Youth Speak Out!

On December 17, 2010, high school students from Oakland and Richmond attended a California Air Resources Board meeting to voice their support of strong diesel rules to protect public health. These are responses from the students on their experiences as youth advocates.

Going to the CARB meeting was pretty good because we got to hear other people point of views and they also got to hear ours. Knowing that I was one of the few young people made me feel special because not a lot of young people get to do what we did. At first, I was shocked to see people's reactions but then I thought about it and got in their shoes to see their point of view. I felt
pretty good about the speech that I presented. I felt that I actually showed my
point of view and I felt that I made them think, at least just a little about what they are doing. Some positive stuff would probably be that everybody got to
hear what we had to say and what we felt that needed to change. We had a really fun time and we let our voice get heard.

Jessica O

I think the California air board resources meeting was a really important place
because their decision was a very important decision...I think knowing
that we are the only young adults in the audience was really important because
that showed that we really care about the environment and that we really care
about their decision but I know that didn't really matter because they still
made their decision, but I think it still made a difference. I think what was positive about the trip is
that everybody was really friendly to each other and nobody made a negative comment.

Segun B.

I felt excited on our way to the California Air Resources Board Hearing because I felt that there was going to be a lot of different people talking about their opinion on the diesel trucks. Even though there weren't as many people as I thought there would be, their speeches were very powerful. It made me feel important to know that I was one of the few people in the audience because it shows that I really do care about our air and about people's health. When I was hearing the people's speech it made me feel happy when they were saying that the diesel trucks should go or do something to prevent diseases. I was also happy when I started hearing women were speaking. I saw the other side of the problem when I was listening to the workers (truck drivers) speeches, I understood that some didn't have money to make the changes. I believe that the workers should also get some kind of profit when they change their old trucks to new. The positives about this experience were that I got to understand a lot of different opinions on the problem. I also got to learn a lot about the diesel trucks. Getting to hear about the important people was an experience that I wont forget. One thing that could be improved is if we would have had more time to hear the speech of more people.

Anabel F.

Going to the meeting in Sacramento was scary, yet exhilerating. I did not realize how many people were going to be at the meeting and I also did not realize that YCA would be the only youth group there. That made me a little hesitant because I felt like our opinions would be either tossed to the side or ignored all together. Surprisingly, our words were heard throughout California and was printed in newspapers statewide! I felt like the hearing was just one step to changing the environment because many people were there that opposed the new amendments and others wanted to comply with the rules but needed assistance in order to do so. I felt great about the speech I gave because not only did it contain ethos, but a large amount of pathos. I felt that the trip helped others see the issues in front of them and I feel like change is in our future.

Kami B.