It’s “back-to-school” season.
For Jariel Ramos, that means starting his second year at Dominican University in River Forest, Illinois. But Ramos’ roots are in Milwaukee. That’s where he fell in love with nature and attended Pius High School. Over time, Ramos has gravitated toward political science and environmental justice.
This summer, Ramos interned at Milwaukee’s Environmental Collaboration Office, or ECO. We met outside Milwaukee’s imposing City Hall to talk about his experience.
"I was at City Hall in 2023 with a young group of climate activists showing support for a climate and equity plan and it ended up passing, which is amazing. And fast forward two years I’m working for the office that now implements that," Ramos says.
He helped with the Environmental Collaboration Office’s outreach and marketing. ECO partners with neighborhoods and businesses to bring sustainable initiatives to life, like solar installations and green infrastructure, while also working to create equitable green jobs pathways.
"So, when it came to like social media, website updates and our newsletters, a lot of that was me," Ramos says.
The job gave him an inside look at what it takes to move a plan from paper to reality.
"Who’s taking what accountability and what’s being done to actually implement this plan. The people that they affect and especially this summer with just things on the federal level. There’s been a lot of change when it comes to just environmental services and things that they offer," Ramos says.
Budget cuts from the Trump administration are impacting ECO programs including an initiative to help make homes more energy efficient.
"It’s a little tragic because we’re talking about energy here and houses that could use solar and families that have already bought in and now there’s just cuts and they’re losing a lot of ways to pay for it. And it sucks because obviously we want to start moving toward renewables and now it’s like we’re backtracking," he says.
But Ramos is a fighter — a persistent one.
"Going into high school, I entered high school during the pandemic and there was a lot of political unrest, the whole Black Lives Matter movement and the murder of George Floyd. And I was really young at the time and I was stuck inside and I was just thinking to myself how is all this happening," he says.
Ramos credits that year, despite the chaos, for motivating him to take action for a cause he cares about, "I joined ACE shortly into my high school years, he says.
ACE is Action for the Climate Emergency that’s about, "Educating your people, empowering young people to become climate activists. And I’m one level up now as a youth advisor to the board of directors," he says.
READ: On international Climate Emergency Day, young Milwaukeean's speak out
Ramos sees a clear path before him.
"I really want to run for public office, whether it be city level, on the state level or even federal. I really just want to be elected by people who believe in me and the work we can accomplish together. I’m going to fight for it and I’m going to do it as early as I can because we need people doing the work," Ramos says.
Are we listening to a practice run for a campaign pitch?
"I guess we are," Ramos replies with a laugh.
But Ramos is dead serious about his mission.
"Every day I see, I turn on the news and I see climate disasters happening and the recent flooding in Milwaukee. And I’m seeing how people are really being impacted. And we can’t control the weather, but we can control how much we’re warming our planet and we can control our pollution and our consuming, just our greed or over-consumption. And there are things that we can do to make this world more just for people," he says.
For now, Ramos has college to finish and advocacy to pursue. He admits it’s not always easy to keep pushing.
"A lot of young people are tired. We’re tired and my generation specifically has had to fight the brunt of this since the very beginning of this new-found climate revolution, I guess. And it’s been hard for a lot of us to keep that stamina, to keep that motivation. But I think now more than ever it’s so important to cling on to things we love and to the fire within us," he says.
Ramos says it’s up to his generation to keep poking, to keep being impatient. "You know, people have told me recently, ‘Stop saying the word climate justice, stop saying environmental justice.' But it really is justice, and we really need now more than ever," he says.
