They are the green generation. Six young people who are doing incredible things to safeguard the environment were honored this week with the prestigious Brower Youth Award for 2010.
Out of 1,000 applicants, six were chosen. The youngest, Freya Chay, 15, created and helped pass legislation to reform Alaska’s energy policy, giving any municipality in the state the option to exempt residential renewable energy systems from property taxes.
De’Anthony Jones, 18, works in seven San Francisco public high schools to connect the issue of global climate change to the lives of students of color, helping to create a new youth culture that takes environmental stewardship as a given.
Bronx 18-year old Misra Walker succeeded with her teen advocacy group, ACTION in lobbying the New York transit authority for a bus route that would give 4,000 Bronx residents access to a new riverside park, one of the few greens space in the heavily industrialized area.
Ana Elisa Peréz-Quintero, 20, created a network of 11,000 student volunteers in Puerto Rico integrating an eco-curriculum combining ecology, art, culture, and environmental activism.
Marcus Grignon, 21, created a program in Keshena, Wisconsin, called “Greening the Schools: Honoring Our Traditions” to boost ecological consciousness in his Native American nation, teaching environmental education on the Menominee Reservation.
Varsha Vijay, 22, from Iowa, is working with a native Amazon tribe, equipping them with information and technology to help them preserve their ecosystems and local biodiversity in an effort to stave off oil extraction and deforestation.
More info on the Brower Awards, presented by the Earth Island Institute, at their website.
WATCH the video below, or read more at ABC News…