youth movement

In just about every corner of the country, youth climate advocates have been building a grassroots apparatus that would have even David Plouffe salivating. Their regional, state and national networks have powered aggressive and successful campaigns, such as the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment, and they are now critical to implementing the policy commitments they've secured.

These networks are as powerful as they are prolific. Students are influencing national policy on a scale never before seen in youth activism.

Before I get into the thick of it, I want to point out that things have changed a bit since young activists were demonstrating against the Vietnam War or even against South African apartheid. Student organizers today are more often behind their laptops, launching virtual actions, spreading congressional phone numbers, gathering petition signatures, and Twittering, Facebooking, Myspacing and emailing their peers into action.

On-campus meetings are still a staple, but students have realized that collective power is where the punch is, so they have constructed deep networks of regional organizations.

Here's a look at the current state of affairs in these youth climate networks.

The support of voters age 18-29 may have been decisive in Barack Obama's presidential election victory this Tuesday, according to estimates from The Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE).

CIRCLE projections show both an increase in the percentage of young voters among overall voters -- young voters representing 18 percent of the total voter tally, up from 17 percent in 2004 -- and that young voters overwhelmingly preferred Obama. Obama, who received a projected 52 percent of the total popular vote, received 66 percent of the under-30 vote. In 2004, by comparison, John Kerry received 48.1 percent of the popular vote and 54 percent of the under-30 vote.

John Della Volpe, the director of polling for the Harvard Institute of Politics, estimates Obama won the youth vote by 8.3 or 8.4 million -- and the overall popular vote by about 8 million. "Young people, no question, were the driving force behind this election," he told MSNBC.

No doubt key to these young voters was Obama's relative strength on environmental issues when compared to John McCain. A report in The Washington Independent on Monday observed that the concerns of young voters largely mirror the concerns of their elders -- going into the election, the economy was for them an issue of paramount importance. Yet:

The environment is the major exception for youth voters, according to Carroll Doherty, the associate director at the Pew Research Center. In an October poll, 64 percent of voters under age 30 said the environment is “very important,” compared to 55 percent of older voters.

“At a time when there is so much convergence in priorities,” Doherty said, “that is a noticeable, significant difference.”

He attributes the difference to greater environmental consciousness among young people. For example, young people are more concerned about human effects on global warming than any other age group, according to an April Pew poll.