On Oct. 16, 2009, just after the sun went down, loud, upbeat music
could be heard coming from the campus of St. Louis University. No, it
was not their marching band, nor a frat party. It was the kicking off
of Power Shift '09.
"Power Shift '09 is a campaign fueled by
young people across the country to demand bold action on climate and
energy in 2009," according to the official Power Shift brochure. The
campaign held a two-day event at SLU on Oct. 16 and 17.
On the
opening night, young people were gathered by the stage which had been
set up by Power Shift. The event was kicked off with motivational
speeches by organizers Brett Wiley and Lindsey Berger, and was followed
with a speech by Ethan Burke, the Bio Tour founder. In his opening
speech, Wiley talked about how excited he was about the involvement of
many students from local high schools in the workshops. Wiley said it
is crucial for high school students to be involved from a young age and
be taught to be more environmentally friendly.
Taking a big part
in this two-day event was STLCC-Meramec's own MoPIRG, supporters of the
Power Shift '09 campaign. "We're all trying to get clean energy
legislature happening in America as soon as possible," said Jess Ward,
a member of MoPIRG and student at Meramec.
The Power Shift '09
campaign and MoPIRG are both trying to put pressure on local
congressmen, and especially President Obama, to pass the Clean Energy
Jobs and American Power Act by December, according to Katie Thomas, a
student at Meramec and a member of MoPIRG. Clean Energy Jobs and
American Power Act demands for emissions limits, green transportation,
coal plant greenhouse gas regulation, among other environmentally
beneficial programs.
On the second day of the event, Power Shift
and its supporters started their workshops and training activities.
There were several workshops and training activities that started at 9
a.m. and went all the way through 10 p.m. on Saturday.
"We are
trying to make 130 videos, which we already have 94 of them, of people
reading off scripts and asking President Obama to demand strong climate
legislature," said Ward.
"This weekend is a way for us as a
state to hold our voice and make it clear," said Wiley. Supporters from
all across the state were expected to participate in the event. "We
have over 240 people from across the state coming to SLU this weekend
for the Missouri Power Shift summit, and we're going to have
demonstrations and training from anything like nonviolent communication
to how to have your own organic garden."
