InFlux Magazine

THE HUBBARD SCHOOL OF JOURNALISM AND MASS COMMUNICATION 

SPRING 2022 

CUTTING 

THROUGH 

THE NOISE 

Feeling helpless in the 

fight for the planet 

TOO LATE FOR 

‘MN NICE’ 

Young activists are at the center of climate justice 

RACING WITH THE SUN 

How students from the University of Minnesota built a solar 

car and what solar cars could mean for our future

TURN CONVERSATION 

INTO ACTION 

A 

ON THE COVER 

lthough this is not the first edition of Influx 

Photographed by Owen 

Magazine, it is the first issue where the class 

Radke 

was able to meet in person. After years of seeing each 

other through tiny, pixelated video chats over Zoom, we 

Published by 

The Hubbard School of were finally given the opportunity to interact in the same 

Journalism and Mass space and truly experience journalism’s collaborative 

Communication 

nature. 

The University of 

Twice a week, 30-some journalism students piled into 

Minnesota 

Murphy Hall, masks on and laptops open to produce this 

magazine. Each of us have different skill sets, experience, 

Murphy Hall 

206 Church Street SE writing or art styles and backgrounds, but we all had the 

Minneapolis, MN 55455 same goal – to try and make meaning of our scattered, 

fearful thoughts about the future and turn conversation 

z.umn.edu/influx 

into action, into art. 

For more information A term that continued to crop up was “climate nihilism.” 

contact Sara Quinn 

Let’s face it. Our Earth and our future, is both in danger 

and in flux. 

squinn@umn.edu 

©2022 by The Hubbard Our generation was told that the world would be our 

School of Journalism oyster, but our world is on fire and we have to teach 

and Mass 

Communication, ourselves how to put it out. 

University of Minnesota We were taught the names of icons and legends, 

made to memorize the dates and death tolls in wars; 

All Rights Reserved 

histories we don’t want repeated. 

No part of this book may We were told to speak up, but to raise our hand to do 

be reproduced in any so — then to lower our voices 

form or by any means 

and keep it to ourselves, because 

without the prior written 

permission of the publisher, 

excepting brief they don’t want to fight about it. 

they don’t want to hear it and 

quotes within bounds of 

We were told to be normal but 

fair use 

copyright.gov/fls/fl102. exceptional. That we’re special 

html 

but special means too sensitive, 

Printed by 

Modern Press 

808 First St SW 

New Brighton, 

Minnesota, 55112 

This publication is made 

possible by the Milton L. 

Kaplan Memorial Fund 

2 

too naive, too obsessed with having 

a little world in our hands, “So 

no, don’t be special, actually.” 

Maybe we watch screens 

because looking up and seeing 

the fire we didn’t start is scary 

and when we were young they 

covered our eyes and told us to 

look away. 

They told us to rely on a god 

that many fear has left us, on law 

enforcement that hurts us, on 

a government that uses us. Are 

they surprised we didn’t turn out 

to be their version of normal? 

Climate nihilism asks the 

Kacey Joslin 

Editor in Chief 

question: Were we made to live and love like a forest fire, 

made to consume? The world is turning to ash beneath 

my feet and even if I knew how to fight fires, I wouldn’t 

know which fire to focus my efforts on. 

Nihilism, to me, is understanding that we were 

let down. It’s understanding that I don’t have all the 

answers. Does anyone? There’s no magic solution to 

climate change. 

It’s okay to be scared. It’s okay to feel hurt, conflicted 

and disappointed by the people who were supposed 

to make the world a better place for us. It’s okay to feel 

helpless sometimes. It’s also okay to allow yourself to 

find hope and happiness in small things. 

A school magazine discussing topics related to the 

climate isn’t going to change the world. But who knows? 

Maybe the stories about young climate activists will 

inspire someone. Maybe introspection on the evolving 

coffee industry will teach someone something about 

the world around them. Maybe the fictional dome city 

zine will show someone that they don’t need to live in a 

bubble. 

It’s time to pay attention to the calls to action from climate 

scientists. It’s also time to pay attention to the good 

others are doing, and the good that can still be done. 

There are people, young and old, who are trying to make 

a change. Big, institutional ones, 

but also small changes in their 

daily lives, and you can too. 

Being optimistic in a world 

that demands nihilism seems 

impossible. It’s important to remember 

that although the Earth 

may be doomed, our lives aren’t 

meaningless. There can be beauty 

in the pain and tragedy. There 

can be a positive product of 

justified anger. There can be an 

act of kindness that sheds even 

the tiniest of lights on someone 

overwhelmed by darkness. There 

can be hope. 

There are other generations 

of kids — our siblings, cousins, 

neighbors, nieces and nephews 

— who we can teach to find hope 

in this beautiful, wretched world. 

Maybe we can find all hope in 

each other. 

OUR STORIES 

RACING WITH THE SUN 4 

COFFEE OF THE FUTURE 10 

BEEF IS KEY 14 

GREEN EATS ON THE GREEN LINE 18 

SMELL SQUAD 20 

OUR LITTLE WORLD 24 

SLOW FASHION 30 

LOSING OUR BREATH, WASTING OUR TIME 32 

CUTTING THROUGH THE NOISE 38 

TOO LATE FOR “MN NICE” 42 

STAFF 46 

3 

Photo by Owen Radke

INFLUX 

RACING 

WITH THE 

How students from the 

University of 

Minnesota built a 

solar car and what solar 

cars could mean 

for our future 

SUN 

By Ivana Troung 

I 

t was day three of the American Solar Challenge, 

and a car built by a student team at 

the University of Minnesota was in the lead as 

it reached a Colorado mountain pass. On the 

side of the freeway, student engineers pulled 

the car’s battery out for repairs. While rushing 

to repair the car and maintain their lead in the 

race, a battery cell was punctured and it burst 

into flames. 

continued on page 7 

Freya at the 

American Solar 

Challenge in 

Summer 2021 as 

the University of 

Minnesota team 

toured the 

Midwest. Photo 

by Katie 

Lundgren 

5

INFLUX 

Lucas Nelson works closely on the University of Minnesota’s solar vehicle shell in preparation for their next race in 2023. The Solar Vehicle 

Project is a club, open to anyone interested in renewable energy and engineering. Photo by Adri Dominguez-Nelson 

UMN student Ivana Truong mixes resin that will be 

infused with the carbon fiber fabric to make the shell 

of the solar car. Photo by Adri Dominguez-Nelson 

6 

MINNESOTA 

TO SANTE FE 

On the scale of bad things that can 

happen to a solar car, a battery fire 

is the worst. Battery fires mean toxic 

fumes, dangerous byproducts and 

the possibility of “thermal runaway.” 

A phenomenon as frightening as the 

name, this means the lithium fire’s 

byproducts ignite, causing more cells 

to ignite, causing more byproducts to 

ignite, and on and on. Very quickly, you 

have a 1,500 degree chemical fire that 

can only be put out by smothering it 

with a truckload of sand. 

If you’re lucky enough to have any part 

of the battery left after the fire, the cells are 

prone to spontaneously burst into flames, 

so they’re too dangerous to use. Rather than 

directly powering car systems, the solar 

panels mainly charge the battery, which 

then powers the car. Without a battery, the 

car — named Freya — couldn’t even start, 

let alone race. 

