Impact

13 MILLION ACTIONS

100 MILLION VIEWS

3 YEARS OF CONTENT

Over 3 years, content on the @alex.haraus social channels has garnered 100 million views across platforms and catalyzed trends leading people to take action over 13 million times to protect the planet we call home.

Below are examples of how content fits into larger impact strategies. Each example is the accomplishment of coalitions with which Alex collaborated and the way his work fit into each overall campaign is described below each point.

To stop the Willow Oil Drilling Project in Alaska…

…catalyzed a trend leading over 1.1 million people to send letters to the White House, 5 million to sign petitions, 80,000 to call and email their representatives and 33 members of Congress to sign a Congressional letter.

Catalyzed a social media trend leading to over 6 million actions to prevent the Willow Project, the largest land-based drilling project ever approved in US history, which the leaders of Nuiqsut, Alaska - the town nearest the project site - asked to be stopped. The project will run away the wild game they rely on as an affordable source of food in the Arctic on top of negative climate impacts from emissions, and the oil will be sold on the international market. The US will not keep the oil.

Alex proceeded to travel to Washington, D.C. alongside fellow creator Elise Joshi and lobby Members of Congress while encouraging social media viewers to contact their representatives. 33 Congress members then signed a letter to the Secretary of Interior urging a halt to the project due to its consequences.

The Biden administration approved it anyway. The following month, they approved a $39B liquified natural gas pipeline in Alaska. Two months later, they approved the $6.6B Mountain Valley Pipeline in West Virginia.

Done in collaboration with documentary group Protect The Arctic and the rest of the Arctic Coalition.

ARTICLES

1 executive order from the President of the United States saving Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge from oil drilling…

…by starting a trend leading over 6.3 million people to submit public comments to the US Fish & Wildlife Service.

Due to political pressure, a 1.5 million acre plain of Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge was left unprotected for decades and slated to be drilled for oil at the end of 2019. The government asked for the people’s opinion on the matter via a public comment period. After teaming up with Protect The Arctic and the rest of the Arctic Coalition, he catalyzed a trend on TikTok that grew to thousands of creators making content encouraging others to submit public comments for the Arctic Refuge.

To protect mature and old growth trees on public lands…

…catalyzed a trend leading over 500,000 people to submit public comments to the U.S. Forest Service and over 350,000 people to submit public comments to the Bureau of Land Management.

The USFS asked held a public comment period asking how they ought to manage mature forests - forests that were logged some 100+ years ago - and old growth forests, which have never been logged. These forests hold our oldest and biggest trees, which are the best at doing what trees do. Because of their size, they filter more air, filter more water, and take in more carbon than younger trees, as well as being sturdier and more resistant to fire. Many of the current management practices are based on studies that aren’t up-to-date; the most recent studies have found that leaving mature and old growth trees standing grants humanity the most benefits, so Alex catalyzed a trend on social media alongside the Climate Forests Coalition leading to the submission of over half a million public comments in about 7 weeks. Approximately half of these comments are tied directly to Alex’s social media push.

At the same time, the Bureau of Land Management asked if the public wanted “conservation” added as an official use for the Federal lands they manage. Right now, the main uses are all industrial: oil & gas drilling, mining, logging. This would make protecting ecosystems an option for them, which is especially helpful from a climate perspective when considering how plants left standing continue to take in carbon from the atmosphere. This comment period closed 4 weeks after the campaign started, and Alex and the Climate Forests Coalition ensured viewers could send comments to the BLM comment period alongside the one hosted by USFS.

Both agencies are processing the comments and will make decisions using that input over the next two years.

Helped secure a 20-year ban on mineral mining in Minnesota’s Boundary Waters Watershed…

…by catalyzing a trend that encouraged over 249,000 people to submit public comments to the US Bureau of Land Management.

America’s most visited wilderness, which holds 1/5 of the fresh water in the United States, is threatened by mineral mining. According to assessment reports, just 1 of the many mines would generate pollution that flows downstream into the wilderness area and pollute it for at least 500 years. The project is fiercely dissented by local residents, businesses and industry, so Alex took to TikTok, teamed up with Save The Boundary Waters and the Boundary Waters Coalition, and added to a movement that rallied over 249,000 people submitting public comments to put a 20-year ban on mineral mining in the watershed. 45% of the quarter-million comments came from TikTok, which bolstered the argument for the US Forest Service’s recommendation to implement the 20-year ban. It was made official near the start of 2023.

Speech delivered to lead negotiators at the United Nations…

…co-written and signed by over 22,000 youth from 140 nations.

Once a year, the United Nations holds a conference to discuss how each country will work to improve the state of our climate. At 2021’s event, COP26, there was no meaningful way to hear from youth, those who will most have to deal with the consequences of world leader’s decisions. So, over the course of 48 hours, Alex pulled together a team of youth from all over the world who worked together to craft a speech to deliver during a high-level plenary session. Panama’s delegation offered their slot to deliver the speech, which was delivered by Mari Castillo on the floor in Glasgow on behalf of youth in countries the audience represented. In less than 24 hours, the speech was signed by over 22,000 youth from over 140 nations.

3 community gardens funded in American food deserts…

…by fundraising over 1,000 microdonations through TikTok.

Alex worked alongside his Discord community and Seedmoney, a non-profit dedicated to funding community gardens, to generate a movement on TikTok encouraging micro-donations to fund the development of community gardens to combat the issue of food deserts in the United States. Now, 3 communities found in Sacramento, CA, Fort Worth, TX and New Brunswick, NJ have better access to healthy food and the ability to grow more themselves.