FEMA abruptly disbands youth advisory council, but students say their climate advocacy won't stop
Source: Scripps News/AP
Posted 11:18 AM, Aug 14, 2025
After a few frightening incidents seeing family and friends collapse in Phoenix's grueling heat, Ashton Dolce, 17, began to wonder why his country's leaders were not doing more to keep people safe from climate change. “I was just dumbfounded," Dolce said. He became active in his hometown, organizing rallies and petitions to raise awareness about extreme heat and calling for the Federal Emergency Management Agency to make such conditions eligible for major disaster declarations.
Just before his senior year of high school in 2024, Dolce got the chance to really make his concerns heard: He became one of 15 students across the United States selected to join the FEMA Youth Preparedness Council, a 13-year-old program for young people to learn about and become ambassadors for disaster preparedness.
“It was this really cool opportunity to get involved with FEMA and to actually have a specified seat at the table where we could develop resources by and for youth,” Dolce said. Then came signs of trouble.
On Jan. 16, the young people were told by email that a culminating summit in the nation's capital this summer was canceled. By February, the students stopped hearing from their advisers. Meetings ceased. After months of silence, the students got an email Aug. 1 saying the program would be terminated early. “We were putting so much time and effort into this space," he said, "and now it’s fully gutted.”
Read more: https://www.scrippsnews.com/science-and-tech/climate-change/fema-abruptly-disbands-youth-advisory-council-but-students-say-their-climate-advocacy-wont-stop