“The battery starts on fire and your first 

thought is, we’re done. Our car is gonna be 

a pile of ash on the side of the freeway in 

Colorado,” said Kailey Johnson, a passenger 

in the car at the time of the fire. 

Run entirely by students, the University 

of Minnesota Solar Vehicle Project designs, 

builds and races solar-electric cars. SVP 

is overwhelming at the best of times, but 

in summer 2021 before the race, building 

Freya became all-consuming. Until the 

week before the team left for the five-day, 

900-mile race, it was a genuine question 

whether our team — of which I was a part 

of — could finish Freya in time. 

From 1 p.m. to 11 p.m., you could walk 

into our St. Paul workshop and find at least 

a couple people working on the car. I also 

spent a few late nights at the workshop 

installing doors and working on the interior. 

By the time we were ready to leave for the 

race, the trash cans were filled with energy 

drinks consumed during all-nighters and 

we had a designated metal block for 

crushing the cockroaches that appeared 

after midnight. Quite literally, our blood, 

sweat and tears went into this car. 

In the everyday building and designing of 

the car, sustainability rarely enters 

the picture. 

However, ask any team member why 

they joined and what they want to do and 

sustainability never leaves the picture. 

Building a solar car from computer 

model to road-ready gives members an 

incomparable hands-on experience and 

the skills to innovate in a field that really 

matters. Transportation is the number one 

contributor to greenhouse gas emissions 

in Minnesota and makes up 29 percent of 

emissions nationally. While solar electric 

vehicles (solar EVs) are not a feasible 

solution now, engineers are continually 

improving the technology in creative ways. 

There will probably never be a 100 

percent solar-powered consumer car. Since 

the exterior of a car has an extremely limited 

surface area, there just isn’t the space for a 

solar array that produces enough power to 

drive even on cloudy days. 

Graphic by Jaimee Kretsch

INFLUX 

PHOTO BY AUDREY DOMINGUEZ-NELSON 

AN EFFICIENT 

DESIGN 

For these reasons, despite being about 

half the weight of a regular car, Freya still 

needs to supplement with 

external charging. 

However, solar can provide extra power 

to EVs, increasing range and offering 

flexibility when there aren’t chargers 

nearby. A start-up called Lightyear aims 

to make solar-supplemented EVs more 

accessible. The company was founded by 

alumni of the Eindhoven University solar 

car team and they plan to release their 

second EV in 2022. Future solar arrays 

using different combinations of materials, 

textures and mirrors to improve solar cell 

efficiency could be used to make cars that 

are able to drive daily commutes on only 

solar power. 

The day before the battery fire had been 

the best day of the race. In the morning, 

we had done our pre-race day rituals, 

involving praying to the sun and touching 

a sink basin the team brings to every race. 

The whole day, we were making good 

distance, driving about 60 mph. Members 

were monitoring the estimated percentage 

of battery remaining, the state-of-charge 

(SOC). As the end of the day approached, 

it looked like we wouldn’t have enough 

charge to reach the next checkpoint. 

Still, the team captain made the call that 

we would try. Singing along to songs like 

“Here Comes the Sun’’ and “Mr. Blue Sky” 

the whole way for luck, the team drove 

through the beautiful hills of Colorado. 

While somehow reading at negative 

percent battery, Freya crested the last big 

hill before the stop and everyone knew we 

would make it. 

Jacob Bunzel, the electrical engineering 

member watching our battery capacity, 

transmitted over the radio, “Watch out for 

wormholes opening up behind us. We are 

now below zero SOC! We’ve broken the 

laws of physics!” 

We coasted into the stop in the last 

minutes of the race day and everyone ran 

out of their car towards Freya to celebrate. 

When the battery burst into flames, a 

member from the following vehicle ran 

towards it with a fire extinguisher and 

put it out. With the fire put out so quickly 

and because the battery was outside 

the car, nobody was hurt and the car 

wasn’t damaged. Still, the battery was too 

dangerous to use or transport. Until wellpast 

midnight, electrical members were 

disassembling the battery on the side of 

the freeway. Everyone was exhausted and 

knew it was impossible to continue the race 

without a battery. 

The morning after the fire, instead of 

getting up at 6 a.m. and rushing to pack 

away tents, distribute lunches and check 

the car before heading to the starting 

point, we let each other sleep in and quietly 

gathered in groups to eat cold pizza from 

the night before. 

While at the campsite, the electrical 

engineers went into the trailer where 

we stored our supplies and inspected a 

previous car’s battery pack. The old battery 

had hardware and battery cells that hadn’t 

been integrated with Freya’s software. Its 

condition was unknown because it had 

already been raced over 3,000 miles and 

the battery didn’t meet the current race 

regulations. 

Retrofitting an old battery pack was a 

daunting task, but they got to work. After 

the race, while reflecting on the process, 

Bunzel said, “No matter what stage you are 

in building the solar car, someone makes a 

mistake and they keep going.” 

By 1 p.m., the team drove to the local 

school where race officials had set up the 

next start point. Bunzel and several other 

members spent the whole morning and 

rest of the day coding and retrofitting the 

old battery to comply with race regulations. 

After speaking to race officials to clarify 

requirements and clear the electrical 

systems for driving, we were ready to head 

out the next day. About to depart for the 

final leg of the race, Freya was temporarily 

rechristened Feonix. 

The next day we went slowly to conserve 

the lower-capacity battery and made it 

to the finish line. It wasn’t the finish any 

of us had pictured, but we celebrated the 

resiliency of our team and of Feonix, who 

rose, like her namesake, “Phoenix,” from the 

ashes to finish the race. 

Andy Nguyen, Pachia Thor, Ivana Truong, 

Aliya Mohamed and Lucas Nelson work 

collaboratively on the shell of the solar car 

they intend to race in 2023. 

Photo by Adri Dominguez-Nelson 

9

INFLUX 

COFFEE 

OF THE 

C.J. Porter Born, head 

roaster at The Get Down 

Coffee Co. in North 

Minneapolis. Born has a 

major appreciation for 

where their coffee beans are 

sourced, often traveling to 

the farms directly. 

Photo by Owen Radke 

FUTURE 

As temperatures rise, coffee producers 

are feeling the heat of fewer crops 

By Audrey Pickering 

Dunkin’ Donuts’ slogan “America runs on Dunkin’” has 

more truth to it than most marketing slogans. Coffee, 

whether from Dunkin’, a gas station, or a Parisian café, is the 

lifeblood of many people all over the world. But the climate 

crisis is threatening the future of coffee and its consumption. 

The rise of global temperatures associated with climate 

change will result in many catastrophic shifts worldwide. 

One change, though perhaps not catastrophic, is the 

increased difficulty in the production of Arabica coffee 

beans — the crop that is most commonly used to make your 

morning brew. As temperatures increase, the world will lose 

the ability to grow these precious beans and will need to find 

a suitable replacement lest we all resort to green tea. 

Luckily, there is hope to be found. Scientists believe 

that they may have discovered — or rather rediscovered 

— a replacement in the Coffea stenophylla bean, native to 

Guinea, Sierra Leone and the Ivory Coast in Western Africa. 

The region’s climate is usually very hot and sunny, which 

gives the Coffea stenophylla bean an advantage in fighting 

rising temperatures. This alternative variety was found to 

have been able to withstand temperatures above that of 

Arabica. 


