Power Shift West 2011, a three-day national youth conference@@http://itsgettinghotinhere.org/2011/09/20/power-shift-west-registration-open/@@ focused on climate change issues and solutions, came to the University of Oregon and the nearby Wesley Foundation Center over the weekend.@@http://cascadeclimate.org/2011/09/26/get-involved-at-power-shift-west/@@
Attendees included the Cascade Climate Network, OSPIRG, WashPIRG, the Sierra Student Coalition and representatives of over two dozen other environmental organizations.@@http://www.up.edu/career/default.aspx?cid=10815&pid=133@@ The 500 students came from Oregon, Washington, California, Idaho, Montana and Nevada.
The event kicked off Friday evening with speakers including Oregon’s first lady Cylvia Hayes@@http://oneclick.indiatimes.com/article/0fL6fzWcgh5v0?q=Oregon@@ and former Green Party presidential candidate David Cobb@@http://cltampa.com/dailyloaf/archives/2010/09/17/former-green-party-presidential-candidate-david-cobb-the-unedited-interview@@, who raised awareness about corporate personhood, steady state economics and clean-tech venture capitalism.
Cobb, a Texan lawyer and full-time activist@@http://www.mngreens.org/node/324@@, also spoke adamantly on learning the value of civil disobedience, saying “I’m proud that I’ve been to jail for justice. Nonviolent civil disobedience is a righteous act in the face of a racist, sexist, class oppressive system.”
Upon stepping down from the podium, Cobb began handing out posters with American flags on them with corporate symbols in place of their stars, promoting the consumer-protection group, “Move to Amend.”@@http://movetoamend.org/move-amend-speaker-bios-david-cobb@@
Hayes, who is the domestic partner of Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber@@http://governor.oregon.gov/@@, has received training in working with energy groups from former Vice President Al Gore. Hayes spoke of her distaste for the Keystone XL pipeline that may connect Alberta, Canada to Texas’ Gulf Coast, insisting that an economy dependent on petroleum is not the answer.@@http://www.transcanada.com/keystone.html@@
“We’ve been hearing a lot about the need for economic recovery. I think that is the wrong goal,” Hayes said. “It has a tone of going backward to the way things were. We need nothing short of reinvention. Embedded in this recession, though difficult, is the best opportunity we’ve ever had to make the transition to a more sustainable and sane economy.”
Throughout Saturday, guests had opportunities to attend a plethora of focused panels, exploring the links between economic policy and environmental policy, farming and land use and alternatives to fossil fuel. Organizers also offered workshops in campaign and event planning, lobbying, recruiting and other political training.
“The panel I enjoyed most was on power mapping, where you research powerful corporations and show the connections they have with each other,” said Brian Moe, who is a sophomore studying political science at University of Washington. The panel also explored conflicts of interest in industrial resource boards.
One panel held in McKenzie Hall specifically addressed “nonviolent direct action” for climate change, which meant sit-ins, road blockades and other efforts to stop or disrupt environmental threats by deliberately violating social norms or laws.
Sunday morning saw the mobilization of two predetermined groups, tasked separately to perform weatherization and disseminate high-efficiency, long-life fluorescent light bulbs to local homes. During registration on Friday, everyone had received a packet. If you got a pink flyer in your packet, you were part of the weatherizing team. If you got a green one, you were part of canvassing the neighborhood with 1200 free light bulbs and issuing literature and advice on energy use.
The weatherizing team performed improvements on properties of the Sigma Nu, Beta Theta Phi, and Sigma Pi Fraternities and Sigma Mu Omega and Delta Gamma sororities. Fifteen Greek organizations signed up. The other 10 are intended to be serviced throughout the remainder of the term.
“We wanted to participate because our house is really cold, and we thought this would be a good way to save money,” said Jenna Thurston, resident of a serviced Delta Gamma live-out property containing eight students.
University senior Maneesh Arora@@http://directory.uoregon.edu/telecom/directory.jsp?p=findpeople%2Ffind_results&m=student&d=person&b=name&s=Maneesh+Arora@@, former ASUO vice president and leader of a 15-person group for weatherization, received training from the Energy Service Corps@@http://energyservicecorps.org/@@, a campaign through OSPIRG. He was excited about evaluating appliance efficiency.
“A lot of people say, ‘I don’t want to buy a more expensive washer and dryer’ because they don’t realize that over a relatively short period of time, you can make that money back in reduced energy costs.”
This campaign’s journey to Eugene began in 2009, when Charles Denson@@http://directory.uoregon.edu/telecom/directory.jsp?p=findpeople%2Ffind_results&m=student&d=person&b=name&s=Charles+Denson@@, now a University senior, attended the national Power Shift conference in Washington, D.C. Denson, the chapter and board chair of OSPIRG, will be on the committee to allocate grant money being offered to the school for green projects by Power Shift.
“The environment and economy are connected. There is a broad range of issues being addressed,” Denson said. “Hopefully from this conference students will gain skills and knowledge in forming solutions.”