Although it won’t be celebrated with the kind of mass demonstrations that marked the first Earth Day 38 years ago, the ASUO and a coalition of the environmental groups on campus have planned activities to honor the day that kicked off the environmental movement so long ago.
Awareness to Action is the theme of this year’s celebration and representatives from various campus organizations will have informational tables set up in the EMU Amphitheater today from 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The live music of Good for America, Move Something and Conjugal Visitors will begin at 10 a.m.
Later, following the music of the first two bands at 2 p.m., University President Dave Frohnmayer will announce the University’s commitment to a significant reduction of carbon dioxide gas emissions. Other speakers will include University law professor Mary Wood, who will speak about combating climate change, and Eugene Mayor Kitty Piercy, who will announce her “Sustainability Challenge” to the people of Eugene. ASUO President Jared Axelrod will also speak.
In addition to the activities in the EMU Amphitheater, there will be a live presentation of “An Inconvenient Truth” at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, in 180 PLC. Oregon Secretary of State Bill Bradbury will present Al Gore’s PowerPoint presentation that was used in the documentary. In addition to Gore’s presentation, Bradbury will also include information specific to Oregon. Bradbury has been traveling around the state to raise awareness of climate change since going through training with Gore in order to become an expert on climate science and policy. A discussion about the steps the University can take to combat global warming will follow the presentation.
– Linda Gerstenberger