11

INFLUX 

AN ALTERNATIVE 

CHOICE 

According to the 2017 U.S. Climate 

Science Special Report, if yearly 

emissions continue to increase rapidly, 

as they have since 2000, models project 

that by the end of this century, global 

temperature will be at least 5 degrees 

warmer than the 1901-1960 average. 

The time to start cultivating Coffea 

stenophylla is now. 

The species was discovered by 

Swedish botanist Adam Afzelius in the 

18th century. “Stenophylla had not been 

seen in the wild in Sierra Leone since 

1954 and anywhere since the 1980s in 

Ivory Coast,” said botanist Aaron Davis, 

who led a study published in the journal 

Nature Plants. 

The recent rediscovery of C. 

stenophylla in 2018 has given coffee 

a new chance. The hope is that this 

alternative species can step in for 

Arabica and prevent a coffee shortage 

worldwide. The warm temperatures 

that are afflicting Arabica might just be 

perfect for stenophylla. 

As temperatures rise, so does the 

price of specialty coffee, according to 

C.J. Porter Born, head roaster of Get 

Down Coffee Co. in North Minneapolis. 

The espresso makers at The Get Down Coffee 

Co. Many specialty coffee shops already pay 

premium prices for their espresso, which will 

ease the financial impact of scarcity in the 

future. Photo by Owen Radke 

C.J. Porter Born holds a branded cup at The Get Down Coffee Co. in Minneapolis. The location 

is a joint venture by Houston White and Dogwood Coffee, intending to make specialty coffee 

welcoming and diverse. Photo by Owen Radke 

Porter Born emphasized the company’s 

use of ethically-sourced specialty 

coffee. Ethically-sourced, in this case, 

refers to the various steps of growing, 

buying and distributing the product. 

Every step of the way is approached as 

ethically as possible and Porter Born 

has taken numerous trips to visit four of 

the various countries from which they 

receive their product. Specialty coffee, 

like stenophylla, comes at a higher price 

— a price that Get Down is willing to 

pay in order to receive the most ethical 

coffee available. 

“I would say that [the effects of the climate crisis are] less 

prevalent in specialty coffee because we are already paying a 

premium price for it,” Porter Born said. “People who are willing 

to spend top dollar for top quality, this isn’t going to impact 

them that much as the prices start to increase.” 

Mass-produced coffee may soon see the end of its days as 

global temperatures continue to rise, but Get Down is taking 

the steps necessary to keep things environmentally friendly. 

Everything from the pastry containers to the coffee cups 

are compostable and you won’t find a straw anywhere near 

Porter Born’s coffee. 

But one local coffee shop can only do so much. Corporate 

chains like Starbucks are where many are looking for 

significant change. 

“They really do have the ability to dictate what the trends 

are in the industry. If they start to move away from straws 

completely, then that will start to condition the general public 

to not expect or ask for a straw,” said Porter Born. 

As of March, Starbucks announced it is phasing out the 

iconic green and white cups and replacing them with reusable 

mugs. A USA Today report stated, “Starbucks announced 

a goal in 2020 to reduce waste by 50 percent by 2030. The 

company says that by 2025, it wants to create a “cultural 

movement” toward using reusables by giving customers ‘easy 

access to a personal or Starbucks provided reusable to-go 

cup for every visit.’” 

This is not the first attempt by Starbucks to eliminate waste. 

In fact, in 2008, Starbucks announced that it would reach 

this same goal by 2015. According to the USA Today report, 

“[Starbucks] later announced it would phase out plastic 

straws and opted for customers to use sippy-cup-style plastic 

lids. Those chunky lids actually used more plastic than the 

original lids that were made for straws. At the time, Starbucks 

explained that these new lids were made from polypropylene, 

which is recyclable. But less than 10 percent of the world’s 

plastic is actually recycled, so Starbucks likely would have 

been better off just sticking with straws in the first place.” 

Straw-less lids or not, many coffee drinkers may find 

themselves skeptical of introducing a new bean into their 

daily routine. But fear not the flavor, as Coffea stenophylla may 

actually prove to be more enjoyable than your typical Arabica. 

The bean has been reviewed for taste by several companies, 

like JDE, Nespresso and Belco and has been noted for its 

natural sweetness. In an expert panel done by Union Hand- 

Roasted Coffee in London in 2020, the bean was given a 

score of 80.25, which places it in the “specialty” status. “To 

find a coffee species that flourishes at higher temperatures 

and has an excellent flavor is a once in a lifetime scientific 

discovery,” wrote Dr. Aaron Davis, lead author of the report on 

Coffea stenophylla. 

Finding a climate change-resistant alternative to Arabica 

is a necessity. Not only do countless people around the 

world depend on coffee to get through the day, but over 

Rachel Deng, a University of Minnesota senior, enjoys her latte on a 

chilly evening in Como, Minneapolis. Photo by Owen Radke 

100 million people depend on the production of the bean for 

their livelihood. Many tropical countries have economies that 

are reliant on the production of coffee beans and will face 

economic ruin without. Numerous industries will struggle 

to face the challenge of climate change and will likely fail if 

they cannot adapt. Coffea stenophylla is an example of an 

adaptation that could save what some people would call an 

essential industry. 

Graphic by Jessica Gordon 

Join Carly Quast and Camilla Breen in their podcast, 

“Everyday Environmental Impacts: Coffee” 

as they discuss ways to make your everyday 

coffee more environmentally friendly, and talk 

with Jackson O’Brien from Peace Coffee, a Twin 

Cities-based fair trade and organic 

coffee company. 

13

INFLUX 

A young cow resides at the University of 

Minnesota Beef Cattle Barn in St. Paul. The 

UMN’s Beef Cattle Barn is one of two types 

of cattle barns, the other being a dairy barn. 

Photo by Olivia Knowles 

BEEF 

AN UNLIKELY TOOL IN THE FIGHT 

AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE 

IS KEY 

By Peter Nomeland 

The future of our planet may rely on cattle. That’s not 

a typo. Many climate scientists and experts believe 

that crucial changes in the beef and dairy industries are 

needed to meet the demands of climate action projections 

provided by organizations such as the United Nations (U.N.) 

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The bottom 

line is that things need to change. 

In early 2019, U.S. Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez 

and Ed Markey reintroduced the Green New Deal. This 

comprehensive economic policy proposal takes a bigpicture 

approach, mostly focusing on fossil fuel emissions 

and the future of energy. Many right-wing pundits and 

politicians have chosen to focus on an unfounded claim that 

the bill would decrease the beef industry to a fraction of its 

size as a consequence of the methane or — for lack of a 

better phrase — “cow farts” this industry produces. 


15

INFLUX 

So why is this not a widely accepted new-age way of farming 

in a climate-weary world? “Farmers are slow to change their 

practices,” Miles said. 

The price of some parts of regenerative agriculture can have 

a strong impact on whether farmers adopt the practice, said 

Erin Courtus, a professor of bioproducts and biosystems at 

the University of Minnesota. “Anytime you change practices, 

there can be some increased costs. Some people don’t have 

that luxury because of time or cost constraints, but sometimes 

it’s necessary,” she stated. 

In theory, more investment and regulation would be required 

to make the type of large-scale change the Green New Deal 

proposes while allowing smaller farmers to still have agency 

over their business. Until then, the pressure is on individual 

farmers and businesses to decide how to manage their farms 

in an eco-friendly and cost-efficient manner. 

