LEAP stands for “Leaders of Environmental Awareness and Protection,” the program died after only a few years due to the lack of interest, however a group of students decided to bring it back to life and this time really make a statement.
“LEAPs mission is to encourage environmentalism and environmental action in students,” junior and LEAP President Cadence Russell said, “because a lot of students feel like they are hopeless and can’t do anything about it but LEAP is hoping to get them to express themselves by participating in things like climate strikes or cleanups.”
This club aims to bring students who are passionate about environmental awareness together as well as teach the students, who are unaware of the change in climate, about the change that needs to happen for their future.
“I want to have life,” Russell said. “I am not gonna get that if the world is continuously on fire or if there is famine everywhere. That seems like an apocalyptic movie, but it’s not.”
Carbon emissions have raised one third the amount since the industrial revolution, the causes of this is partly due to natural causes like volcanic eruptions and other causes, but a big part is the man-made cause such as deforestation, land usage, and other bad practices. These are not the only dangerous causes of climate change plenty of other factors are included such as methane, greenhouse gases, and more.
“If we keep going the rate we are going we are looking at mass extinction by 2050,” Russell said. “I don’t wanna die by 2050, but by 2030 thats the point when we hit the point of no return.”
In the past years climate strikes have been a regular thing, but there has only been a few that have made an impact.
“We are trying to get more people involved raising awareness for all the climate change and really just educating people,” sophomore Ainsley Ballard said.
LEAP is a club consisting of a lot of climate change believers that want to help and be apart of the solution instead of being apart of the cause.
“LEAP is just a really cool opportunity for me because I get to be with this big group that shares the same ideals that I have,” Ballard said. “I feel like we are really making a difference.”
As climate change continues, natural disasters have increased or become more violent and recurring as well.
“I care about what I see happening around the world.” senior Kiara Bobb said, “like the people who are losing their homes to bad weather that is being exaggerated by the crazy stuff that is going on.”
This club opens up opportunities for students to do more than just sit back and watch climate change take over, it allows for students with the same interest to come together and make a difference.
“Spread the word, tell people, educate people, do your research and see what climate change is doing,” Bobb urges, “this is a real issue and we all need to do something about it.”
Story by Evelyn Peterson, News Editor
Featured Photo by Ramsey Hutton
