Climate Stories
We all have a climate story — a life experience that proves we need to do more to act on climate. We’d love to hear yours.
How has climate change affected your life? What motivates you to take action? Share your thoughts here and with your permission, your story might end up on our social media pages and website!
We know that a large percentage of Vermonters are alarmed about the climate crisis – perhaps more than any other state. But not nearly enough Vermonters are voicing that alarm with our elected officials. That’s what we seek to change – to bring those thousands of Vermonters together and get them to make their concerns heard in a way our leaders can’t ignore. And the first step to making that happen is to get people talking more about the climate crisis – sharing their stories about how this is impacting them. Your story might be the one that encourages another Vermonter to get off the sidelines and join this campaign.
Matthew, Alburgh
“Climate change has affected my life since I was born with breathing issues and problems as an individual of color with a disability and continue to have challenges throughout my current daily life. We have the technology and advancement in medicine, medication, and healthcare options to help those affected by climate change, like breathing issues and other related healthcare issues. As Vermont Citizens our duty is to protect and do public services for all adults and children living here in Vermont.”
Ken, Lake Elmore
“I have always loved winter; in fact I would venture to say that it's my favorite season of the year. Maybe that is has something to do with the fact that I was born during a New England blizzard and the snow was waist deep on December 2nd that year. In 2005 I started Peace Pups Dogsledding; a dogsled tour business based in Lake Elmore, Vermont. I had an amazing 16 years of providing fall cart rides and winter sled tours but decided a few years back to begin phasing the business out. A large part of that decision was due to the changing climate.
When I first started Peace Pups a "typical" winter would provide us with around 16 weeks of decent snow cover for sledding. Over the past 3 or 4 years we have been lucky to get 8 weeks of good snow cover. As much as I will miss meeting people from all over the world and spending days on the trail working with my pups I am not going to miss stressing over whether or not we will have enough snow to safely sled on.
It makes me very sad to think of a Vermont without winter but I'm afraid that is what the future holds. It won't surprise me at all to find that we have snowless winters in the very near future. The thought of 6 months of gray, rainy, cold, weather is pretty depressing but I am thankful that I lived in a time when we had real winters here. In the meantime I do what I can to reduce my carbon footprint but I admit that most days that feels like a losing battle.”
Courtney, Jeffersonville
“I've always loved the natural world in a deep and indescribable way. I love wild places and animals and am constantly awed by all the natural world offers us in order not only to survive but to find awe, joy, and peace.
Climate change and the loss of species and ecosystems has been very alarming to me since I first remember learning about it. However, when I became a parent this past summer the realities of what climate change would mean for my daughter became overwhelming to me. The first IPCC report of this year was released just two months after my daughter’s birth and it outlined some really scary possibilities that could become reality in the next few decades.
As my daughter learns about and falls in love with this world, I am holding the awareness of how fragile and suffering it is at this current moment. I want so badly for her to live in a stable and ideally regenerative world. She is my reason for taking action. The young ones alive now and those yet born drive me to raise my voice and do everything in my power to ensure that we protect, preserve, and begin to heal our only home.”
CASS, BARRE CITY
“Growing up near New York City, it was rare to see a sky full of stars. Whenever I am asked why I moved to Vermont, I often cite the lack of smog. I am lucky to have access to cleaner air and clear skies here and I am grateful for every sight of our constellations because I have lived so long without them.
I feel protective of everything that makes Vermont the Green Mountain State we love and I know that we need to take action to preserve it. I discovered environmental activism in college where I became familiar with some of the biggest offenders to our climate. Now, I make life choices with the health of our planet in mind — including getting involved with the #KeepVermontCool campaign.”
ANDREW, ST. JOHNSBURY
"When the temperature approaches one hundred degrees in the summertime, I often catch myself explaining to friends that 'it didn't used to get this hot here.' As a child, I remember it being remarkable if it ever got to be ninety-five degrees or hotter. But it does get that hot here nowadays, rather frequently, and it will continue to get hotter because of our continued use of fossil fuels to power our world.
Growing up in the Northeast Kingdom, I have seen firsthand the effects that climate change has had on our region, namely the NEK drought from a few years back, and these experiences have motivated me to fight to end fossil fuel use and to fight for a cleaner economy and environment that is fair for all who live on this planet. That’s why I’m fighting to Keep Vermont Cool!"
Aidan, Burlington
“I’m Aidan. I grew up in Maine and studied Ecology/Environmental Science at UMaine, but moved to Burlington VT 5 years ago. I work in renewables, but some of my other passions include music and photography. With photography in particular, I feature nature 99% of the time. I love capturing the world’s natural beauty and stunning landscapes.
