By Maya Levine ‘25 During this year’s New Jersey Model Congress conference, several bills devoted to combating the climate crisis were shot down or passed in reduced versions, a concerning trend for climate change awareness among youth in New Jersey. Many Golda Och Academy students at Model Congress felt that these climate bills were struck down due to tensions between student-run political parties, rather than the bills’ lack of merit. Although all three parties at Model Congress – Democrats, Republicans, and the catch-all “Fortnite Party” – contained environmental policies in their party platforms, GOA students felt like many delegates (especially some Republican Party members) were not debating in earnest, instead voting against important climate legislation due it being often targeted to pass by the other parties.
“I felt disappointed that my room voted against many bills that protected the climate,” said sophomore Noga Arieh. “Many bills were rejected solely because other parties prioritized other issues before our rapidly declining climate and earth. This kind of behavior is also exhibited in our government today and is negatively affecting the environment and putting our future at risk.” One of the most divisive bills, entitled “A Bill to Expand the Use of Alternative Energies,” passed easily in a smaller committee, but faced many obstacles in the main Senate chambers. The debate for the bill quickly became quite fiery, which is to be expected at Model Congress, but many points made by opponents of the bill relied more on conjecture than on scientific fact or statistics. Since the bill was targeted by the Democratic Party, members of the Republican and Fortnite parties reportedly felt like they were being forced by their party leaders and whips to oppose the bill, regardless of their personal stance. One student from another school who actively helped brainstorm arguments in favor of the bill was later quoted during the voting process, “I wish I could vote for [this bill], but I cannot because I am associated with the Republican party.” Despite this opposition, the bill narrowly passed, and after a brief celebration many of the bill’s supporters left the Senate chamber to go to the bathroom or watch the proceedings in the House. “[At first] I was ecstatic and so excited that this climate bill was able to pass and make a positive impact on the climate [in the Model Congress],” said sophomore Jolie Feig. However, opponents of the bill called for a ‘revote’ on it. Many new students entered the room for the revote, with Republican party members causing the bill to fail on both the second and third votes, when only the first bill matched what the Model Congress rulebook had outlined. “I thought it was very unfair to see the climate bill be called for a revote,” said sophomore Marissa Jacobs. “It is a direct reflection of our own government’s corruption and blindness to the worsening climate crisis.” This revote was later discovered to be against Model Congress rules as only someone on the winning side may call to ‘reconsider’ the bill, and a majority of the chamber must then vote in support of restarting debate on the bill in order to do so. “I was taken aback when I found out that revotes did not follow protocol,” said sophomore Abby Hodes. “It was upsetting to see that the Senate chairs did not follow the rules, and [this climate bill] was the one to suffer the repercussions.” Other climate bills failed to pass or faced significant backlash as well. Arieh’s bill, “A Bill to Encourage the Use of Solar Energy Among Large Corporations,” failed due to opposition from Republican and Fortnite Party delegates. However, Arieh asserts that her bill was rejected simply due to her membership in the Democratic party, and that the arguments used against solar energy by her bill’s opponents were contrary to scientific fact. “I was very discouraged that my bill encouraging solar energy was very quickly failed and thrown to the side along many of the other climate protection bills,” said Arieh. Meanwhile, the Democratic Party attempted to fail the Fortnite Party’s “A Bill to Strengthen the Toxic Substances Control Act.” Importantly, however, the Democratic Party admitted to supporting the general purpose of the bill and its attempt to strengthen environmentally regulations; their opposition to the bill was due to concerns of too much power being placed into the Executive Branch, which could lead to environmental regulations and programs being sabotaged by a presidential administration that is supportive of the fossil fuel industry and other environmentally destructive businesses. Many within the Republican Party, however, did not buy this reasoning, and instead argued that the Democrats were simply playing partisan politics. In addition, the Republican Party targeted and passed a bill entitled “A Bill to Encourage Nuclear and Natural Gas,” claiming that natural gas (concentrated methane) is a clean fuel, while the vast majority of experts agree that it is a fossil fuel which emits dangerous levels of greenhouse gases.
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