It’s not everyday you get to sit in the same chair as the governor of New York.

Okay, okay, it may have been a few chairs over. But regardless, on Friday October 2nd I had the opportunity to speak from the same stage as Governor Andrew Cuomo on the necessity of student action on climate change.

The evening began with an opening speech by Marc Yaggi, Director of the Waterkeeper Alliance and a firm proponent of taking action in the face of mounting environmental challenges. His presentation served as an excellent call to action:

“I’ve got faith in the millennial generation that they’ll fight for their future. And they will fight for future generations as well, because we can’t leave future generations a mess to clean up, or worse a mess that can’t be cleaned up. We owe it to future generations to leave them a world that’s better than the one we inherited… We need to act now.”

Though Yaggi placed in the spotlight the power held by students and the younger generations – by way of a resoundingly commendatory hat tip to the fossil fuel divestment campaign – his speech was characterized by a call for action from all generations, and from all sectors. In introducing the Governor, he drew attention to the responsibility held by elected officials at all levels of government to make immediate, impactful changes to bring about a more sustainable and just future.

When it was the Governor’s turn, he took the reigns on requiring “fundamental, transformative change” to combat the global climate crisis. He spoke to  the  responsibility of the state to create financial incentives and policies that advance climate initiatives, as well as the responsibility  of industry and commercial powers to shift function and influence to allow for radical change. His speech reached its crescendo with a challenge: for students in the state of New York to make their universities into models for change, specifically with regards to energy reduction and innovation. The cherry on top? $1,000,000 to the top three energy-reducing universities.

“We tend to think that change is going to come from somewhere else… but somebody has to go first… It’s going to take a lot of change and a lot of transformation: you are exactly in the position to do it.”

And he’s totally right! As students within an institution like NYU, we have incredible power. Which is what the student panel following his speech set out to prove.

Sophie Lasoff, Erica Harris, Aliakbar Hassonjee, and Michael Hengerer are certainly representative of the power that NYU students hold – and how to actually use it. Working on everything from NYU’s Divest campaign to the Student Senators Council to NYC Accelerator for a Clean and Renewable Economy (ACRE), these inspiring folks are flexing their student activist muscles and pushing our university towards better decisions. It was awesome to be part of this panel of leaders and speak to how environmental education and engagement (through Office of Sustainability programs and events like this) are key to changing attitudes and encouraging action.

As students – not to mention as community members and global citizens – we have a voice and a vote, and therefore the responsibility to use these powers to solve the most pressing challenges of our time.

It was inspiring and empowering to hear these calls to action from leaders like Governor Cuomo, Marc Yaggi, and my co-panelists, who are all using their own power to fight for a better future. And amidst and alongside leaders like these, we’ll get there.

“You can make change! Just decide to do it. Show this world what can be, and people will follow.”