Student-run activist group OSPIRG has kicked off their winter term campaigns.
At a kickoff meeting in mid-January, the group outlined their plans to focus on a renewable energy campaign, specifically targeting Oregon’s coal consumption.
“I’m sure all of us are very aware that climate change is the biggest issue facing our generation, and we need to start doing something, Campaign Coordinator Caitlin Feely said. We’ve been running this renewables campaign for a long time but what is happening now is we are shifting to a broader goal — not just solar, but renewables.”
The group plans to attend a lobby day in Salem in February to pressure legislators into voting in favor of a coal to clean bill, the biggest bill to pass through Oregon state legislation, which if passed would make Oregon a forerunner of the renewable energy field.
“[The bill would] commit our state to getting 50 percent of our energy from renewable sources by 2040 and phase out coal by 2030,” Campus Organizer Jacob Wyant said.
Students on this campaign will participate in collecting public comments and making phone calls to build support for the bill.
Two of OSPIRG’s other campaigns have carried over from last term: hunger and homelessness campaign, and “democracy for the people” campaign.
“[The hunger and homelessness campaign] is basically running service projects and getting students involved in volunteering to fight poverty,” Wyant said. “Obviously we’d love to eradicate poverty entirely, in the meantime before we can do that, we’d love to do everything we can to help those in our community that are in need,”
The second campaign is run by Emma Brower who says she firmly believes in the issue.
“Big money in politics is a really big problem. Politicians should be listening to the populations of the public rather than a few very wealthy individuals, or big corporations that have interests that are different than the rest of the public,” Brower said.
The campaign’s long term goals include a long list of constitutional amendments and federal legislation, but Wyant said right now they’re focused more on small changes.
“One of the big ideas we’ve been working on is our small donor financing program [by] matching small donations with public funds to incentivize politicians to not raise money from a handful of mega-donors but actually build their support from the people,” Wyant said.
OSPIRG’s other campaigns this term include the overuse of antibiotics on factory farms and a save the bees campaign, both of which are brand new this term.
“We’re losing 10 percent of our bee population every year,” Wyant said. “Working with groups across the country, we’re hoping to get the EPA to actually put a moratorium on the sale of pesticides to help our bee colonies,”
Students can find more information on getting involved with OSPIRG meetings, campaigns, and more on their website.
OSPIRG introduces plans for winter term
Olivia Bowman
February 6, 2016
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