Experts claim that to accomplish this, support from other 

business sectors is required. “I think it’s putting a lot of 

pressure on agriculture to figure out the ways of sequestering 

With prices of beef inflating, the fast growing trend of Beyond Meat and meat alternatives takes 

prevalent shelf space in stores across America, including Fresh Thyme in Minneapolis. 

Photo by Olivia Knowles 

In actuality, the bill is relatively light on U.S. agriculture, 

focusing more on fossil fuels and large-scale energy 

solutions. However, it does state that the proposal will work 

alongside U.S. ranchers and farmers to reduce greenhouse 

gas emissions and pollution. 

Hamburgers and steaks seem to be safe, even if this longshot 

bill were to pass; but what will the future of beef look like? 

Even if the grim projections of our planet’s future outlined by 

the U.N. and other scientific experts don’t come to fruition, 

society will still have to make significant changes to our daily 

lives to curb the dangers that climate change will cause. None 

of these changes may be as straightforward as the changes to 

our food or, more importantly, how that food is made. 

There have been numerous studies done on what the 

agriculture business should do in order to be more ecofriendly 

and sustainable. According to the Environmental 

Protection Agency (EPA), agriculture accounts for around 

nine percent of all carbon emissions in the United States, with 

the beef and dairy industries responsible for nearly two-thirds. 

Climate experts are trying to change this by looking into new 

ways to farm to reduce emissions. 

Mike Miles, a farmer in Luck, Wisconsin, said that cows can 

actually be a part of the solution. Miles runs a farm that utilizes 

“regenerative agriculture,” which is designed to improve soil 

health and promote carbon sequestration. “This is really 

going to be the future of agriculture,” Miles claimed. The 

practice places a special emphasis on water management, 

the amount of fertilizer used on a daily basis, and other things 

focused on minimizing climate harm. 

Not only will this practice improve the soil and make for 

a more eco-friendly and ethical way of farming, but it’s also 

a more cost-efficient way for new farmers to get into the 

industry. “There’s not a lot of investment; it’s the best way for 

new farmers to get into agriculture,” Miles said. 

Graphic by Heather Selleck 

“ 

Anytime you do change 

practices, there can be some 

increased costs. 

” 

– Erin Courtus, professor of 

bioproducts and biosystems at 

the University of Minnesota. 

carbon that have to offset not only what agriculture is 

producing, but also offset what’s happening from fossil fuels,” 

said Michael Schultz, head of animal science at the University 

of Minnesota. 

Schultz has observed improvements over the years in 

cattle agriculture and says that strides have been made in 

aspects like optimizing production. More meat, milk and dairy 

products can be produced from a single cow today than in 

past years, meaning fewer cows — and cow farts. 

The types of cattle food farmers use also has an impact on 

emissions. Researchers at the University of California, Davis, 

led by Frank Mitloehner, have come to the conclusion that 

the diet of cattle, especially from the feed used on largescale 

farms, is crucial in determining the amount of methane 

produced per cow. These changes won’t rid the world of 

hamburgers, UC Davis argues in its findings, but they will 

drastically alter U.S. cattle farming practices. While some 

farmers are hesitant, many are optimistic about what the 

future entails. 

Kelly Tope — the founder of Farmaste, an animal sanctuary 

that rescues displaced farm animals in Lindstrom, Minn. — 

was initially not optimistic about ethical and environmental 

changes in agriculture. “I used to say when I first came into 

the sanctuary business and first became vegan that nowhere 

in my lifetime are we ever going to see a large change like 

With helping hands, Kate Beckwith prepares her beef hot dog 

before taking a bite at her sorority, Alpha Omicron Pi. Beckwith’s 

sorority served beef and plant-based hot dogs April 13. 

Photo by Caroline Smith 

this,” she said. “Over the past five years, I actually had to kind 

of eat those words.” 

While veganism does not play a prominent role in the 

discussion of climate change, the increased number of 

“beyond meat” products offers a sliver of hope that there 

may be a beef alternative. “Seeing the people starting to get 

on board with it, that’s going to help continue to enact true 

change,” Tope said. 

Podcast hosts Carly Quast and Camilla 

Breen explore all the aspects of meatless 

diets in college and taste test a few fan 

favorites from plant-based restaurants in the 

Twin Cities in their episode 

“Plant Based Diets.” 

17

19

INFLUX 

SMELL 

SQUAD 

Trash lies crumpled and discarded in the dumpster in the Radius at 15th Apartments, 

a complex composed mostly of college residents, on March 30. Photo by Darby Davis 

Nasal Ranger team contributes to efforts to 

keep Minneapolis’ Waste-to-Energy Plant 

surrounding neighborhoods smell free 

By Taylor Rivera 

Most people go out of their way to 

avoid bad smells. Randy Kiser, the 

operations and compliance manager at the 

Hennepin Energy Recovery Center (HERC) 

in Minneapolis, and his team search for 

them to protect the city. 

HERC processes 1,000 tons of trash each 

day, turning the city’s garbage into an energy 

source that produces enough electricity to 

power 25,000 homes, according to a study 

published by Hennepin County. The wasteto-energy 

facility in Minnesota serves the 

energy needs of facilities in Minneapolis, 

including Target Field and 3M’s Abrasives 

Plant in partnership with the Minnesota 

Resource Recovery Association. 

The hum of city life, the crushing sound 

of garbage trucks and smoky horizon views 

are the norm for Nasal Rangers and they are 

familiar with the many unpleasant smells 

that come from a busy city. Donning a hard 

hat and orange safety vest, the rangers 

are ready to measure odor concerns in the 

HERC neighborhood. But critics — and 

there are many of them — say that just 

because you can’t smell something, doesn’t 

mean it can’t harm you. 

Through the use of a device called a field 

olfactometer or, as it has also been called, 

the Nasal Ranger, staff members on the 

environmental control team patrol the city 

streets surrounding the HERC plant taking 

“smell readings” that indicate any potential 

air pollution concerns. The megaphone 

shaped device acts as a super nose, 

giving readings not of smells themselves, 

but allowing an operator to compare an 

ambient odor to fresh air. “For us, this is all 

about being a good neighbor,” Kiser said. 

HERC has also implemented a strategy 

beyond the Nasal Ranger team that 

cleans and treats air emissions before they 

are released, Kiser said. The facility’s air 

permit requires the center to follow both 

Minnesota air pollution regulations and U.S. 

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) 

guidelines. Hennepin County boasts air 

emissions “well below” European Union 

standards for waste-to-energy facilities, 

according to the county’s website. 

The plant has been subject to heavy 

criticism because of the risks of pollution, 

but Kiser said Minneapolis Public Works and 

HERC have created a mutually beneficial 

relationship. Since waste no longer needs to 

be hauled so far from where it is produced, 

the city can spend less on garbage trucks 

and landfill maintenance. 

“Minneapolis City Public Works saves 

a lot in expenses and spends a lot less 

on residential commercial waste when it 

goes to HERC, which is much closer than 

most residential landfills. We make sure our 

system is easy to use,” Kiser said. 

Some residents disagree with the 

trash burning operation in Minneapolis. 

Nazir Khan, co-founder and organizer of 

Minneapolis Environmental Justice Table, 

started his grass-roots local movement in 

part to combat HERC in Minneapolis. 

Khan’s organization stresses that 

Minneapolis needs more than just a Nasal 

Ranger team to keep residents safe. 

HERC is located in a neighborhood that’s 

predominantly home to groups that are 

already traditionally mistreated or forgotten 

by city government policy. 

