SET Energy

The youth of America understand the threat of global warming as well as anyone. That’s why they are coming to DC at the end of this month to send a message to their elected leaders and campus administrators. It is time to shift from our current dependence on dirty fossil fuels for to an efficient reliance on clean, renewable energy.After having been involved in the Energy Action Coalition since its first year, it has been extremely exciting to see that the talented young activists involved have the careful dedication to make it a truly historic convergence that can reinvigorate our democracy. Energy Action connects students on hundreds of campuses throughout the country who are devoted to the goal of climate neutral campuses.

The coalition is a partnership of ~50 diverse organizations from regional networks like SURGE (Students United for a Responsible Global Environment) which I was involved in and the Black Mesa Water Coalition to longstanding environmental organizations such as the Sierra Student Coalition and Greenpeace. They had their first national conference in DC in 2007 when 6,000 youth came from all 50 states. This year, almost twice that amount plan to come together in keynote speeches, panel workshops, and mass actions to demand our federal leaders stop dragging their feet and embrace climate progress.

I was proud to hear that Princeton SURGE anticipates a group of ~50 students will make the trip to DC and the campus Sustainability Office may support the trip. That is exactly the type of partnership that can make climate responsible policy inevitable – the marriage of student energy and innovation with institutional resources to accomplish common goals.

Congratulations to everyone involved in Energy Action and Powershift organizing thus far! And youth across America, I hope you get a chance to be part of this historical gathering February 27th-March 2nd, Powershift 2009.

Onwards-

Tags: campus activism, clean energy, climate change, global warming

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 12th, 2009 at 10:14 am and is filed under Campuses, Climate Change, Oil, Princeton. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.