Musicians battle Climate Change: Join the ‘Be Cool!’ Campaign

Music Declares Emergency US and The ClimateMusic Project have joined forces to help musicians battle climate changes with the launch of the “Be Cool” campaign. Learn how artists and fans are uniting to have an environmental impact.

Musicians battle Climate Change: Join the ‘Be Cool!’ Campaign

by Stacy Simons Santos from Celebrity Access

Music Declares Emergency US (MDE US) and The ClimateMusic Project have launched the Be Cool! Campaign to inspire meaningful climate action and mobilize global youth to combat the world’s worsening ecological crisis. The music is available on all streaming platforms HERE.

The campaign kicked off with the release of the song and music video for “I Wanna Be Cool” at the NYC Green School Conference. The pop anthem, composed by award-winning songwriters Will Kimbrough and Brant Miller, was created in collaboration with distinguished climate scientists to call attention to the widespread impacts of climate change. In addition to Will Kimbrough, the song features contributions from eight preeminent artists — including Jefferson Starship lead singer Cathy Richardson, six-time Grammy nominee John McCutcheon, former Bob Dylan violinist Scarlet Rivera, AY Young, who is one of the first artists to power his concerts with 100% renewable energy and former The Voice contestant Raine Stern — as well as more than 2,500 youth from four continents.

“We want ‘I Wanna Be Cool’ to be a modern-day ‘We Are the World’ for climate action,” said Pete Kronowitt, Music Declares Emergency US Board Member. “From the initial songwriting workshop in 2022 to the submission of dozens of backing tracks by global youth choirs, to the pro-bono work by Imaginary Forces to produce the music video, the creation of ‘I Wanna Be Cool,’ has been an incredibly collaborative effort and represents how collective our world’s approach to combatting climate change must be.”

The Be Cool! Campaign promotes three global areas of action — civic engagement, greenhouse gas emission reduction, and climate education — and encourages participants and viewers to engage with the following non-profit partner organizations to mitigate the growing climate crisis:

• Headcount to boost young voter registration and turnout to advance climate-conscious candidates and policies;
• Rewiring America to electrify and reduce the use of fossil fuels in homes, schools, and other community facilities;
• Climate Science, The Yale Program on Climate Change Communication, The Climate Action Project, and the National Environmental Education Foundation to improve education about climate change

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 2023 was the warmest year ever recorded and the 10 hottest years since 1850 have all occurred in the past decade. And based on data from the United Nations Development Programme’s 2024 Peoples’ Climate Vote survey, more than half of those polled under 18 are “more worried” about climate change than they were the year prior.

“It’s past time to mobilize in defense of our planet and advocate for sustainable environmental policies,” said Fran Schulberg, The ClimateMusic Project Executive Producer. “The music industry can do a great deal to promote environmental stewardship and inspire collective action, and Music Declares Emergency US and the ClimateMusic Project are proud to leverage the emotional power of music to foster this positive change.”

To learn more about the Be Cool! Campaign and take action to address the global climate emergency, go HERE.