“There are many, many things you 

can’t detect with a nasal test,” Khan said. 

“You can’t detect some of the dangerous 

chemicals that can be emitted from these 

types of facilities, like nitrogen oxide 

and dioxins that make up some active 

ingredients.” 

The pandemic has affected parts of 

Minneapolis in many different ways, 

including the work of the smell squad. 

The plant — which has been in constant 

operation almost 365 days a year since it 

first opened in 1989 — ran low on waste in 

2021, leading to fewer smell patrols than 

usual. 

“We couldn’t burn at a maximum capacity 

for about a week last winter,” Kiser said. The 

lack of smell patrols was due to a reduction 

of waste during the pandemic. “That didn’t 

really come as a surprise because most of 

our commercial waste comes from people 

working in the city, and at that time most 

people were working from home,” he 

continued. 


A ranger uses a field olfactometer or ‘nasal 

ranger’ to measure odors and qualify air 

quality in metropolitan areas like the Twin 

Cities. Photo courtesy of Hennepin County 

21

INFLUX 

continued from page 21 


Model – Grace Hillmyer 

Some amount of their waste also 

originates from The University of 

Minnesota, as the HERC is only five miles 

away from campus. The school’s proximity 

is something Khan stresses should be 

a concern. Students should consider 

the impact of their waste and keep the 

potentially dangerous pollutants in the air 

around them in mind. 

The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency 

reports that in the Twin Cities, yearly average 

temperatures increased by 3.2 degrees 

Fahrenheit from 1951 to 2012, which was 

faster than both national and global rates 

of increase. Most of the excess greenhouse 

gas emissions come from human impacts 

including burning fossil fuels and electricity 

generation plants similar to HERC. 

Although HERC continues to divert trash 

and plastics from our landfills, an upcoming 

local initiative for zero waste could be an 

obstacle for the facility and its workers. 

According to 2021 Hennepin County 

projections, the county is seeking to adopt a 

zero waste model by the end of the decade, 

eliminating burning practices as well as 

landfill options. 

This makes Minneapolis a particularly 

important voice on this topic pending their 

choice to either ditch waste-to-energy 

plants all together or if HERC’s presence is 

here to stay in the Twin Cities amid zerowaste 

plans set for 2030. 

The slightly damaged sign to the trash 

room hangs in the basement of Radius at 

15th Apartment. Photo by Darby Davis 

Blowing 

Clouds 

To say that Gen Z has a 

vaping problem is a serious 

understatement. Digging through 

the weekend’s trash at any given 

college campus will yield pounds 

of plastic disposable e-cigarettes, 

empty plastic squeeze bottles 

coated in residual candyflavored 

vape juice and even 

burned out refillable pods from 

the more ‘environmentally 

friendly’ vape rigs. Aside from the 

obvious health risks of inhaling 

aerosolized nicotine and tobacco 

products, disposable vapes are 

a huge contributor to plastic and 

electronic waste. Even the juice is 

literal hazardous waste, according 

to the Minnesota Pollution Control 

Agency, and errant liquid nicotine 

can cause accidental poisoning 

when improperly thrown out. 

A Truth Initiative survey found 

that more than 50 percent of 

people between the ages of 15 and 

24 threw their used Puff Bars and 

JUUL pods in the trash, around 

17 percent improperly recycled 

By Bel Moran 

them and an alarming 10 percent 

simply littered them. Oddly, more 

than 30 percent just hoard their 

empties. Turns out, that’s not 

what tobacco companies want 

you to do with their products 

once they’ve died, though they 

haven’t really made any efforts at 

educating the public. The same 

survey found that the majority of 

young people don’t know how to 

properly dispose of dead vapes. 

Normal municipal recycling 

systems can’t handle the 

hundreds of tiny batteries left 

behind after users inhale their 

last puff of a disposable vape 

and there really aren’t any easy 

options for correctly getting rid 

of the evidence of their habit. 

However, many local vape stores 

have recycling programs, and 

even some hazardous material 

recycling facilities offer free 

drop-offs for batteries and empty 

juice bottles. Check your local 

guidelines and think twice before 

throwing away your e-cigs. 

23

INFLUX 

Slow 

Fashion 

Shopping 

sustainably 

in the era 

of knockoffs 

By Anna Short 

SHEIN is a large online clothing retailer 

that’s gained rapid popularity due to 

its affordability — but despite their cheap 

prices and ability to keep up with trends, 

the brand has earned a not-so-positive 

reputation as “the epitome of fast fashion” 

and all that entails. 

Fast fashion is not only a major contributor 

to human rights and labor violations, but 

the textile industry as a whole is also one 

of the largest polluters and contributors to 

climate change. It’s responsible for between 

three and ten percent of all greenhouse gas 

emissions, according to the United Nations. 

Naeun (Lauren) Kim, assistant professor 

of retail merchandising at the University of 

Minnesota, said fast fashion is “characterized 

by the rapid production of cheap, trendy 

fashion items through an increased number 

of fashion seasons and the usage of lowcost 

materials and labor.” 

One of the main reasons that SHEIN 

and other similar fast fashion brands have 

gained so much popularity is the everchanging 

trend cycle. As soon as a major 

influencer or celebrity wears a style, 

SHEIN takes a couple of days to copy the 

design and launch it on their website. Six 

weeks later, after everyone has ordered, 

tracked, received, worn and Instagrammed 

the garment, it’s out of style and the next 

trend is in full swing. Fast fashion brands 

are fueled by this quick, ceaseless trend 

cycle, and funded by consumers who prefer 

Featured on the 

InFlux Podcast, 

Spencer Quast and 

Emma Andrist talk 

about thrifting and 

running a small 

business. The InFlux 

Podcast is available 

to stream on 

Spotify. Photo by 

Caroline Smith 

convenience and quantity over quality and 

sustainability. 

Kim knows that avoiding fast fashion 

altogether is difficult and encourages 

students to make more sustainable choices 

when it comes to their wardrobe. One 

way customers can do so is educating 

themselves on how items are made, by 

whom and with what kind of fabric. 

University of Minnesota senior Katie DeWitt, right, considers clothes at Goodwill in Roseville 

with her friend Emma Vanhdy on April 14. Photo by Caroline Smith 

One of the key things to look for when 

determining whether a brand is sustainable 

is transparency about their supply chain. 

Brands such as SHEIN that use unethical 

and unsustainable practices don’t want the 

public finding out about them, so they will 

put in more effort to hide their suppliers. 

Nearly 60 percent of all disposed 

clothing ends up in a landfill where it is 

later incinerated, according to data from 

Global Fashion Agenda and The Boston 

Consulting Group’s 2017 Pulse of Fashion 

Report. This process is dangerous to both 

public health and the environment due to 

the toxic substances and gasses that are 

released when burning the textiles. “The 

fashion industry is currently responsible 

for more annual carbon emissions than all 

international flights and maritime shipping 

combined,” Le wrote. 

Robert Jenson, a senior at the University 

of Minnesota, buys almost all of his clothes 

sustainably as an avid thrift shopper. Jensen 

has been shopping sustainably for most of 

his life. 

Jenson started browsing eBay, Facebook 

Marketplace and Craigslist at a young age 

and has been buying secondhand ever 

since. He said that his main motivation for 

shopping secondhand while he was in high 

school was to save money. 

