Jessy Tolkan has squared off against Pat Buchanan on MSNBC’s “Hardball with Chris Matthews.” She counts the oil and coal industries among her fiercest adversaries. But she never imagined that she would one day take on her father in her battle against climate change.
The 28-year-old daughter of a Milwaukee auto dealer and UW-Madison graduate has emerged over the past few years as one of the leading young voices in the country on clean energy issues. Tolkan, who grew up in Glendale, is part of a growing network of advocates trying to build an organized movement of young people committed to solving climate change.