Annual youth conference encourages action for clean air

The free day-long regional conference will bring together middle and high school students from the nine San Francisco Bay Area counties to discuss topics ranging from climate change and public health to transportation and air pollution. The Bay Area Air Quality Management District and the Metropolitan Transportation Commission sponsor the annual conference.

"The YES Conference is an awesome regional gathering that jumpstarts student-led climate action in our schools and local communities," said Noah Preute, a student from St. Vincent de Paul High School in Santa Rosa and a member of the student planning committee for the YES Conference. "I'm excited to help plan the conference and inform my generation on the serious consequences climate change and air pollution have on our lives and the planet."

Registration for the event is now open at http://bit.ly/2cEYWkh. Teachers or youth development coordinators who register their students before October 30, 2016, will be entered into a drawing for a $250 grant for classroom youth leadership activities involving science, technology, engineering, art and math curriculum and sustainability. 

A call for presentation proposals invites pioneering students, youth-leaders, teachers or youth advisors to present at the annual YES Conference. The deadline to submit a proposal is Wednesday, January 3, 2017. The online proposal submittal form is available now at http://bit.ly/2dhuevv. 

Attending students will have the opportunity to learn directly from their peers' efforts by discussing advocacy, communication, leadership development and skill building. The program will include interactive presentations led by students and youth leaders from various schools and cities in the region. The 2017 YES conference will be the fourth year of bringing youth together to share information to address climate change. The conference was awarded the 2014 Breathe California Award in the public awareness category.

There is no cost to attend the conference and breakfast and lunch will be provided for participants. Parents and teachers are also welcome. Students are required to have their parents' permission to attend. For complete conference details, visit www.sparetheairyouth.org/2017-yes-conference/.

The goal of the Spare the Air Youth program is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and driving by increasing walking and biking as a transportation mode among youths and their families thereby improving air quality in the San Francisco Bay Area.

The Air District is the regional agency responsible for protecting air quality in the nine-county Bay Area. MTC is the transportation planning, coordinating and financing agency for the nine San Francisco Bay Area counties.

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SOURCE Metropolitan Transportation Commission

Related Links

http://www.mtc.ca.gov