By Sophia Lyons
App 1800 is a thirty-minute interview program focusing on a member of the Boone community.
This week, I spoke to Michael Weiss, a student at App State and community organizer with the Climate Action Collaborative, or ClimAct. ClimAct recently rejected App State’s current climate action plan, instead demanding an approach that balances justice, ambition, and a basis in science. They removed themselves from the official process with the Office of Sustainability in favor of writing their own plan, tentatively referred to as the Just Climate Transition Plan, to demonstrate their preferred approach and encourage quicker, more direct and sweeping action. Weiss spoke on ClimAct and its role in the university before we transitioned to discussing his leadership role and involvement. We then discuss the climate action plans from the Office of Sustainability, Faculty Senate, and Student Government Association, comparing and contrasting them with ClimAct’s plan in progress. Weiss then elaborated on the university and UNC system’s role in addressing climate change, and invited others to join the Climate Action Collaborative.
ClimAct can be found on Instagram as @appclimact, and their newsletter can be accessed by going to bit.ly/climact-subscribe.