ESP to rally at Power Shift summit
October 22, 2009
Members of the Florida State University Environmental Service Program and other interested students will attend Florida Power Shift ‘09, a regional summit for young people to focus on changing climate issues, from Oct. 23 through 25. The University of Central Florida is hosting the summit, which is organized by Energy Action Coalition.
“What Power Shift is about is getting youth on board so that we can get legislators on board to pass bold legislation,” said ESP treasurer Keziyah Lewis.
The Web site 350.org’s International Day of Climate Action on Oct. 24 will take place during the summit.
Power Shift participants will attend workshops about campus activism, energy research and legislation. They will also hear speeches by student leaders, advocates and politicians.
“I went to the last conference and it was such an amazing experience,” said Cecelia O’Brien, who is going to the summit. She said it will allow participants to “base our efforts on what’s worked, rather than what we come up with.”
In February, 12,000 people converged on Washington D.C. for Power Shift ’09’s national summit. It was the largest gathering of young climate activists in U.S. history. Regional Power Shift summits will occur throughout October and November in 11 different cities across the country. The regions of Northern Plains, Virginia, Pennsylvania and Appalachia will hold their summits at the same time as Florida.
“We really want to bring it here to our senators,” said Mandy Hancock, Power Shift Florida Organizer for Southern Energy Network.
Hancock said that UCF was a good candidate to hold a summit because of its central location, as well as its size and resources. She expects “a few hundred students from across the state of Florida to address climate issues in a much broader way.”
“Youth bring energy to a movement,” Hancock said.
Lewis echoed Hancock’s enthusiasm.
“We do have political power,” Lewis said. “There is something about our youth, our young energy — we’ve shown in the past that we can make bold change.”
Power Shift focuses on a platform that emphasizes cleaning energy in a just and equitable manner, which Lewis says is a “huge problem.”
“We have coal plants and different energy plants that are generally placed in low income neighborhoods among minority groups,” Lewis said. “When we phase out fossil fuels, we will no longer have people working in dangerous places like coal mines.”
The environmental concerns of using fossil fuels are also prominent, according to Hancock.
“Coal is a primary source of energy in the southeast,” said Hancock.
Current energy production in Florida contributes to droughts and mercury poisoning of fish.
“A lot of us on campus are scared about what’s going to happen if we don’t do something about it,” said Lewis. “They need to be a part of the solution in whatever way they can, whether it’s e-mailing a senator, changing a light bulb, joining ESP and helping us raise awareness for issues or promoting our different campaigns such as the green fee and Power Shift.”
Some at FSU are hopeful as to what attendees to the summit can bring back with them.
“I think they’ll come back focused (and) ready to learn how things get done at this school,” said Elizabeth Swiman, Service Learning Program Coordinator at FSU.
For more information on Power Shift visit www.powershift09.org