Jenson said thrift stores often have the 

same items for a fraction of their full retail 

price. When he got to college, he learned 

more about fast fashion and started 

shopping sustainably for environmental 

reasons as well. He still shops on Facebook 

Marketplace, which he said was a good 

place to find specific niche items, and he 

appreciates that he can look at items online 

and in person before committing to buy 

them. 

Katie DeWitt, another University of 

Minnesota senior, said almost all of her 

clothes are thrifted. While she does have 

a few pieces from Target and H&M, she 

believes that balance is key: It’s important 

to shop sustainably where you can, and not 

beat yourself up over one miniskirt from 

Forever 21. 

DeWitt said that her favorite place to 

shop is the Roseville Goodwill because it 

is close to campus and she always finds 

cool, affordable items there. DeWitt grew 

up going to thrift stores like Goodwill and 

Savers with her family and would get handme-downs 

from her older sister. 

When DeWitt got to college, she became 

aware of the environmental impacts of fast 

fashion and made a more concentrated 

effort to avoid it. In addition to shopping at 

Goodwill, DeWitt also often does clothes 

swaps and exchanges with her friends, 

something that is free and very accessible 

for college students with many friends or 

acquaintances. 

Taking a stand against the fast fashion 

industry becomes easier by becoming 

acquainted and comfortable with thrift 

shopping. Instead of riding the bandwagon 

of following SHEIN’s fashion trends, hop 

onto this new one: doing your own research 

on what sustainable brands to support, and 

encouraging your friends to do the same. 

Rather than overhearing a conversation 

like this on campus: “Oh my god I love 

your shirt, where did you get it?” “Thanks, 

it’s from SHEIN!” Perhaps soon, we’ll be 

hearing: “Thanks, I thrifted it!” 

31

INFLUX 

By Thomas Kozlovsky 

LOSING 

BREATH 

WASTING 

OUR 

Minnesotans 

begin to see and 

breathe the effects 

of climate change 

as wildfires in the 

western United 

States, southern 

Canada and 

now northern 

Minnesota make 

air quality and 

agriculture 

deteriorate within 

the state 

OUR 

TIME 

In late July, smog filled the Twin Cities skies. The Minnesota 

Pollution Control Agency called it an unprecedented stretch 

of bad air quality coming from the steady forest fires in British 

Columbia. It became difficult to breathe, particularly for at-risk 

groups. 

Minnesota residents have started to see the residual effects 

of climate change on people’s health and agriculture with the 

increase of wildfires in the western U.S. and southern Canada. 

Over time, these effects could worsen, ranging from heart attacks 

and fatal respiratory illnesses to declines in mental health and 

work productivity. 

“I was giving tours at the visit office at the U and visibility 

was smoggy and weird. Giving tours was difficult in those days 

because families and myself were getting out of breath easily,” 

Kay Rusch, a senior student and tour guide at the University of 

Minnesota, said of July 2021. 

The rise in wildfires can be attributed to changing weather 

patterns that cause longer and more serious droughts, according 

to Lee Frelich, the director of forest ecology at the University 

of Minnesota. Combined with drier forests and stronger winds, 

Minnesota will become more susceptible to fires. 

“All the analysis of future wildfires occurrence put Minnesota 

in a ‘red zone’ for very large increases in forest fires, especially 

in northern Minnesota,” Frelich said. “It’s a complex story, but we 

should expect big, high intensity fires like in Canada and northern 

Minnesota.” 

Dr. Bruce Alexander, professor and division head of 

environmental health sciences at the University of Minnesota, 

said everyone will feel the effect, regardless of whether they are 

immunocompromised. 

“Pollution doesn’t respect boundaries,” Alexander said. 

Despite the fear that air pollution will become a bigger problem 

as wildfires continue to grow in magnitude over the coming 

decades, there is hope that Minnesotans can help reduce the 

number of wildfires in the state. 


Smoke from Canadian wildfires on July 11, 2020 creates a thick haze in 

Minnesota. Photo courtesy of National Weather Service, Twin Cities 

Firefighter 

extinguishes flames 

during the 2021 

California wildfires. 

Photo by RODNAE 

Productions 

from Pexels 

33

INFLUX 

“Air pollution comes from people, mostly,” 

Alexander said. “There’s a lot people can 

be doing to take inventory of how they are 

contributing, how much they’re driving, 

how much they are using excess energy.” 

Some ways to minimize your own 

carbon footprint include: eating less meat, 

using less energy and water at home and 

taking public transportation or walking 

rather than driving a car. 

“I think most of [climate change] is 

preventable, which is frustrating. If we 

can do something about it like riding 

a bike instead of driving, we should,” 

Katie Cardell, a senior at the University 

of Minnesota, said. “I think some of the 

draw to Minneapolis and Minnesota is 

the outdoor space and Boundary Waters 

which will get a lot less attractive if there is 

smog everywhere and the trees burn down 

and the rivers are black.” 

Eating less meat may be the most 

effective way to reduce your environmental 

impact, according to Frelich, as animal 

agriculture is responsible for large amounts 

of deforestation and carbon emission. 

“Going to a plant-based diet is the 

biggest thing any individual can do,” 

Frelich said. 

These fires have a long-term potential 

of drastically reshaping Minnesota’s 

agriculture. In Minnesota, agriculture can 

be split into two groups: forestry and 

farmland. The story, according to Frelich, is 

different for those two agriculture groups. 

“For agriculture like corn and farming it’s 

more a matter of developing varieties that 

are heat tolerant or growing new crops 

that grow in warmer areas,” Frelich said. 

“There would be a lot of adaptation and a 

lot of problems because of likely droughts 

in the middle of summer. That is not a good 

scenario for farmers.” 

Lee E. Frelich is the director of forest ecology 

at the University of Minnesota. He studies 

the effect of climate change on trees. Trees 

are exposed to the elements everyday, 

according to Frelich, and forest ecologists 

can trace the impact of global warming on 

their growth. 

Even with cutbacks to carbon dioxide 

emissions, wildfires are still going to be a 

reality in Minnesota. “We’re not going to 

stop these fires, but we can mitigate their 

impact,” Frelich said. “You can’t suppress 

them. They explode and they grow very 

fast especially in a dry forest which we 

have a lot of now in Minnesota.” 

With these likely negative effects to 

agriculture coming to Minnesota, it is 

important to see how hotshot firefighters 

handle these fires and why they are so 

hard to control. 

“The main ways I have seen the 

firefighting industry attempt to prevent 

wildfires is by education about forest 

health, wildfire prevention and wildfire 

suppression,” firefighter Hannah 

Goldman said. 

Hotshot firefighters deal with wildfires 

on the front lines every summer and fall. 

There is normally no stopping the larger 

fires. The only option is containing them. 

“Low intensity fires are often easier and 

safer to contain for firefighters. I have also 

worked on many fires that are larger, faster 

moving and more intense and destructive. 

These are the fires that seem to reach the 

press and large news outlets,” Goldman 

said. “These fires often pose more 

challenges for firefighters to safely contain 

and stop these fires getting larger.” 

“Climate change is a growing issue and 

for me it’s a bigger issue for what world 

we are leaving behind for the people who 

come after us,” Rusch said. “If we don’t do 

anything the situation will keep getting 

worse and then people will have to deal 

with [climate change’s] effects more often 

than just a couple days out of the year.” 

“ 

Vast acreages of forest will die 

through fires and storms, 

while others will die from heat stress. 

