Yuri Sendzimir/The Mirror
In the spring of 2009, 10,000 young people from 50 different states joined hands and gathered on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., to watch Santigold and The Roots. Sound like a concert you’d like to go to?
The gathering, called Power Shift 2009, wasn’t just an average musical concert. It was the biggest conference for environmental justice and clean power initiatives to date. LEAF, an environmental organization at Fairfield, hopes to partake in Power Shift 2011, hosted by the Energy Action Coalition.
“LEAF stands for Leaders of Environmental Action at Fairfield,” explains LEAF’s president, Maggie O’Donnell ’11. “We work on campus to promote sustainability and other environmental initiatives.” O’Donnell hopes to work with FUSA and other organizations on campus to recruit people in the Fairfield community to attend Power Shift with LEAF this year.
Sara Shore, an environmental activist recruiter, attended the LEAF Power Shift meeting on Monday night to spread the word about Power Shift. Shore explained that Power Shift’s objective is to involve the youth of America in clean energy initiatives. The conference includes concerts, workshops, and meet and greets with politicians and environmental activists. In 2009, Nancy Pelosi attended.
Lobbyists had great success at the last conference, Shore said. Through demonstrations and protests, they were able to push President Obama to change the energy resources on Capitol Hill from burning coal to a cleaner option– natural gas. “2009 was the biggest youth conference in history,” Shore explained. “It was a huge step for clean energy.”
The Energy Action Coalition’s website announced that the 2011 conference will be held in the DC Convention Center- which is the largest available space in the city.
“The larger space means that we’ll be able to offer more opportunities to everyone attending Power Shift,” says the website. “More trainings and workshops, more chances to meet people, and a more central location to all the city has to offer.”
President of LEAF, Maggie O’Donnell, hopes to fill 35 spots for this year’s conference. “We want this to be a huge thing,” she said. “It will appeal to a wide variety of interests and it’ll be a great opportunity to show what we can do as young people.”
In the following weeks, LEAF will be holding fundraisers to raise money for the trip to DC. Though she has already recruited a small group to attend Power Shift 2011, O’Donnell and her team hopes to raise enough money to reserve all of the alloted 35 spaces within the next few weeks.
“Environmental justice is integral for progress of our nation,” said one LEAF member, Alicia Bissonette ’12. “Power Shift will be a great way to show that this issue is beyond the Fairfield level.” Other students at the meeting were equally enthusiastic. “This campus needs passion and inspiration to be brought back,” said one member of the audience.
Power Shift, LEAF members believe, is the way to bring it back. “This is a good opportunity to show what the youth of America can do when they get together,” said Emily Robillard ’11. “Most kids don’t realize that we can actually make a difference- we have a voice.”
The trip to Washington, DC for Power Shift 2011 will take place from April 15 to 18.
If you or someone you know is interested in getting involved in environmental activism or attending the Power Shift conference, contact Maggie O’Donnell at Margaret.odonnell@student.fairfield.edu
Leave a Reply