Last year, over 100 Tech students, some of whom are pictured above, attended the national Powershift Conference in Washington, D.C.
Starting on Feb. 27, an estimated 10,000 students will appear in Washington, D.C., to take a stand for immediate climate action as part of Powershift 2009.
Virginia Tech is sending 88 people as of Thursday, said Bryce Carter, the recruitment coordinator at Virginia Tech. Carter, a junior majoring in humanities, science and environment, is also the vice president of the Environmental Coalition, which places Virginia Tech in the top three schools sending the highest amount of students in the nation.
Powershift aims to "to hold our elected officials accountable for rebuilding our economy and reclaiming our future through bold climate and clean energy policy," according to its Web site.
The massive conference looks to make a major impact on climate policy within the first 100 days of President Barack Obama taking office.
The event is not limited to college students -- or students at all, for that matter.
"We have people coming from literally hundreds of not only universities, but also high schools and middle schools. There will also be people coming who aren't students at all," said Brianna Cotter, spokeswoman for the Energy Action Coalition. "It's going to be bigger and more amazing that anything that this country has ever seen with young people mobilizing for clean energy."
Powershift has been holding rallies in Washington since 2007 but in past years has never predicted this large of a turnout. Last year, Tech was the first in the nation with its turnout of students, sending 105 people, mainly undergraduates.
"Our goal is to push our numbers up to 100 (people this year)," Carter said.
"These are the people, with absolutely no joking about it, that we helped put into office, and now we are expecting them to do the right thing," Cotter said. "We have already seen more change than we have seen in the past. But I think the way a lot of people are looking at this is that a window of opportunity has been opened."
On the agenda for the five-day rally are performances by The Roots and Santagold, multiple career fairs focusing on the green industry, keynote speakers, movie screenings and training workshops for taking community action.
"Powershift branches out into a whole variety of different topics from social, environmental and ecological issues," Carter said. "But its main focus is to train people to become organizers on our campus and give them the tools to become involved and make a difference."
Julie Chop, a graduate student in urban and regional planning was a participant from Tech in Powershift 2007 and weighed in on her own experiences from the conference.
"It was an amazing experience. I definitely think it was educational," said Chop. "There were a lot of workshops that taught you how to motivate people and how to obtain the different objectives that we may have. It was after Powershift that we started to form focus groups for the club."
The Environmental Coalition has coordinated transportation and lodging. Students from Tech who are attending the national rally will be staying with host families or with other students in the area at surrounding universities.
"I stayed with the family of another student from Tech (last year) who lived 20 or 30 minutes from where the conference was being held, so five or six of us stayed there," Chop said.
"Basically when you register with us there is a discount. It only costs $35 because of donations; usually it costs around $60," Carter said. "We're organizing transportation through carpooling, and also people from Northern Virginia who went to Tech have volunteered to house people."
Most schools don't have the benefit of housing in the Washington, D.C. area. There are students coming from schools in every state, and Tech is lucky to have alumni and current students opening their doors for the young advocates, Carter said.
"Powershift is all about students, just like those at Virginia Tech, trying to create a clean energy revolution in this country," said Cotter.
The conference begins on Feb. 27 and continues until March 2, and the EC is still recruiting for people who are looking to be a part of Powershift.
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At this time we're just about at 100 students and more than 10,000 nationwide are confirmed to attend this weekend. If you would like to register contact me @ info@shifthokiepower.com by the end of today (Wednesday)!
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We need less regulations on power plants, more drilling and more refineries. "Green" power is only a viable option if people can pay for it. The last thing this country needs is more expensive utility bills b/c cheap power is so heavily regulated in favor of "clean" power. I applaud those that believe they are making a difference, but the reality is that clean power is not an economically viable option and shouldn't be forced upon the people. Consumers should rather be able to choose which energy they would prefer "green" or cheap.
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Wow, not a single article regarding the Messiahs speech last night. For a paper that's so left-minded with all the "green," industry hating topics; you would think they may write a review about the speech. Oh wait, the collegiate times needs a day to review and practice plagerism from better news sources around the nation.
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I took an engineering class on green energy systems last semester. In many of the videos we watched, we had to read English subtitles because they all spoke in different languages. As America continues to drill and mine, other nations are moving ahead. China just decided to invest $30+ billion in a smart electricity grid. We are being left behind and I'm proud these students are trying to "Invent the Future" instead of being stuck in the past. And I'm just a lazy student and would prefer that English remain the language used in engineering and science.
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Hey "Alum", Within the next five years solar power is going to be cheaper than coal (with subsidies this will happen sooner). I feel that fossil fuels are what are being forced upon people around the world with their ecological, social, and economical impacts from extraction (i.e. mountain top removal) and utilization (global climate change). Ultimately these externalities aren't taken into account for their direct cost.
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Mr. Carter, you claim that these "green" energy supplies will be cheaper, with the help of subsidies. Then you lament the unaccounted costs of fossil fuels. Are these "subsidies" somehow plucked from the magical utopia bush? Every energy source has a price. The fact that subsidies are needed is evidence in itself that alternate energy sources are not yet viable. And by the way, one of the quickest ways for an organization to lose its credibility is to parade around in silly costumes.
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Hey Bryce, Where do you get your facts? Your thought on fossil fuels being forced upon people...It's called demand. The amount of energy we need (meaning U.S.) on a annual basis could not be captured with your "cheaper than fossil fuels" solar power. I would love to see this happen in the next five years, but it's physically and socio-economically IMPOSIBLE!
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Actually I got my facts from an engineering course last semester. If you look at the data and the rising cost of coal and the decreasing cost of solar you'll see that within the next 5 years they'll cross and solar will be cheaper. Companies like Nanosolar have already shown that it's possible to produce cheaper-than-coal solar WITHOUT subsidies. Regarding my comment with fossil fuels being 'forced' upon people, I'm regarding particularly the people of Appalachia that are stuck in a dying mono-economy of coal where their depression, suicide, and poverty rates are the highest in the nation. Regarding the costumes, well, this movement (fighting for sustainability and climate justice) has to be fun-- otherwise it would be completely overbearing. You're all welcome to come to this conference and gain perspective on the things I'm talking about. If not, well I wish you all the best in your endeavors. Best, Bryce Carter
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Ok...another way to diminish credibility - adding the word "justice" to end of any cause. As for those poor souls that are stuck in a dying economy, no one is keeping them there at gunpoint. Increasing their cost of living by forcing costly energy on them isn't helping either. I appreciate the invitation, but my snow owl suit is at the cleaner.
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If we make marketable green energy and sell that to other nations the US will make bank. It's the perfect way to save our economy and the world at the same time. Green technology could easily be the next IT or .Com economy. If we don't invent and sell it another country will and within a decade we'll be buying importing another energy source.
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