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Videos on global warming bring accolades for 2 teens
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SACRAMENTO — Two Conejo Valley teenagers were among 15 in the state to be honored Tuesday by the Air Resources Board as "California Climate Champions."
Westlake High School sophomore Adam Raudonis and Oak Park High School junior Arielle Gillman were selected based on videos they each produced highlighting environmental issues related to global warming.
In a ceremony staged between solar heating panels on the roof of the California Environmental Protection Agency headquarters, air board Chairwoman Mary Nichols said the teens will become on-the-ground and online ambassadors to help educate Californians on how to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases.
"They know global warming is their generation's issue and that it's not too late to take action," Nichols said.
Adam, 16, staged most of his three-minute video in the charred hills behind his Westlake Village home, emphasizing that an increased risk of wildland fires is one effect of global warming in California.
Arielle, 17, produced her video, presented in the form of a news report, in Oak Canyon Park. She said that while most of her peers understand the seriousness of global climate change, "the problem is whether they care enough to do something."
The Climate Champion program is modeled after one in the United Kingdom. All 15 winners will participate in a "climate camp" in California this summer.
In addition, three of the California teens will travel to London next week and to Kobe, Japan, in May. There, they will work with young people from other countries to develop a youth platform they hope will be incorporated when scientists and diplomats develop the next set of international protocols to replace the expiring Kyoto accord on global warming.
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