Lunchtime Q+A: Hometown Hero Lauren Maunus is Leading a Youth Movement to Save the Planet 🌅
Lunchtime Q+A: Hometown Hero Lauren Maunus is Leading a Youth Movement to Save the Planet 🌅
Lunchtime Q+A #4
In our latest Q+A, we speak to former Martin County resident and current Sunrise Movement advocacy director Lauren Maunus. The organization keeps growing thanks to savvy political tactics and growing youth power. But saving the planet shouldn’t just be left to young folks, and she’s here to tell you what the movement is all about.
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Just a few years after graduating from South Fork High School in Stuart, Fla., Lauren Maunus arrived in Washington D.C. — to protest the incoming Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi.
Maunus and colleagues with the Sunrise Movement organized a sit-in in Pelosi’s office right after the midterm elections in 2018. The moment received national coverage. Newly elected representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez joined the protest to offer support to the young activists, who would later face arrest. The reason Maunus and others occupied Pelosi’s office was to encourage the new Democratic majority in the House to take climate change seriously and push the Green New Deal. The legislation outlines a transition to renewable energy, while also creating plans for jobs, protecting the environment, and promoting social justice.
Young people across the country fear for the future they might inherit in a warming world. The Sunrise Movement is a youth-led social movement built around stopping the climate crisis while also promoting a vision for job creation through the Green New Deal. Maunus, who is now 23-years-old, is one of the driving forces behind that youth movement as the organization’s current advocacy director.
Day-to-day Maunus spends her time in Washington D.C. trying to encourage elected officials and members of the Biden Administration to make climate change top priority in their legislative and policy agenda. She wants everyone to understand the stakes of the crisis and to lend a hand to ensure her generation and beyond have a livable planet.
Lauren spoke to Jackie about Florida’s wild hurricane season of 2004, life on Capitol Hill, and the pressure her generation feels to get others on board with the movement.
The following transcript of our interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
1️⃣ When did you first become a climate activist and what convinced you to get involved?
So I grew up in Palm City and it was Frances and Jeanne [two major hurricanes that happened back-to-back in 2004] when I was in elementary school. I remember I was just thrilled to have time off from school. I was like this was so fun! We get to use flashlights and I get to go down an inner tube down my street with my younger sister because it’s so flooded and was just having a blast. And I was like I don’t have to go back to school for a month? And then realized over time that this was not a fun experience and actually kind of was awakened very starkly to environmental justice.
The fact was that my house was fine — we had insurance and we could rebuild things that were broken. My dad still had a job, our cars were fine, and my life didn’t really change that much. My educational trajectory was fine regardless of having a month off. My parents could still support me. And I went to public school and as soon as we returned I realized that that was totally not the reality of the majority of my classmates. And I didn’t have all the language to understand this phenomenon but I knew something was up. I was like “this seems unfair! This doesn’t seem equal!” And there just were more and more hurricanes and it just got worse and worse. They’ve become more severe, more frequent. I’ve always been adjacent to understanding politics and over time realized that the people who were supposed to be representing us in Palm City and Martin County and state, local, and federal office were actually [not protecting us from the consequences of extreme weather] and all of this injustice I was witnessing. And that these people were not going to suffer the consequences of their actions and that really kind of politicized me at a young age.
2️⃣ So your job is dealing with people who have a lot of power. Have you found that there is a particular strategy that’s effective for convincing people to care more about climate change? Powerful people...but also my uncle.
We all have a stake in this crisis, whether it’s because of your child or grandchild, your home and community that you love, maybe it’s somewhere you used to go growing up or where you used to live that is particularly more at risk sooner rather than later.
Everyone has something to lose and everyone has something to gain and I think it’s figuring out what that is for someone. Regardless of the power they have, they’re a human on this planet that is burning and you have to reach them in that way.
And then I think the second thing is that if they’re not on board, they will be, because we are shifting politics under their feet. [Politicians] either realize they need to step up in order to stay in office or they will be voted out of office, because tackling the climate crisis and creating millions of good jobs and advancing racial and economic justice is popular. Because it affects everyone. And if they’re not on board, then they’re in a political situation that is not advantageous for them. So I think it’s figuring out the personal stake and storytelling and connecting to people in a real relational way. And the second is that it’s a big ego game, they want to stay in office, they’re motivated by the numbers and the voters, and the voters want the Green New Deal.
3️⃣ How does the threat of climate change affect you and other young people from Gen Z who are involved in the movement- how does it impact how you think about the future?
I think it impacts everyone differently but across the board it’s like staring into a future of unknown instability and chaos. I think some people have more built in protection looking at that future of chaos, but the majority of people — working class, Black, Brown, Indigenous, immigrants, that comprise the majority of our generation — stare into an unknown future that is deeply terrifying and I think that affects our decisions, like do we pursue a degree? What is a degree worth on a burning planet?
There used to be this ethic of like you pursue a career. But you don’t actually have the option really to go about pursuing a career path when you don’t know if your community will sustain and persevere through the next hurricane. So I think that’s deeply felt how the climate crisis and a warming planet affects every aspect of life. [For example,] you don’t have healthcare because your job just disappeared after a hurricane and you relied on tourism for your job. Everything is just so interwoven.
4️⃣ Has the climate crisis impacted your personal thoughts or your friends’ on becoming parents?
Yeah. Definitely. It’s impacted mine. I mean I’m not really in that headspace at this point in my life, but generally I’m like “why would I want to bring anyone else into this world? I can barely take it.” And then it’s the resources: Knowing how much goes into bringing a human life to the planet. I don’t wanna contribute more emissions and water and all the things. I haven’t lived fulltime in Florida since 2015 — but year after year seeing the blue-green algae and seeing the erosion — it’s just visceral. And I feel the longing for the safety and beauty of home, and that’s why I’m in D.C. Because I think right now, given my skills and experience, this is my analysis of how I can have the biggest impact and fight for my home.
I carry it with me everyday. I try and talk about what brings me to this work and what I’m fighting for. I definitely feel very emotional about the precarious state of things every day and feel the weight of it, even though I’m doing so much and we’re all doing so much in whatever way we’re able to. It weighs on me so much, knowing I can’t do more than I’m doing but…
That’s a very big burden that the generations that currently hold power are placing on Gen Z.
Yeah. Totally.
5️⃣ With this particular issue it’s hard to know what is the thing to do and the best way to help. Is there something that you recommend to people that are new to caring about climate? Like a tangible action step?
There is a Sunrise hub in most communities. If there’s existing infrastructure around some sort of organizing work — and not just Sunrise — but any sort of local climate work that has a justice analysis and some sort of political intervention, [join that organization]. It’s not just lobbying stuff or just picking up water bottles, which is important, but I think if you’re really trying to shift what is possible, I think you should be plugging into existing infrastructure. There’s all different ways to get involved, if you’re looking to do that sort of work.
You can start a hub with three people. It’s very easy. You get all the tools you need. And I think reading, trying to find local voices who are already leading in this space, and learning the fights locally is a great way to plug in. Especially given the national political context in Florida it sometimes seems overwhelming or a hard path forward to engage but it’s an election year coming up. We can’t be complacent and need to build enough on the ground people power to vote out these people who are jeopardizing our futures.
6️⃣ Do you have a South Florida food that you miss?
So many. All the tropical fruits. Star fruit from the trees and avocados. [My parents] have avocado trees, starfruit trees, mango trees. All of that. And probably some key lime pie, which is so good. And I really miss gators. But not to eat. Just to be in their presence. I really love gators.
7️⃣ What gives you hope?
I think what gives me hope is that social movements have achieved massive wins in the past. And really that’s the only reason why we have a five day work week, or women can vote. Those are two very random examples, but literally everything that’s good, like why we have any environmental protections at all, have come from movements and ordinary people joining together, demanding what’s needed. That’s what is happening at a new level we’ve never seen before across so many different issue areas. I don’t even know what most of the movement is up to on a daily basis because there are just thousands of young people taking actions in their communities.
And I just believe the extent to which we’ve already shifted what is politically possible in the past three years. But the timeframe is really scary of how much we have to do.
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Sunshine + Microbes team
Jackie Vitale is a cook and kitchen educator based in Stuart, Fla . She runs Otto’s Bread Club and is co-founder of the Florida Ferment Fest. Her newsletter explores the intersection of food, culture, environment and community.
Matt Levin is a communications strategist at the ACLU of Texas. He edits Sunshine + Microbes and contributes other scraps to each issue.