James E. Hansen

Young people have the power to influence elections, and thus, in principle, the world they will live in -- as evidenced in the rise of Obama in 2008 and Sanders in 2016. However, the issues that young people should care about, which make their generation the first in memory to face diminishing prospects, have not been addressed. Climate change, which has not been addressed in a sensible way by either political party, is just one of those issues. However, analysis of what is needed to solve the climate and energy problem, and the reasons that neither party has sensibly addressed this problem, reveals what is fundamentally wrong with our democracy, how the political parties have begun to serve themselves rather than the public. Sending a wrecking crew to Washington to "drain the swamp" addresses only the symptoms of the problems. I believe that my experiences in Washington and in more than a dozen countries can provide young people information that helps them chart a more successful course.