For a lot of young voters, climate change is a top priority. But because it’s so broad and abstract, it can feel like a tough issue to tackle. A few students at SUNY Plattsburgh took on that challenge.

They’ve launched a podcast and a live talk show all about climate change and current events.

Emily RussellLate Night in Plattsburgh: Students talk politics and climate change

Charles Olsen lets out a long sigh when I ask him if he knows who he'll vote for in next year's presidential election.

“Is that a good enough answer," Olsen says with a laugh, "the exasperated sigh?”

Olsen is a senior at SUNY Plattsburgh. He’s got a tatoo of trees around his forearm and is wearing dark gray khakis and a button down shirt.

What Olsen does know is one issue that really matters to him.

“The climate crisis is going to be more of a problem in the next decade than any other issue solely for the fact that it connects to everything else.”

Food production, transportation and national security, says Olsen. But how do you tackle such a big, broad issue when you’re busy writing papers and going to class?

Olsen is a self-proclaimed theater kid, so he took to the stage. It's a cold, wet weekday night and a crowd is starting to gather in the back room of Olive Ridley's, a pub in downtown Plattsburgh.

Olsen steps up to the micraphone to kick off the show. “This is ‘Late Night for the Planet,’ Plattsburgh’s only environmental talk show.”

Olsen hosts the show with Michala Hendrick, both of whom are are environmental studies majors at SUNY Plattsburgh.

“Hello everyone thank you for coming out tonight," says Hendrick.

These two started Late Night for the Planet last year. Olsen also hosts a weekly podcast version of the show, called Pod for the Planet.

“Tonight we’re bringing you some political coverage, some games, headlines, and some really awesome guests to the stage," says Olsen.

"You’re going to leave here tonight ready to knock on some doors and sign up some voters.”

For Charles Olsen and Michala Hendrick, this show is a form of political activism.

“As a young person entering the political world," says Hendrick, "I’ve noticed more than anything that my friends and even beyond my own age group, that people are feeling very misrepresented by politics and are ready to move outside of a two-party siloed system.”

Tonight on stage Late Night for the Planet is hosting a former student body president, a political science professor and a third-party candidate for the presidency of the United States— Howie Hawkins.

Hawkins is from Syracuse. He’s one of the founders of the Green Party and was the first candidate the run on the Green New Deal when he campaigning for governor in 2010.

Throughout the show, Hawkins and the rest of the panel tackle topics like climate change policy, the California wildfires and the fossil fuel industry.

“We need an emergency green economy reconstruction program to transform not just the energy sector," says Hawkins, "but manufacturing, agriculture, transportation and building so we can get to 100% clean energy by 2030.”

But the conversation doesn't just stick to climate change. The hosts ask about the upcoming election, campagin finance and, pretty quickly, get to the impeachment inquiry. Hawkins does not hold back.

“What took the Democrats so damn long?" ask Hawkins.

"[Trump’s] first day in office he’s enriching himself, violating the emoluments clause, nepotism— bringing his family in where they shouldn’t be. What took [the democrats] so long?”

This group is are having fun. And so is the audience. Show host and SUNY Plattsburgh student Charles Olsen says, for him, this way of tackling climate change and current events really works.

“Having a live format, having a place to have these conversations— that’s unique and [in] a place like Plattsburgh, a bit more of a smaller city in the northeast, it’s a great place to get this started.”

And being on the stage?

“It’s just an amazing feeling," says Olsen, "it’s kind of magical.”

Olsen’s podcast, Pod for the Planet, continues each week. The show’s live hosts and writers are taking a few months off for finals and the holidays. The next Late Night for the Planet show is February 19.