Global warming teach-in to take place at local campuses today
var isoPubDate = 'January 31, 2008'
January 31, 2008 6:00 AM
Students and faculty at UMass Dartmouth and
Bristol Community College in Fall River are joining with more than
1,500 other schools nationwide today to draw attention to global
warming.
The event is called Focus the Nation.
The
local program begins at 9:30 a.m. at the UMass library browsing
areawith remarks by Rep. Antonio F.D. Cabral, D-New Bedford, and former
New Bedford Mayor John K. Bullard.
Presentations and panels will continue throughout the day.
"This
is the defining issue of our generation; we're facing a crisis that
will completely change our planet" said Kavitha Giridhar, the MASSPIRG
Campus Organizer at both schools, in a press release. "The good news
is, we have the technology we need to solve it, but we have to act
quickly."
She said student volunteers have
recruited professors from all disciplines to teach part of their
classes on the subject of global warming. Around the state, the
teach-in is expected to reach more than 10,000 students, she said.
In
addition to today's teach-in, students have held events on campuses
around the state, educating their peers about the solutions to global
warming and how they can reduce their own impact.
Students
have organized light bulb exchanges, where they "storm the dorms"
offering to change students' old light bulbs for compact fluorescents;
"solar cider" events where they demonstrate clean energy technology by
using a solar panel to heat up a cup of warm cider for fellow students,
and dozens of screenings of Al Gore's film "An Inconvenient Truth,"
among other events.
Ms. Giridhar said students have also asked local legislators to get involved.
"We're
doing our part here on campus," said Taeler Conrad, a MASSPIRG global
warming coordinator, "but we can't do it alone. We need comprehensive
action at the state and federal levels as well. We're calling on the
Massachusetts Legislature to pass the Global Warming Solutions Act and
put us on the right track to turn global warming around."
A
bill filed by Sen. Marc R. Pacheco, D-Taunton, would commit the state
to cut global warming pollution 20 percent by 2020, and 80 percent by
2050.
