message.