Hello, and welcome to the February issue of the Youth Task Force news letter.

For those of you that dont know, the Youth Task Force works to activate and elevate the voice of young staff members within NRDC. The Task Force was created out of recognition that for NRDC to be effective in engaging young people in our work externally, the organization needed to engage young staff in internal matters and in developing external outreach strategies. The Youth Task Force serves as a vehicle for facilitating this internal involvement.

UPDATES AND EVENTS

Youth Task Force Hones Media Skills: Members of the Youth Task Force on both coasts have now had the opportunity participate in a media/public speaking training conducted by NRDC's National Media Director Jenny Powers. Participants learned how to craft an effective story and message for a variety of audiences and settings and then had a chance to practice with each other the new skills they learned. The Youth Caucus at Good Jobs, Green Jobs: NRDC recently hosted a gathering of over 60 young leaders from across the environmental, labor and social justice movement focused on building social and political power across our respective organizations around climate policy and green jobs. Participants participated in a variety of exercises to facilitate crosscollaborative thinking across our movements. Learn more about the event by watching this video (thanks to Rocky Kistner for filming) and from these blogs.

Participants from the Alliance for Climate Education, NRDC, DC Divest, SustainUs and the Communications Workers of America participate in a roleplaying exercise.

RECOMMENDED READING
Someone needs to tell John Kerry that climate change is not a WMD In a speech last week to Indonesian students, civic leaders and government officials, Secretary Kerry called climate change perhaps the worlds most fearsome weapon of mass destruction. While such a bold declaration from the highest levels of U.S. government is undoubtedly good news, the deployment of this all-too-familiar vocabulary is certain to come with a cost. Climate Change Brings More Crime A new study broadens a notion held by the earliest criminologists: Periods of higher temperatures -- on an hour-by-hour or week-to-week basis -- are likely to produce more crime.

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RECOMMENDED READING, CONTINUED

Climate Movement On The Move The fight to stop KXL will be one of the defining battles of our generation. A victory here will mark the close of the old carbon era, and the start of the new energy revolution our revolution. Americas youth now have the chance to take up the torch, and light a new fire. - Conor Kennedy, youth climate activist Youth Plan Mass Civil Disobedience to Protest Keystone XL With President Obama on the cusp of a decision on whether to approve the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline, on March 2, hundreds of students and young people are expected to risk arrest in an act of civil disobedience at the White House to pressure President Obama to reject the project.

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FEBRUARY BLOGS
Artist Collective Celebrates Americas Parks (2/26/14) By Dylan Gasperik Getting Young People to the Table To Create a More Just Future (2/24/14) By Robert Friedman Latin America Green News: Disease-fighting owls in Chile, climate adaptation in Costa Rica, and wind investment in Mexico (2/21/14) By Dene Reaves Warm Weather in Sochi Highlights Olympians Urgent Call to Tackle Climate Change (2/20/14) By Kelly Henderson Latin America Green News: coal plant protests in Chile, distributed generation in Costa Rica, Mexico groups call for boosting renewables (2/14/14) By Dene Reaves Latin America Green News: a glacial flood in Chile, sustainability in Mexico, coffee and dengue in Costa Rica, COP20 in Peru (2/7/14) By Dene Reaves Building a Strong Ecosystem for Good, Green Jobs (2/6/14) By Robert Friedman My 2014 Mantra: Do it! Take Action on Food Issues. Yours? (2/6/14) *Featured on LiveScience* By Hetty Chin Putting the youth voice back on the map (2/5/14) By Evan Feeney Thousands Rally Against Keystone XL Tar Sands Pipeline in 280 Vigils Across U.S. (2/4/14) By Elizabeth Shope

WANT TO JOIN THE YOUTH TASK FORCE

Youth is a self-defining term, but if youd like to join the group, email Rob Friedman, NRDC Youth Engagement Coordinator.