Elise Joshi, 21, is the executive director at Gen-Z for Change. She first gained widespread attention a few months ago when she interrupted a White House press conference being held by Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre. In the viral video, a visibly nervous Joshi asked about the Biden administration's approval of ConocoPhillips' $8 billion Willow Pipeline project in Alaska, despite over 1 million young people requesting President Biden halt the project. The video has been viewed tens of millions of times across news outlets and shows.

In this episode, Elise makes the point that the Biden administration has done many wonderful things for climate, including the Inflation Reduction Act. However, she noted that for many young people, Biden's climate record will be defined by Willow. The months-long Stop Willow movement was significantly influential across social media. She pointed out that in Biden's first two years, the Bureau of Land Management approved more oil and gas permits than during Trump's first two years, despite Biden's pledge and executive order to halt federal land drilling. This highlights the need to incentivize renewables and electrification while weaning the economy off fossil fuels. For many, progress on the latter has seemed lacking.

Elise and Cody have an insightful conversation about these climate policy dynamics and her work at Gen-Z for Change. It's an exciting discussion that provides perspective on how she believes millions of young people view current climate policies.

In this episode, we cover: 

• [03:30]: Elise's personal journey to climate advocacy starting in high school
• [06:10]: Origins and evolution of Gen-Z for Change during COVID
• [08:32]: Elise's role growing from member to executive director of Gen-Z for Change
• [10:04]: Tools and activist techniques used by Gen-Z for Change
• [13:26]: The viral Stop Willow campaign against Arctic oil drilling
• [15:20]: Gen-Z for Change's role in amplifying the Stop Willow movement
• [18:47]: Messaging that resonates most with young people on climate
• [22:57]: Elise's recounting of the moment she stood up to Biden's Press secretary 
• [26:42]: Critique of Biden climate policy as too focused on carrots vs sticks
• [31:06]: Hopes for bolder climate platform and Green New Deal in 2024
• [33:33]: Gen-Z for Change's focus on bottom-up organizing for 2024 elections
• [34:30]: Distrust of the current system and political candidates among Gen-Z 
• [39:01]: How to support Gen-Z for Change
• [39:44]: Distinction between 502(c)(3) and 501(c)(4) 
• [41:00]: Open resources created by Elise to educate people on climate issues
• [42:34]: Parting words on public transit and reducing car dependency 

Get connected: 

• Elise Joshi X / LinkedIn
• Cody Simms X / LinkedIn
• MCJ Podcast / Collective / Instagram

*You can also reach us via email at [email protected], where we encourage you to share your feedback on episodes and suggestions for future topics or guests.

Episode recorded on Sep 29, 2023 (Published on Oct 30, 2023)

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*Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant