OYLI

PROJECT LEADER

OYLI is a collaborative project led by students. Within the Our Future alliance, South Eugene High is the project leader. (NOTE: All "Our Future" schools are encouraged to create/lead one or more collaborative projects.) 

SCOPE

Statewide (NOTE: Projects can be shared by a group of schools, a region, or the statewide alliance.) 

Our Mission

The Oregon Youth Legislative Initiative on Climate Justice (OYLI) is a youth-led environmental lobbying program that connects high-school students across Oregon with their state senators in an attempt to lobby the Oregon senate to endorse and pass climate legislation. Our goal is to close the gap between concerned youth and their government representatives and to work together with policy-makers to ensure a livable climate for all.

History

OYLI was established in late 2016 by students at South Eugene High School hoping to make a difference by giving youth a voice in the policy-making process. The current efforts are led by Ian Curtis and others at the school’s Earth Guardians 350 Club.

Goals:

We would like to be a fully-functional organization capable of lobbying the Oregon State Senate by the special legislative session on climate and disaster in February 2018. Before the special session, constituents should have already make contact with their state senators and established a relationship so that they can successfully lobby them. We will culminate this year’s efforts with a lobby day in February in Salem to push for environmental legislation we can make an impact on.

Constituents:

As this is a youth lobbying group, we are only allowing members who are currently attending high school. Upon graduation, you are relieved of your duties as a constituent. We would like to have at least one youth constituent for each legislative district in Oregon by the time we make the trip to Salem in February, which brings the number up to thirty. However, we would prefer to have several youth constituents for each of the districts because we recognize high schoolers have a lot of other commitments and therefore a larger number would help our lobbying efforts.

Responsibilities of Constituents:

As a youth constituent, your goal is to establish an ongoing relationship with your legislative representative concerning the climate crisis. You will accomplish this by regularly sending informative letters and emails, as well as meeting with legislators in person to discuss current climate legislation during our annual lobby day at the Oregon State Capitol. We will provide you with the necessary resources to become an expert on the climate legislation you are supporting and the legislative process.

How to Help Us:

The foremost way you can help this program is to become a youth constituent. However, if this is not an option for you, you can still help us by getting involved with local, state, and federal government aside from OYLI and referring us to friends, family, and peers who would like to be a part of this unique program.

If you have any questions you can contact our student/adult leaders:

Would you Like to Become a Constituent? Do you have any questions? Please contact us at iancurtis.pnw@gmail.com for more information or if you would like to join our program.