Ethan is the Executive Director of Confront the Climate Crisis, the PGC 2020 Third Place Finalist and a West Lafayette Jr./Sr. High School Student. Through multiple organizing efforts, Ethan Bledsoe is galvanizing residents in his hometown and young people across the state to push for meaningful climate action in Indiana. In West Lafayette, Bledsoe co-founded the youth-led West Lafayette Climate Strike, which planned multiple local climate strikes and worked with city officials to pass a climate resolution in 2019. Later, Bledsoe co-authored an amendment to the resolution to establish a 2038 carbon neutrality goal for the city and contributed to West Lafayette’s climate emergency declaration adopted in February 2021. To increase climate literacy in his community, Bledsoe developed a STEM-based, climate resilience campaign called Climate Kidz. The campaign engages local youth on resilience and sustainability through hands-on projects that span vertical gardening, composting, native plants, and little free libraries. Through West Lafayette Climate Strike, Bledsoe helped launch a statewide network for student climate activists in September 2020 called Confront the Climate Crisis through which he is drafting statewide legislation for the 2022 session. He is an active member of the Sierra Club Hoosier Chapter.
