Students fight global warming at 'Power Shift' conference

By: Hannah Alexander

Posted: 11/16/07

Four Drexel students and 5,500 others from colleges across the U.S. fought against global warming at Power Shift 2007, held at the University of Maryland at College Park, Nov. 2 through Nov. 4.

Power Shift, a training conference for environmentally concerned students, held workshops and panels to teach the students how to get their campus communities involved. This conference was a part of the campaign against global warming, as a part of the nationwide project Campus Climate Challenge.

According to the Campus Climate Challenge web site, the project includes more than 30 environmental youth organizations, along with the Sierra Student Coalition at Drexel.

Corinne Bell, president of Drexel's SSC, attended the Power Shift conference as well as the lobby day held on Nov. 5, which included a rally on the U.S. Capitol Hill West lawn in Washington, D.C. Bell also had the opportunity to sit in on a congressional meeting by the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming.

"It was really about reducing the impact on the environment," Bell said.

There were several speakers present at the conference, including Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. According to Diamondback, University of Maryland's student newspaper, Pelosi's speech received a standing ovation.

"It's a fabulous event to see all this energy and determination," Pelosi said to Diamondback. "It also has an informed nature to it - the young people know what they are going to do and what they are fighting for."

Although the SSC at Drexel only has eight active members, Bell said she learned a lot from attending Power Shift. She said Drexel SSC plans on meeting with Temple SSC in order to expand their outreach to college students in Philadelphia.

"Trying to get meetings with people from the Drexel administration is difficult," Bell said. "They just don't seem to know what's going on and we don't know whom to target."

Lisa Leone, a junior and chemical engineering major, also went to Power Shift, where she attended panels and workshops on bio diesel research. She said she learned that in order to further bio diesel research, agricultural companies actually cut down rainforests.

"I've always been interested in bio diesel research but that made me feel bad," Leone said.

However, Leone, a newer member of Drexel SSC, has several ideas for spreading awareness of global warming. Leone's ideas include students making cards to send to President Papadakis encouraging Drexel to take a more active role in Campus Climate Challenge and educating the freshmen on small things they can do to reduce their impact on the environment.

"Drexel needs to work on becoming environmentally sound and become a name in the area," Leone said.

According to BBC News, the U.S. emits 25 percent of the world's carbon emissions primarily from coal and oil, which the U.S. industry is heavily dependent upon. The U.S. also received widespread criticism for never signing the Kyoto Protocol, a treaty formed in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions worldwide.

Sean Miller, president of the Drexel Democrats, also believes that global warming is a definite problem. According to Miller, the problem is the influence of powerful oil companies. Miller said that President Bush only recently made a statement on the issue of global warming.

"We have been under this administration for eight years and we need to change leadership," Miller said.

Ivan Skakun, chairman of the Drexel Republicans, shared Miller's view that global warming is an issue, but said it needs to be dealt with practically.

"The issue of global warming isn't just political. It's scientific, and we need to look for more evidence," Skakun said.

According to Skakun, who is also an international student from Moldova, there is a major contrast in environmental concern in the U.S. as compared to other countries.

"I've been to lots of different countries, but in the U.S. people are very concerned about the environment and there is good civic movement here," he said.

Currently the Drexel SSC has an online petition that can be signed at http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/DrexelWind. The petition was started as part of the Campus Climate Challenge project.

According to the Power Shift web site, the conference at University of Maryland at College Park was the largest youth summit on global warming ever.