Press
-
From the editor: “Alex Haraus' videos about environmental issues have garnered more than 100 million views across social media platforms and helped push politicians to reconsider environmental actions. He has…gotten millions of views on videos opposing Alaskan oil drilling, encouraging protections for old growth forests and other American landscapes, as well as non-environmental topics like living off-the-grid.”
-
This #vanlife influencer is going viral with conservation campaigns.
The year was 2020. Alex Haraus had just moved to Denver and was applying for jobs at various environmental nonprofits. Broke, and feeling unmoored, Haraus took a big gamble: He used what little money he had to put a downpayment on a Subaru and hit the road. Documenting his journey on social media, he realized he could use the allure of this nomadic lifestyle to invite readers into the climate and conservation causes he cared about.
Some of his earliest videos quickly garnered hundreds of thousands of views on TikTok; in a few months, he had racked up a total of several million. He’s now been at it for five years. His snappily edited videos, which cleverly jump on trends and mix gorgeous outdoor scenery with concrete calls to action, have contributed to successful campaigns opposing extractive projects, especially those on public lands.
“My goal is always [to] change something offline,” said Haraus. “I’m personally very passionate about empowering people where they’re at, validating their love for the Earth and their communities, so that they can … just work together to implement climate solutions.”
-
One Thing: The Hidden Costs of President Trump’s National Park Costs | April 6, 2025
“I went to Rocky Mountain [National Park protests] because I see the attacks happening to our federal lands and waters and wanted to uplift others standing for them. We are really, really lucky to have the privilege to live here and see these places, and that privilege can be taken away. It's up to us to keep it.”
-
TikTok activist says he advised White House on Biden's new natural gas moratorium | Feb 6, 2024
“Haraus, whose TikTok videos on climate change regularly rack up thousands and sometimes millions of views, said new research indicates that LNG can have a dirtier carbon footprint than coal when burned and that the U.S. already exports ‘enough’ to allies, adding that it doesn't ‘make sense to poison more people with the pollution they put out just so a few corporations could profit.’
‘I was with activists from the Gulf Coast who have been fighting this for years,’ Haraus told Fox News Digital when asked about the White House meetings. ‘The policy demonstrates that they were somewhat receptive.’
‘Any administration who makes tangible, measurable decisions to phase out fossil fuel dependency will gain more support from young people,’ he added. ‘The White House could always go farther.’
Haraus declined to offer additional details on the meeting, saying people are concerned about his conversations with the White House but not the ‘many meetings the fossil fuel lobby has had with the White House or millions of dollars the fossil fuel lobby has spent to skew policy in their favor.’
Shortly after the White House announcement, Haraus posted a video in which he cheered the decision and called for activists to celebrate.
‘We can change the world when we work together,’ he said. ‘If you weren't thinking it before, you better be thinking it now.’”
-
Biden needs his young climate activists. But they're angry about the war in Gaza. | Feb 1, 2024
“‘The “fallout” from Willow may have motivated the White House to pause new [LNG] export terminal permits,’ said Alex Haraus, an environmental activist whose TikTok videos helped spread awareness about both issues, citing falling approval ratings of the administration’s handling of the environment after it approved Willow. The 25-year-old Colorado-based influencer participated in White House-led dialogue with activists in the run-up to last week’s decision.
Haraus said he is heartened that more people across ideologies increasingly support more aggressive climate action, but also noted people care about many issues, not just climate.
‘People are still mad about the genocide going on in Gaza. I can’t blame them for that and wouldn’t anticipate this [pause] decision to have an impact on people who care about that,’ Haraus said.”
-
Biden’s Dangerous Two-Step On Climate | Apr 15, 2023
“For climate activists, Willow was another in a succession of fights against infrastructure that have galvanized the movement: the Keystone XL and Line 3 pipeline campaigns, for example, or the Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal campaign that has shut down hundreds of old coal plants. But opposition to the Willow Project reached a new level. An online petitiongathered more than 6 million signatures. According to Alex Haraus, an independent creator and impact producer who was involved with the campaign, hashtags related to the Stop Willow movement like #stopwillow and #stopthewillowproject got 650 million views across all social platforms. ‘Willow was so obviously bad, and in so many ways, that people were really motivated to fight it,’ Haraus explains.”
-
Can TikTokkers sway Biden on oil drilling? The #StopWillow campaign, explained | March 10, 2023
“Opposition to the project has spread so far and fast on social media.… ‘This is an economic issue, an environmental issue and a social issue,’ explained Alex Haraus, a 25-year-old environmentalist whose videos on the Willow Project have been viewed millions of times.
‘A lot of times in the past, we've seen groups take a stance on one thing and say that's why everyone should care. But in this case, we've really just said, 'here are all of the reasons why you should care. Pick whatever you're passionate about and talk about it in your own way,” Haraus said.
The formula worked. Hashtags like #willowproject, #stopwillow and #stopthewillowproject have appeared in TikTok's daily top 10 lists, beating out hot celebrity feuds and universal trends like #springbreak. Posts tagged with #willowproject have attracted over 88 million U.S. views in the last month alone.
As of Friday, a change.org petition calling for an end to the project had amassed more than 3.1 million signatures, and a letter-writing form hosted by the advocacy group Protect the Arctic has tracked over 1.1 million unique letters to the White House.”
-
What was COP26? A slog, a spectacle - and, for one youthful delegation, an opportunity. | Nov 14, 2021
-
Harnessing People Power to Protect Alaska’s Last Remaining Wilderness | Jan 27, 2021
“Through a viral campaign in support of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, activists were able to garner more letters to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in three short weeks than the federal government had ever received during a public comment period.
‘The youngest generation stood up for something that they believe in that represents human rights, that represents the fight for climate change, that represents the fight for our future,’ says Alex Haraus, the TikTok creator responsible for kicking off the viral ANWR campaign.”
The oil exploration plan that the Trump administration was trying to ram through was effectively blocked because the Fish and Wildlife Service was unable to process the 6.3 million letters it received during the public comment period before Trump left office.
This environmental and human rights victory was the product of people power—a collaboration between those whose people have called this land home for tens of thousands of years, and some who had never set foot there. But everyone understood that it was a shared future at stake in an already changing climate.”