2008 Woodie Awards
Young Voices Demand Green Agenda In D.C.
Jessica Silber
Issue date: 11/5/07 Section: News
With a year remaining in the countdown to the presidential election, conservative and liberal Americans are mobilizing in the name of the issues they support. And where do these people go to make their voices heard? Why, Capitol Hill, of course.
Over 30 UConn students will be among a crowd of thousands of American youth converging on Washington, D.C. today, rallying and lobbying their legislators to address climate change.
This day of green lobbyism comes at the end of the larger event, "PowerShift '07," a conference composed entirely of youth leaders from around the country, meeting to discuss and address issues of global warming and climate change through panels, keynote speakers and workshops. The summit culminates today with a rally held on the lawn of the U.S. Capitol, according to PowerShift's Web site.
"There will be over 5,000 students attending this - it's really massive, epic, important," said Jeffrey Czerwiec, Campus Organizer for UConnPIRG. "This is the first time so many students have come together on this issue."
PowerShift '07's Web site lists three "ambitious goals" to "make the U.S. presidential candidates and Congress take global warming seriously, to empower a truly diverse network of young leaders, and to achieve broad geographic diversity."
UConn attendees are confident that these goals will be achieved as they petition Connecticut representatives and senators for their cause.
"The main thing we're lobbying for is specifically the 'One Sky Proposal,' which would include 5 million new 'green' jobs, global warming reduction by 80 percent by 2050, and no more coal powe r plants," Czerwiec said. "These are all science-based standards that we actually need in order to solve and stop global warming."
"We're really excited to be able to send 30 students down to Washington. I think candidates will take notice, and realize that this is a major issue," said Katie Nickerson, a 5th-semester political science and sociology major and one of UConn's representatives at PowerShift, is optimistic that the sheer size of the campaign will serve to fulfill the event's goals.
Over 30 UConn students will be among a crowd of thousands of American youth converging on Washington, D.C. today, rallying and lobbying their legislators to address climate change.
This day of green lobbyism comes at the end of the larger event, "PowerShift '07," a conference composed entirely of youth leaders from around the country, meeting to discuss and address issues of global warming and climate change through panels, keynote speakers and workshops. The summit culminates today with a rally held on the lawn of the U.S. Capitol, according to PowerShift's Web site.
"There will be over 5,000 students attending this - it's really massive, epic, important," said Jeffrey Czerwiec, Campus Organizer for UConnPIRG. "This is the first time so many students have come together on this issue."
PowerShift '07's Web site lists three "ambitious goals" to "make the U.S. presidential candidates and Congress take global warming seriously, to empower a truly diverse network of young leaders, and to achieve broad geographic diversity."
UConn attendees are confident that these goals will be achieved as they petition Connecticut representatives and senators for their cause.
"The main thing we're lobbying for is specifically the 'One Sky Proposal,' which would include 5 million new 'green' jobs, global warming reduction by 80 percent by 2050, and no more coal powe r plants," Czerwiec said. "These are all science-based standards that we actually need in order to solve and stop global warming."
"We're really excited to be able to send 30 students down to Washington. I think candidates will take notice, and realize that this is a major issue," said Katie Nickerson, a 5th-semester political science and sociology major and one of UConn's representatives at PowerShift, is optimistic that the sheer size of the campaign will serve to fulfill the event's goals.
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