“ 

— Dr. Bruce Alexander, professor and division head of 

environmental health sciences at the University of Minnesota 

Haze from wildfires burning in Canada obscured the Minneapolis 

skyline as water boarders paddled along Lake Nokomis Thursday, July 

29, 2021 in Minneapolis. Photo by David Joles, courtesy of 

the Star Tribune 

35

INFLUX 

By Amanda Christensen 

Climate change doesn’t 

only affect the planet, but also the 

mental health of the people living on it 

How often do you think about the 

future? Do you constantly fantasize 

about that cushy corner office, the twoand-a-half 

children you might have and 

your crusty little white dog, or does the idea 

of life a year from now fill you with dread? 

The past two years have been full of 

life-changing experiences for many in the 

United States — including the ongoing 

COVID-19 pandemic, humanitarian crises 

across the globe and continuous changes 

in climate — to the point where even the 

phrase “uncertain times” has become a 

catch-all term for advertisers to sell us 

more products and governments to take 

advantage of our trauma. 

Climate anxiety is a prominent stressor in 

the lives of younger generations and has a 

heavy impact on their mental health when 

understanding how climate change will 

affect their futures. With such emphasis on 

individual efforts for climate justice from 

recycling to using reusable straws, young 

people have come to feel that these efforts 

don’t truly solve anything because experts 

continue to release bad news — so 

why bother? 

Timothy Springer, a psychotherapist and 

member of the North American Climate 

Psychology Alliance, provides support for 

people experiencing climate anxiety 

in Minnesota. 

“People are worried about their quality of 

life in the future, natural disasters, air quality 

and changes in the food system,” Springer 

said. “Some people are stressing about if 

they should have children or not. Others are 

worried about the disproportionate impact 

climate change will have on 

vulnerable communities.” 

With all these compounding concerns, 

people are also constantly bombarded 

with various messages about what they 

should consider important. Dan Phillippon, 

an associate professor of English at the 

University of Minnesota who teaches 

environmental studies-related courses, 

emphasizes the need for people to form 

their own opinions on these issues. 

Photos by Owen Radke 

Models – Waverly McCollum, Grace Hillmyer, 

Danielle Croom, Anli Winters, Kaleb Baker, 

Ryan Ledman, Kierney Gray 

37

INFLUX 

“My goal is not to spread a particular 

message, but rather to inform people about 

our environmental challenges, specifically 

biodiversity loss and climate change, and 

to have them see the complexity of these 

issues,” Phillippon said. 

Phillippon noted that emphasizing 

these different possible scenarios helps to 

acknowledge that the fight isn’t over — there 

isn’t one right answer that will solve the 

global climate crisis and there’s still plenty 

of work to do in order to find solutions. 

“This constant flurry of scientific reports 

is one of the drivers of climate anxiety,” 

Phillipon said. “In terms of non-scientists, 

people see this information and it’s easy for 

us to quickly enter into despair with regard 

to our climate futures.” 

Much of the anxiety young people are 

feeling in terms of the ongoing climate crisis 

comes from the feeling that nothing they do 

individually will actually help in the fight for 

climate justice. 

Phillippon emphasized that while there 

are many possible paths we could go down 

in the fight against climate change, there is 

one thing that is for certain: it needs to be 

collective, from local communities to the 

global population as a whole. This is not a 

problem that can be solved by 

individuals alone. 

“To address climate change will require 

more than individual action. One of the 

sentences I like very much comes from 

the climate activist Bill McKibben, and 

McKibben says: ‘The best thing you can do 

as an individual to address climate change 

is to be less of an individual,’” Phillippon 

said. 

These dramatic changes to the 

environment are being felt worldwide, 

and here in Minnesota, the locals are not 

excluded from experiencing the effects 

of it. With many in power being several 

generations older than those who they’re 

making decisions for, it’s these young 

people whose futures depend on the 

policies that those in power make in terms 

of climate justice — or lack thereof. 

“For young people’s whole lives, the 

dangers of climate change have been 

known about and minimal action has been 

done to address these dangers,” Springer 

said. 

39

INFLUX 

Holly Gilvary, a senior at the University 

of Minnesota studying journalism, is one of 

those young people. 

“There’s definitely just so much going on,” 

she said. “Updates on climate and things 

happening because of climate change, a 

pandemic that’s killed millions of people 

and then there’s this whole Russia-Ukraine 

thing — it’s a lot.” 

In the past two years, Minnesota has 

experienced extreme smog and smoke 

from wildfires in Canada near the 

Boundary Waters and the western U.S. 

In 2021, increasing global temperatures 

impacted wildlife, agriculture and everyday 

Minnesotan life, affecting our normal 

seasonal activities, like being able to go on 

a bike ride on city trails without overheating. 

In particular, rising temperatures have 

drastically affected our winter months, 

confusing our cold climate wildlife and 

making staple wintertime activities, like 

ice fishing or snowboarding, sometimes 

impossible. 

Climate anxiety has increased in young 

people as experts announce more and 

more bad news. 75 percent of young people 

worldwide said they see the future in terms 

“ 

of the climate as frightening and unstable, 

according to a survey and peer-reviewed 

study published by Lancet Planetary 

Health, a journal about sustainable human 

civilizations in the modern era. 

The survey also discusses how climate 

change is affecting young people’s plans 

for the future, such as deciding on a career 

or whether or not to have children. Survey 

respondents attributed these effects 

to the fear that they will lack the same 

opportunities as their parents and the 

government’s continued dismissal of the 

climate crisis. 

Gilvary said that these concerns are only 

a few of many that she’s contemplating as 

she reaches the end of her undergraduate 

career. When making major life decisions 

post-graduation, Gilvary feels she has to 

take climate risk into consideration — and 

with plans to move to Spain for a year to 

teach English, researching climate change 

has been an important factor in planning 

her trip. 

“I know places in the United States that 

are safer in terms of climate change, but if I 

move to another continent, I feel like I need 

to research how likely [a place like] Spain 

I think young people especially are feeling 

the effects of climate change more 

deeply and more intimately because it’s 

really their futures that are on the line. 

“ 

— Trevor Cobb, communications 

coordinator for Climate Generation 

could be affected,” Gilvary explained. 

The difficulty of accessing and 

comprehending this information is also a 

contributing factor to climate anxiety. It’s 

very likely that many people simply don’t 

understand what’s going on in the world of 

climate change. 

Gilvary noted that a big problem for 

her is being able to parse through all of 

the scientific jargon. “I just don’t know 

what’s going to happen — I don’t have the 

background to really know how much time 

we actually have to come up with strong 

solutions,” Gilvary said. 

Trevor Cobb, the communications 

coordinator for Climate Generation — a 

nonprofit pushing for climate change 

education in the Twin Cities — said that the 

current climate crisis may not be something 

some people care or know about. He 

hopes an increase in the educational 

materials available online might help them 

understand it better. 

“I think young people especially are 

feeling the effects of climate change more 

deeply and more intimately because it’s 

really their futures that are on the line,” 

Cobb said. 

Access to useful information on climate 

change is only one tool of many in the fight 

for climate justice and being informed will 

strengthen people’s understanding of it in 

order to manage their fear and anxiety. 

Cobb hopes that Climate Generation’s 

push for better education on climate change 

will not only help to inform people, but 

also provide insight on how to handle the 

research published by scientists, whether 

it’s “good” or “bad,” and build hope for the 

future. 

