Environmental issues spur Middletown High School student into politics

Middletown High School junior Jack Shrive is a boy with sharp focus and high political ambitions.

The 16-year-old, straight-A student plans to attend law school and someday run for legislative office, with the ultimate goal of becoming no less than the president of the United States.

His ambitions stem from a desire to protect and restore the environment.

“Being a politician, you have the capability of protecting the environment on a large scale and just bettering the lives of all people,” he said.

Being a politician is a relatively new goal, according to his mother, Robin Fogel-Shrive, an educator.

He’s long been interested in saving the environment, but until his freshman year, he was more interested in tackling the issue from outside of the system, she said.

“I was always hoping he would see you can make a lot more changes if you work within the system,” Fogel-Shrive said.

Meanwhile, Shrive is working on a more local level to make a difference.

Early this month, he made his second, 25-mile kayak trip around Clear Lake. The first 7.5-hour trip was last year.

“I felt there was a need to protect this lake. This lake is suspected of being the oldest in North America,” Shrive said. The 68-square mile lake is believed to be more than 480,000 years old.

Among Shrive’s goals: reducing the number of older, polluting boat engines that propel vessels across the lake.

Some of the old two-stroke engines dump as much as 30 percent of their fuel and oil into the water, Shrive noted. They also emit more air pollutants than newer, four-stroke engines, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

“They are banned on many lakes,” because they pose a threat to drinking water, Shrive said. Lake Mead, for example, bans two-stroke engines for personal watercraft - like jet skis - unless they meet 2006 EPA emissions standards. Lake Tahoe bans most two-stroke engines on any type of water craft.

“I would definitely like to see them banned on this lake someday,” Shrive said.

By taking to the lake in a kayak, he hopes to raise awareness about pollution from motorized boats and encourage others to “get out on the lake in non-motorized craft, enjoy the lake, enjoy the wildlife,” he said.

He has been interested in the environment for years and has been active with his schools’ environmental clubs since about the fifth grade, his mother said.

But his interests extend beyond that.

He also runs on a cross-county team and is a train buff. This summer he will be attending a rail camp in Washington.

“He knows so much about train history, he could be a docent,” his mother said.

Shrive said he dreams of owning his own scenic railroad someday.

Shrive’s summer schedule also includes attending a Sierra Club-sponsored leadership camp in the San Gabriel Mountains, designing a garden project for a local elementary school and helping to create signs for a nature trail.

“He’s very busy. He’s really motivated,” Fogel-Shrive said.

He also knows how to relax and have fun as well, she said. He enjoys bicycle riding, hiking, water sports, music and being creative, like making handmade, personalized cards for friends.

“He’s a typical 16-year-old boy,” his mother said.

You can reach Staff Writer Glenda Anderson at 462-6473 or glenda.anderson@pressdemocrat.com.?On Twitter @MendoReporter