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AoC Blog
US and Chinese youth meet with U.S. Secretary of Commerce
- Details
- Created on Monday, 14 December 2009 18:17
- Last Updated on Monday, 14 December 2009 18:19
- Written by Therese Miranda
On Friday I got to be part of a group of 6 American youth and 6 Chinese youth who had a chance to sit down with Gary Locke, the U.S. Secretary of Commerce (and a Chinese American) for a 20 minute closed meeting. It was a really cool experience, and one of the moments where I had to just stop afterwards and think about how amazing it is to be here.
As a group, we decided to focus on question that were uniquely youth focused, since the goal of the meeting was to build the beginning of an ongoing working relationship. Sec. Locke emphasized the importance of youth around the world continuing to be engaged on climate change issues and pressuring their governments to act in a way that ensures that we have the future that we want. He also talked about how the culture of conspicuous consumption in the US needs to change, and how important is that China and the US both take climate change seriously, because if either country fails to act, history won't remember all the amazing accomplishments each country has had in the past, or whether they were developed, but just that they failed to save the world. I was a little frustrated to hear a statement that I think is far from true coming from a member of the administration, but I didn't have a chance to push him about whether or not he does think China is taking it seriously, or more seriously than the US. (For more on this, check out my post about China's targets.)
He also said he was worried that the earth doesn't have enough time and that governments are moving too slowly. As far as economic concerns go, he believes that you have to care about climate change if you care about the economy, and that one of the big challenges for activists, particularly youth, is convincing the American public that these actions will create clean good-paying jobs. As he had during a general briefing earlier that day, he emphasized the value of sharing the best possible technology from around the world, regardless of where they're developed, and how important it is that capital and ideas flow freely around the globe. R&D cooperation is another area he sees as incredibly valuable.
Overall, he seemed to have some great ideas, but, as is to be expected, he didn't say anything that really surprised me. Regardless, it was a super cool opportunity, and one that really hit home just how awesome being here for these negotiations is.