Right now, the climate crisis is the largest risk to us all and the detrimental impacts of climate change are already being felt around the world. What we do right here in Vermont matters as we can lead the way and set an example for the rest of the U.S. and the world. We can’t sit around and watch summers get hotter and winters get shorter without at least trying to help. We need to do things differently.”
Lillian, burlington
“Growing up in Chicago, I never had much access to the outdoors. I was raised downtown, surrounded by cement with parks scattered every few miles (and beautiful Lake Michigan). Growing up, I thought I knew who I was, but something always brought me pause and I couldn't pinpoint what was wrong. It wasn't until I was 17, when I was touring colleges around the country with my mom, that it hit me: I needed to be near trees! I spent time in the Rockies in Colorado and Sierra Nevada in California hiking and skiing. I have wanted to stay outside ever since.
My whole life I had been suffering from a sort of nature deficit disorder, and although I do feel a bit robbed of a childhood of outdoor fun and natural connection, this late discovery has cultivated such a strong appreciation for the earth. (I think my experience also shows how innate this feeling is! We all strive to be outside, whether we believe it or not!)
Last May, I graduated from UVM with a degree Environmental Studies and a minor in Psychology. I have decided to make it one of my life's missions to help create more outdoor accessibility, so that everyone has an opportunity to form a relationship with our planet. However, this is when climate change can pose a huge problem. If we keep experiencing extreme weather events at the same rate we are now, we won't have a healthy planet for future generations to live on, let alone appreciate! I am joining the effort to Keep Vermont Cool to protect my home and all that lives on it.”
Cameron, pittsford
“Growing up in southern Vermont, I spent most of my childhood outside: exploring the woods around my house and the abandoned marble factory across the street, swimming, hiking, skiing and all kinds of other outdoor activities. While that time helped foster in me an appreciation for our environment, it wasn't until high school that I saw the impacts of human activities first-hand on our state’s natural resources.
My first summer job in high school was working a sustainable farm and store, called Wood's Market Garden. One of our biggest crops were strawberries, and during my first summers on the farm, the harvest suffered greatly due to extended periods of rain and drought. The farmers and migrant workers with decades of experience had never seen such volatile and unpredictable weather patterns impacting crops.
Agriculture is such an important sector of our state’s economy, livelihood, and community. Seeing climate change impact such a vibrant community institution inspired me to dedicate my life to fighting for a clean, equitable, and community-based future that is fair to all who live on our planet. That's why I'm joining the effort to Keep Vermont Cool!”
Madeline, burlington
“Coming to Burlington for college, it was encouraging to be surrounded by the most environmentally conscious and invested population I had ever been around. Living among so much natural beauty and so many motivated people pushed me to think deeper about climate change than I had before, and it's inspiring to witness how infectious passion can be.
Most of my extended family is from Flint, Michigan and many of them still live there. I've seen first hand the effects of humans tampering with the environment and how drastically that can affect communities. While that water crisis and climate change as a whole are different issues, they both stress the need for conscientious decision making regarding our natural resources. We are at a crucial time period in terms of physically feeling the effects of climate change, and our individual choices as well as our ability to join together to amplify our voices are more important than ever. I want to protect my environment and play a part in empowering others to do the same in the way I was empowered by listening to the strong voices around me, which is why the Keep Vermont Cool campaign is so exciting to me."
Kate, Burlington
"In all honesty, the environment was never a priority for me growing up. I knew climate change was a problem and I would get on my high horse to tell my friends not to use plastic straws, but I was never a true climate advocate. However, during Spring of 2022, I spent three months abroad on the Osa Peninsula of Costa Rica, and in that time, my mindset changed.
The Osa Peninsula covers only 700 square feet of space, and yet holds roughly 2.5 percent of the entire world’s biodiversity. Despite the importance of the area, it remains vulnerable to environmental degradation caused by countries like the United States. Still, the residents of the Osa Peninsula and other areas in Costa Rica are dedicated to preserving the area’s environmental health because of how directly they rely on nature for their livelihood. As a public health student, I found it inspiring to learn about the intersection between the environment and human well being. It made me realize the lack of connection we have with the earth in American society. Many have shifted to lifestyles that are detached from nature, which is why for some, it takes a bit more time to understand just how personal climate change and environmental degradation are.
This reality is something I can relate to, but my experience in Costa Rica fostered a new found respect for the earth and a desire to continue learning about and advocating for environmental health. The issue still feels larger than me sometimes, and I still struggle to see the power I have as an individual to make real change, but I love nature, and I want everyone around me to love nature as well."
