Goshen’s Youth Created Green Change

Felix Perez Diener served as a youth advisor to the Goshen City Council and was at the forefront of the creation of Resolution 2019-19, or the Youth Resolution, a call for action on climate change by local government.

Passed in 2019, the resolution was a catalyst for city planning and engagement and is cited as one of the reasons for the creation of the City of Goshen’s Climate Action Plan.

Here Felix reflected on the beginnings of the resolution and his hopes for what it might accomplish in Goshen.

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The climate is something that I care a lot about, and I felt that if nothing were to be done, our current trajectory is not good. Wanting to be part of changing that was a motivating factor for me and for the rest of the students, as well.

My predecessor, Jason Barahona, suggested a climate change resolution as an idea the youth caucus could pursue.

It was the work of one year.

My hopes were two-part. One was that the resolution itself would have an impact. We called for a climate action plan because, at the time of the resolution, we didn’t know what was going to be most effective or best for the city. I hoped a plan would be made that could be executed and could have a positive impact on the community.

The other hope I had, which wasn’t necessarily green, was for students at the high school to see that change is actually possible and be inspired to make their voices heard. The youth caucus — and the position of youth on the city council — isn’t always a green one, but I really do hope that, even now, the resolution showed the youth that when they put their minds to anything, change is actually possible.

I’m a junior now at Harvard College studying philosophy and computer science. I’m involved with Harvard’s Faith and Action which is one of the Christian fellowships on campus — oh, and ultimate frisbee!