Climate Action in the Historic Village of Clinton
Jack Persely has always loved the outdoors, especially backpacking and camping. From a young age, he was always concerned about climate change and the future. In 2011, Hurricane Irene left many streets of Clinton flooded and impassable, adding to the climate anxiety that had been slowly growing in his community.
Mr. Persely stumbled upon the Cornell Climate Stewards (CCS) program by accident when a customer of his mentioned the volunteering opportunity. He signed up immediately. Last year, in May of 2022, Mr. Persely helped to organize Clinton’s first Green Fair. The fair was well attended, included many engaging and educational booths, and even had a band! One of the most inspiring aspects of CSC is the opportunity to meet like-minded people of all ages, Mr. Persely said, and realizing that many actually care about making a change. In the future, he hopes to continue implementing action and plans to build a sustainable home off the grid with his wife.
We asked Mr. Persley to summarize the key points he wanted to be incorporated into this blog post. A fundamental purpose of climate action, he said, is to get as many people on board as possible. Fear holds most people back from taking action, and most do not like stepping out of their comfort zones. CSC motivated him to volunteer and work with his community in the battle against climate change, and he hopes to do the same for others.
Read the full story (again!) here: https://climatestewards.cornell.edu/files/2023/08/Jack-Persely.pdf
See the story on the Cornell Climate Stewards Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/cornellclimatestewards