“For young people’s whole lives, the 

dangers of climate change have been 

known about and minimal action has been 

done to address these dangers,” Springer 

said. “I think having a lack of hope about the 

future has a lot to do with this. They see the 

science and the dangers that are to come. 

They also see the world’s struggles to solve 

problems that have been clear their whole 

lives.” 

Graphic by Paige Bremer 

Bel Moran contributed to this article 

Photo design by Kacey Joslin 

41

INFLUX 

By Emily Sizen 

TOOLATE 

FOR 

“MNNICE” 

From Stop Line 3 to 

education reform, 

young activists are at 

the center 

of climate justice 

When Maryama Warsame joined 

a panel at the United Nations 

Youth Climate Action summit last fall, 

she was nervous. She was the only one 

joining virtually and it was the first time 

she had done anything like it. 

She spoke on the prevalence of 

climate anxiety, the importance of 

thinking intersectionally in climate 

activism work — such as considering 

how people’s various social and political 

identities overlap to create different 

systems of discrimination and privilege 

— and what, ultimately, gives her hope 

for the future. 

Warsame is not alone. A 2021 Pew 

Research study reported that millennials 

and Gen-Zers are more likely to attempt 

to support environmental activism and 

use social media to share their work. 

Recently, thousands of young people 

worldwide participated in a climate strike 

organized by Fridays for the Future. In 

Minnesota, environmental issues, like 

the construction of the Enbridge Line 3 

Pipeline and the pollution of the state’s 

water sources, have led young people 

to gather in the streets to advocate for 

change, leveraging social media. 

A senior at Rosemount High School, 

Warsame received the opportunity 

to speak on the panel at a climate 

action summit through the Youth 

Environmental Activists of Minnesota 

(YEA!) — an organization whose 

mission is to empower young people to 

get involved in creating climate 

change solutions. 

In the organization, Warsame found 

a community of youth who were as 

passionate about the environment 

as she is. “I got to hear more different 

experiences and more of a diverse and 

inclusive perspective,” Warsame said. 

The group has been instrumental in 

pushing the Minnesota state legislature 

to pass the Climate Justice Education 

Climate Justice Minnesota and the Anti- 

War Committee march through St. Paul on 

March 29 in protest of Enbridge’s Line 3. 

The committees marched together to the 

Army Corps of Engineers building to make a 

point on how much oil goes toward war and 

violence, with the U.S. Military being one of 

the biggest consumers of oil yearly. 


Meredith Aby-Keirstead of the Anti-War 

Committee speaks outside of the Army 

Corps of Engineers building, condemning 

the military for excessive oil consumption, 

causing the installation of more pipelines 

and damaging the environment. 


Bill. The bill would require K-12 public 

and charter schools to create a 

comprehensive curriculum focusing on 

not only climate change, but 

climate justice. 

For Abby Hornberger, environmental 

justice is a family affair. Her mother 

is a climate activist who took her to 

her first climate march when she was 

a sophomore in high school. Last 

year, Hornberger graduated from the 

University of Minnesota with a degree 

in environmental Science, policy 

and management. 

While her mom was an influence, 

Hornberger said it was her own concern 

for the environment that led her to 

pursue climate justice. “This is my future 

at stake,” Hornberger said. “It’s really 

important for youth to have a voice 

in decisions.” 

At the beginning of the COVID-19 

pandemic, Hornberger, like many other 

activists, was unable to take her activism 

to the streets, so she turned to online 

meetings with the Sunrise Movement 

Twin Cities. 

The Sunrise Movement has over 400 

hubs across the country. Their mission 

is to both stop the climate crisis and 

to help promote politicians who make 

climate change a priority issue and call 

out those who do not. 

Hornberger said the Twin Cities 

hub helped recruit activists from other 

43

INFLUX 

Sunrise Movement chapters nationwide 

to go to the frontlines of the Stop Line 

3 movement. Hornberger used much of 

her free time last spring and summer to 

go to northern Minnesota where much 

of the movement was centered. 

“I’ve never felt more cared for in my 

life than with the friends and comrades I 

just happened to encounter at the front 

lines,” Hornberger said. 

Last summer, when Coco Shin saw 

activists on social media asking for 

support at the frontlines of the Stop Line 

3 movement, she knew she had to help. 

She packed her bags and left 

Washington, D.C. for northern Minnesota 

— where she would spend the following 

months living in her car at the frontlines 

Maryama Warsame, 

senior at Rosemount 

High School, spoke 

on the climate 

action summit for 

YEA!, which includes 

a community of 

youths that are interested 

in marching 

to stop Line 3. 

of the movement. 

Shin, a sustainability influencer, 

documented the 18-day Treaty People 

Walk for Water to her 28,000 TikTok 

followers. Shin would explain where the 

group walked and how many people 

joined each day. By the time they got to 

the Minnesota State Capitol, Shin said 

there was a sea of people. 

“I learned a lot, it was an incredible 

experience,” Shin said. “It was amazing 

when we got to the Capitol how many 

people from the cities joined us.” 

Warsame was one of those people 

from the cities who joined the 

march when the protestors reached 

Minneapolis. She said she walked about 

three miles before she decided to catch 

a ride with someone to the Capitol. As 

luck would have it, the driver was an 

organizer of the march. Warsame said 

she learned a lot about the history of 

the movement and how it has affected 

Indigenous communities in Minnesota. 

“The best thing I ever did was being 

lazy and saying I wanted somebody 

to drive me,” Warsame said. “I didn’t 

necessarily know the amount of pain and 

suffering that is put on the Indigenous 

communities that are affected 

by Line 3.” 

Although the pipeline construction 

was finished in Sept. 2021, the 

movement to stop Line 3 is far from 

over. On March 30, people of all ages 

joined the Climate Justice Committee 

in St. Paul on a walk to protest Line 3. 

The rally specifically addressed the U.S. 

Army Corp of Engineers’ involvement in 

the pipeline. 

Shin has since moved to Berlin, where 

she continues to create content and 

support the Stop Line 3 Movement. 

While she said it was a difficult 

transition, she now focuses her social 

media on sharing how veganism and 

sustainability intersect, as well as how 

cryptocurrency can assist climate 

change activism. 

“I had to stop [making content] 

because I was like, how can I go back 

to making another vegan cooking video 

when all of this really terrible injustice is 

happening,” Shin said. “Then I realized 

those videos are still important. It’s still 

important to show people that you can 

live an eco-friendly lifestyle.” 

While social media is an important 

tool for education and communication, 

Hornberger said it’s not enough in order 

to make change. 

“A lot of people think posting on social 

media is activism,” Hornberger said. 

“When there’s a pipeline being built in 

your backyard and you see so many of 

your peers act like nothing is going on 

... these people said they cared when I 

was just being a performative activist 

and said they supported me but they 

actually don’t.” 

Warsame said it’s important for young 

people to find a group or organization 

in their community, in-person or online, 

that shares their passion for climate 

justice. Her goal is to get more young 

people involved in climate activism 

work. 

“Personally, I just want people to 

walk away knowing that they have a 

community that supports them and that 

supports their work,” Warsame said. “If 

you believe in something, fight for it.” 

44 

C.J. McCormick screams “Down with the 

pipeline!” as they prepare to lead the 

march. McCormick organized the march 

to the Army Corps building and led a large 

number of the group’s chants. 

Photo by Mira LaNasa 

45

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