Twenty-three students from the College will attend a national
conference, the first ever youth summit on the fight against global
warming, called Power Shift 2007. It starts on Nov. 2, when thousands
of students from across the country rally in Washington D.C.
"I
signed up for the trip because Powershift is all about canning the
petty banter and getting to the point: taking action against climate
change," said Zachary Peckham. "This trip is an opportunity for
students from all over the country to really step up, share ideas, and
meet the people of this generation who are going to make the biggest
difference in their own lives and each other's. It's a way to get
involved beyond our communities, at a national level."
The College
chapter of MASSPIRG held a registration party last Wednesday, and 17
students signed up and paid the registration fee of $20.
"The
goal for the state of Massachusetts is to send 200 students, and as of
last Friday, there were 140" registered to go, said Tracie Konopinski,
MASSPIRG campus coordinator. According to Konopinski, the total number
of students who have registered across the country "changes by the
hundreds" every week. The conference is capped at 5,000, and so far,
nationally, 2,000 have registered.
MASSPIRG is fundraising in
hopes to cover all the travel and housing expenses for each student.
They will be selling cider donated by local shops on Thursday in the
quad. Yesterday, students collected donations at the Stop N Shop in
Williamstown, raising about $200.
"Besides petitioning and
recruiting for the trip to Maryland, I recently spoke to senators at a
hearing regarding the Global Warming Solutions Act, tentative
legislature to cut carbon emissions in Mass. by 80 percent by 2050,"
said Peckham. Reducing carbon emission by 80 percent is one of Power
Shift's goal as well.
MASSPIRG is a statewide public interest
organization, as most states have a PIRG group, funded by volunteer
tuition dollars. On students' tuition bills, there is an option to give
$7 to the group. All that money gets pooled into a state fund, which is
then distributed to all of the state schools. The local efforts of each
MASSPIRG chapter are a part of a statewide, and sometimes nationwide,
agenda for legislation.
In addition to sending students to Power
Shift, the College's MASSPIRG chapter is working towards getting 1,000
petition signatures for the Global Warming Solution Act, Senate Bill
534, targeting 17 senators. If it gets through the Massachusetts
Legislature, the state will be the third to pass the bill. Senators
Downing and Pacheco were on campus for a climate hearing, which
Konopinski said, "Is a really good sign that they'll support the bill."
Really,
this is the largest thing he could do," Konopinski said of Senator
Downing. "[He is] definitely in support of the bill, but not officially
signed on."
MASSPIRG is still looking for student clubs and groups to help with posters, advertising, and fundraising.
