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Vic Barrett

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Vic Barrett
Vic Barrett, in 2019
Bornc. 1998 or 1999 (age 24–25)[1]
CitizenshipUnited States
OrganizationOur Children's Trust
MovementClimate justice

Vic Barrett (born c. 1998 or 1999) is an American climate activist. He was a plaintiff in Juliana v. United States, which has been called likely the most ambitious and aggressive climate change lawsuit filed to date.[2] Barrett also featured in a documentary about the case, Youth v. Gov.[3][4][5][6]

Activism

Barrett traces an early influence to rising watermelon outside his grandparents' home in Honduras. “It was the first thing about climate change that hit really close to home. And it made me realize the global implications of how climate change affects everyone.”[7] Barrett's first experience with climate activism came after experiencing the effects of Hurricane Sandy on New York City neighborhoods in 2012.[8]

As a ninth grader in 2013-14 at Notre Dame School, an all-girls Catholic high school in Manhattan, Barrett joined the Global Kids organization working to mandate climate education in New York City public schools from kindergarten through 12th grade. In 2014, through Global Kids, Barrett took a three-week trip to Bosnia sponsored by and conducted by the U.S. State Department.[9]

Though Global Kids, Barrett connected with the Alliance for Climate Education. Mentors at those two organizations thought Barrett would be a good addition to the landmark lawsuit that Our Children's Trust was putting together, known as Juliana v. United States.[8][10] The Juliana case has regularly been trumpeted as the "trial of the century," a climate Scopes trial, to demonstrate the urgency of climate change and force federal action. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of 21 children not old enough to vote.[2] After nine years of legal wrangling, including a stop at the U.S. Supreme Court, the lawsuit was dismissed by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals on May 1, 2024.[11]

In December 2015, Barrett spoke at COP21, the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris.[12][13] In December 2018, Barrett prominently protested at COP24 in Poland, calling U.S. energy policy "a joke."[14]

In 2019, Barrett appeared in Ilana Glazer's Generator Series and promoted the September 2019 climate strike and spoke at the NYC strike in Foley Square.[15][16][17] Barrett was nominated for a Pritzker Award from the UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability in 2020.[18] He is currently a network organizer for the Power Shift Network.[5] Barrett has spoken about the power of storytelling in engaging people in activism.[5] The time commitment, including trips to Washington, D.C. and San Francisco for case related appearances,[19] led him to withdraw from his undergraduate studies in political science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.[20]

Personal life

Barrett is from White Plains, New York, and resides in the Bronx as of August 2023.[8][21] He is neurodivergent, queer and of Garifuna descent.[22][20][23] Barrett is also a first-generation American and a trans man who transitioned in 2017, after moving away for college in Wisconsin.[5][23] Barrett has a tattoo that refers to the atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration in parts per million.[13] He has identified Berta Cáceres as a personal hero.[13]

References

  1. ^ "Vic Barrett | White Plains, New York" (Interview). Our Climate Voices. 28 December 2018. Retrieved 21 June 2022.
  2. ^ a b "Is Kids Climate Case Coming to an End?". Reason.com. 2018-11-26. Retrieved 2024-05-16.
  3. ^ "Team Trump promoted coal at the U.N. climate talks. Young activists busted it up". Grist. 2018-12-10. Retrieved 2022-05-18.
  4. ^ Lines, Madeline (2020-12-22). "The Kids Are Not Alright". POV Magazine. Retrieved 2022-05-18.
  5. ^ a b c d "Climate Activist Vic Barrett on Wonder, Transformation, and Storytelling". Atmos. 2022-06-29. Retrieved 2022-06-30.
  6. ^ Speth, James Gustave (2021). They knew : the federal government's fifty-year role in causing the climate crisis. Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press. p. 179. ISBN 978-0-262-54298-2. OCLC 1224585521.
  7. ^ "Youth Climate Leaders ACE the COP21". benjerry.com. December 7, 2015. Retrieved May 16, 2024.
  8. ^ a b c "Meet One of the Teens Suing the Federal Government Over Global Warming". www.vice.com. Retrieved 2022-05-18.
  9. ^ "Encore Chez Nous Winter 2015 by Notre Dame School - Issuu". issuu.com. 2016-01-28. Retrieved 2024-05-16.
  10. ^ "Meet the New York Action Fellows". Action for the Climate Emergency. 2015-04-17. Retrieved 2024-05-16.
  11. ^ "Juliana v. United States | League of Women Voters". www.lwv.org. 2024-05-01. Retrieved 2024-05-16.
  12. ^ "Vic J. Barrett". Audubon. 2020-07-27. Retrieved 2022-05-18.
  13. ^ a b c "Gen Z on how to save the world: young climate activists speak out". the Guardian. 2021-10-17. Retrieved 2022-05-18.
  14. ^ Walsh, John D. Sutter,Mark Tutton,Nick Paton (2018-12-10). "US undermining 'last chance' climate talks, experts charge". CNN. Retrieved 2022-05-18.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  15. ^ "Ilana Glazer's Generator Series: Humanize Policy". The Greene Space. Retrieved 2022-05-18.
  16. ^ ""This Is Our Time. This Is Our Future." Voices from the Historic Youth Climate Strike in NYC". Democracy Now!. Retrieved 2022-05-18.
  17. ^ Barrett, Vic (2019-09-20). "Yes, I'm striking over the climate crisis. And suing the US government, too". the Guardian. Retrieved 2022-05-18.
  18. ^ "Meet the 2020 Pritzker Award Candidates #1-5". Institute of the Environment and Sustainability at UCLA. 2020-08-03. Retrieved 2022-05-18.
  19. ^ Weinberger, Hannah. "The kids who sued the U.S. over climate change and lost aren't giving up | Cascade PBS News". crosscut.com. Retrieved 2024-05-16.
  20. ^ a b Davis, Victoria (2018-12-20). "Fighting for the future". Isthmus | Madison, Wisconsin. Retrieved 2022-05-18.
  21. ^ Gelles, David (2023-08-19). "With TikTok and Lawsuits, Gen Z Takes on Climate Change". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-09-01.
  22. ^ Sohn, Rebecca (2020-12-12). "Meet a young activist who's suing the government over climate change". Mashable. Retrieved 2022-05-18.
  23. ^ a b Barrett, Vic (2022-04-06). "Creating the Future We Deserve". Progressive.org. Retrieved 2022-05-18.
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