Aitan Grossman
Age: 14
Hometown: Palo Alto, CA
Profession: student

"My name is Aitan Grossman, and I use music to unite kids around the world to save the planet."

Ask most 14-year-olds about Al Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth,” and you might get a blank look. Ask Aitan Grossman of Palo Alto and you’ve just mentioned the book that gave impetus to the teenager’s impressive mission to save the planet.

At age 12, Aitan wrote and recorded a climate awareness song titled, “100 Generations.” He used the Internet and social media to share the song and create an international climate awareness campaign. Aitan reached out to children across five continents—Africa, Europe, Asia and the Americas that has resulted in children from around the globe posting their versions of the song on Aitan’s website, www.KidEarth.us. 

“My dream for California is that our state someday will be completely powered by sustainable energy,” said Aitan. “Not only will this create a greener planet, it will create new jobs in new fields which will lead to a better economy and more money for the government to use for our schools so more children can get good jobs.” 

Aitan adds that awareness is the biggest obstacle to achieving the dream he has for California and the planet. “If more people were aware of climate change and the benefits of solar, wind and geothermal energy, California wouldn’t be worrying about the problem but would already be halfway on the way to solving it,” he said. 

Aitan feels that the government could help by helping create a “green mindset” by investing in building a sustainable energy infrastructure. “As the state makes sustainable energy more available, the price for it will fall, more people will buy it and California will become free of the problems non-renewable energy causes,” added Aitan. 

Aitan continues to encourage children around the world to log on to the KidEarth website for music and to record their own versions of the “100 Generations” song. Profits from any sales go to environmental groups that fight climate change, including World Wildlife Fund, Alliance for Climate Protection, and Friends of the Earth.