Neva, burlington
“I grew up here in Vermont, where the climate crisis is a priority issue for many of us because we love and want to protect our state’s natural beauty. Vermont, though, is a place that’s relatively sheltered from the more severe effects of climate change, and I admit that can make it easy to compartmentalize the climate crisis as something you hear about in the news but not something that has life-threatening effects on the place we live.
I think we do this because it’s such a complex problem and we often feel powerless to help solve it, but I’m beginning to understand that there’s a lot of power in recognizing what we can contribute- we can and should act according to our own strengths and abilities to address the parts of the problem over which we have the most influence.”
Jordan, Barre City
""I spent much of my childhood in a wondrous place — a little slice of heaven within the Northeast Kingdom.
I remember trudging through snow that reached as high as my rib cage and trying to maintain my balance as I sported a puffy 90s snowsuit. The frigid air burned my throat and lungs as I gasped for a breath. I had an intense and amorous appreciation for Mother Nature and her limitless power and strength. Though I've always appreciated all the seasons, there was something so very special about a Vermont winter.
I'm 28 years old now and a lot has changed since I was a child. Winters don’t feel the same anymore, because they're not.
I’ve made it my mission, my life’s work, to protect the world that has always meant the world to me. I'm proud to lead the Keep Vermont Cool climate campaign. I'm proud to work hard each day to make Vermont a little bit greener. I'm proud to say that every day is Earth Day to me."
JOSH, burlington
“I grew up exploring the waterways of Kentucky, and living next to the Ohio River meant that canoeing and kayaking were weekend habits. Interacting with the rolling hills of Kentucky was a year-round event. During the winter you could count on snow for sledding. In the spring and fall, they were places where family picnics and hikes could take place. In the summer the outdoors were utilized for music festivals, fairs, markets, and community gathering spaces.
As I grew through adolescence and into adulthood those consistencies that were so true in childhood began to change and become more sporadic. It put those events that brought family and friends together at risk. It became normal for the winters to be full of rain and ice, with snowfall of any considerable amount only occurring once or twice a season. The summers of festivities have become filled with weeks-long 100+ degree heat waves, causing events of all kinds to cancel out of concern for public safety. In the past few years, Kentucky has been ravaged by tornadoes, leveling communities indiscriminate of the time of year. Eastern Kentucky specifically has seen intense flood seasons, sweeping thousands of already struggling communities before its wake.
Seeing the impact that climate disasters have had on my family, friends, and broader community sends chills down my spine, resulting in my drive to create change in the spaces in which I exist. I graduated from the University of Louisville in 2022 with a degree in Political Science and the hope to be able to either personally affect policy in environmental areas, or lend aid to political activists who already can create change.
After two summers of doing seasonal work in New England, I fell in love with the terrain, the forests, and the people that live here. During that time, however, I have also come to terms with the environmental hardships that affect this area. After moving to Vermont full-time this fall, I hope to be able to lend my passion and energy to the courageous work that is already being accomplished to preserve the Vermont climate. The people who live here and future generations who deserve the ability to experience a safe and beautiful Vermont.
This is what drives me, this is why I am pledging to #KeepVermontCool.
Nisreen, Ajloun
“I was born to a “green family” in a city located in northern Jordan called Ajloun. This city is considered Jordan’s green lung because it’s a green environmental area that does not contain any factories or pollutants. At the same time, my family taught us to reuse and recycle things from a very young age, and they talked to us about climate change and the importance of being environmentally friendly. My interest in climate action began when we started missing many tourists every year because our winters in Jordan became warmer and there has been a lack of snow. That is an unusual thing to happen in our environment, so I work with my colleagues from Intermediaries of the Change Center for sustainable development “Jordanian NGO” to raise awareness of eco-issues among the local ICC community.
I participated in the U.S.-Jordan Leadership Exchange Program (UJLEP Exchange Program) funded by IREX and the US Embassy, so I can come to Vermont, meet new people, see new nature, and learn new ways to take climate action. I hope this experience will be a special new experience for me learning from everyone here and try to find new ways to reduce carbon footprints and build new partnership between institutions and NGOs.”
bea, hopkinton
"My name is Bea. I live in Hopkinton, New Hampshire, a very small town. I grew up composting, recycling, wearing second-hand clothes, and being in nature a lot. I joined the Environmental Action Club (EAC) in middle school because I realized how much I cared about having a future for the Earth. I became vegetarian in middle school with my older sister. I did this because I was very grateful my family could cook and buy meals that were healthy and vegetarian. I continue trying to find solutions with the EAC for my school because I know that my impact alone makes a difference and contributes to a bigger cause."