Students rally in nation's capital

Derek DeGraad
Staff Writer

DEREK DEGRAAD/ Staff Writer

On Nov. 5, thousands of college students, including 20 Fredonia students, wore green hard hats and gathered on the lawn around the Capitol to demand that the government take action to change the way energy is produced and used in America. The rally was part of a larger event Nov. 2-5 entitled "Power Shift," the first ever youth summit to sound the alarm about sustainability and climate change.

"I am to understand that this is the biggest gathering for global warming in the history of the world," said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) when she spoke before the crowd that filled one side of the University of Maryland's Comcast stadium on Nov 4. "I think the name Power Shift means so much. It represents the initiative taken by the next generation of leaders in the power of our country. Not just energy power but political power."

The University of Maryland hosted the nearly 6,500 college students who came from every state for the weekend-long event. The green hard hats symbolized one of the event's three stated demands: that Congress help create five million "green jobs" in order to shift the nation's energy production from coal and oil to renewable sources.

Nov. 5 was also the day that hundreds of students crowded into a hearing to lobby Congress. Dozens more were left outside the doors to either wait around or leave because the room reached maximum capacity early in the morning. The hearing was covered live on C-Span and was the largest-ever lobby session on the topic of climate change.

"I was one of the lucky ones who actually got in," said Andrew Condon, senior communication major and student film maker. "It was very moving. An Inuit girl from Alaska broke into tears while she described how her village and entire way of life were being destroyed by the rising temperatures."

The main speaker was Billy Parish, co-founder and coordinator of the Energy Action Coalition, which is the largest and most influential of the groups that helped organize and plan Power Shift.

"An unstoppable movement has taken root in every school and every community in this nation. A generation has come to Washington today to lead, to be heard and to find allies in this Congress who are ready to do what is necessary to solve our climate crisis," Parish said.

He went on to describe the coalition's statement of principles. This was comprised of three main demands. They proposed that Congress create five million new jobs to "weatherize and solarize" our power grids and "create green pathways out of poverty." They also demanded that Congress move to enact laws to cut carbon emissions in the US 80 percent by 2050 and that Congress halt new coal burning plants and redirect all government subsidies from fossil fuels that produce carbon dioxide emissions towards solar and wind energy projects.

"We want a just transition for workers from the old economy, to the new green economy," Parish said before leading the crowded room in a fist pumping chant of "no new coal!"

After the hearing, the students scattered to various Congressional offices to speak with their elected representatives about their goal. A handful of Fredonia students made their way to the office of Tom Reynolds (R-NY), whose district includes several suburbs of Buffalo and Rochester. Armed with Reynolds' voting records and statistics on New York's pollution, they spoke with Reynolds' secretary Mark Baker about their concerns.

"You can see how it can be frustrating for us when Tom Reynolds consistently votes no on climate change legislation," said Maggie Germano, a junior political science major, as she laid down printouts displaying Reynolds' voting record. "Plenty of other Congressmen have no problem voting on these measures. Germano also runs the Campus Climate Challenge at Fredonia and organized the trip for the Fredonia students who went to Power Shift.

Baker said that Reynolds is in the process of looking at bills that would address climate change and green energy.

"What we're looking for is something that could be feasible and be put in practice now that would help reduce emissions and waste. Our standards in New York are higher than the federal level overall, so we're doing a good job in New York and my boss has been moving things forward on this even when he was at the assembly level," Baker said.

He also explained how Congress is working to make buildings on Capitol Hill more fuel efficient and that it's important to consider the economy when dealing with the environment.

"There are a lot of things involved here when it comes to energy issues and it's a process. People complain that the Government's slow but there's a reason for that. We can't just have broad sweeping legislation that's going to go out without knowing who it's going to hurt. So we're trying to do the right thing and I hope we can have something done by December," he said.

"I don't agree with the excuse that they're just backed up, this is something he [Reynolds] needs to get on now," said junior theater major Jess Cumbo after the meeting. "He said they haven't had a meeting about this yet. Why not? What are they waiting for?"

In the days before the lobby, the University of Maryland campus was flooded with students who had flown or driven in from all different states, many of them sleeping on the floors of the University of Maryland student's dorms who agreed to put them up for the night.

"We had nearly twenty people on this girl's floor. I'm glad she was so cool about it and that there was enough room. The whole thing was kind of last minute," Germano said.

Over the course of the weekend students were treated to a variety of guest speakers including renowned consumer activist and former presidential candidate Ralph Nader. Nader challenged the audience to fight corporate interests when it comes to the global warming debate and be active in the political process.

"Define freedom. Freedom is participation in power. How much freedom do we have by that definition compared to corporations?" Nader said. "Ask them these kinds of questions and make them respond!"

Power Shift students also attended classroom style work- shops taught by a variety of host instructors. The classes were intended to appeal to students' particular majors with topics that focused on media, politics, economics and science; all under the umbrella of confronting the climate challenge.

Another of the event's main draws was a job fair conducted in the Marriot Hotel which contained dozens of tables, each offering information for jobs and internships that ranged from national park services, to "green engineering."

"This event has all 50 states represented including Canada and Puerto Rico and they have definitive goals," said Anya Kamenetz in an interview with National Public Radio. Kamenetz is a Yale-graduated freelance journalist who led a workshop for students interested in journalism. She has covered youth activism extensively during her career.

"In just three years the Energy Action Coalition has created an amazing youth led movement that's active on 500 campuses. They're already talking about plans beyond this weekend," Kamenetz said.