PROFILE: PUERTO RICO

in puerto rico, a young climate activist leads the way

“What I want most is an economy that puts the life of people at its center. The Puerto Rican government is not going in the right direction. But in our community, it’s happening. We have a plan. We’re doing it. That’s grassroots power.”

Hernaliz Vazquez Torres
Sierra Student Coalition


Hernaliz Vazquez Torres grew up in the shadow of a coal ash pit in Puerto Rico. She saw her friends struggle with asthma, but it wasn’t until she was 12 that she began to link the health problems in her community to the coal ash that was poisoning the island’s air and water. Once she made the connection, her life as an activist began. Hernaliz plugged into the local Sierra Club chapter, and in 2016, she attended the Sierra Student Coalition’s summer camp in Puerto Rico, where she trained in advocacy, fundraising, and movement-building. She used those skills this past year to organize 16 youth climate strikes in Puerto Rico.

The young people who joined the strikes are not just hearing about climate change, they’re living it. They’ve watched their coastlines disappear and have suffered through drought, heat waves, and spikes in dengue fever. When Hurricane Maria struck in 2017, they lost friends and family members. They also lost power when centralized coal plants went dark, making survival more difficult. 

Activists earned a major victory when Puerto Rico committed to stop importing coal for power by 2020. But now the government is pushing to replace coal with liquefied natural gas—which would only perpetuate the island’s problems. Hernaliz and other youth are fighting to instead transition to distributed solar, which would increase Puerto Ricans’ self-sufficiency in the face of storms. 

16
youth climate
strikes

puerto rico has committed to stop importing coal for power by
2020

a burgeoning
activist at

12
years old