'Remember, remember, the fifth of November'
By Lacey Riddle
This past weekend, more than 6,000 young people swarmed the nation's capitol for the largest global warming summit in national history - Powershift 2007 (November 2-5) - and it just so happens, I got to be a part of this historic event.
Powershift offered four days of guest speakers (Ralph Nader, Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Van Jones, and Bill McKibben, just to name a few), panels, workshops, and lobby trainings; all of which culminated on Monday November 5 in the form of a Congressional Hearing with the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming, lobbying amongst elected officials from all 50 states, and a rally on the West Lawn of the Congressional Building. These few days were the most empowering and inspirational of my life.
This summit was fundamentally about the big changes that we must make as a nation to address the climate change risk. Our generation is going to bear the brunt of the consequences of inaction. We can't sit by - we have a duty to inform ourselves and to push for action. This is our generation's defining issue, and we have a great opportunity to help transform and re-wire society.
I attended Powershift on behalf of Focus the Nation - an organization dedicated to engaging over 1,000 colleges, K-12 schools, faith-based groups, and other organizations in a dialogue on global warming solutions on Jan. 31, 2008. While assisting in workshop sessions, I was able to share my story of our Green Torch Relay here in Oregon and the amazing efforts that the University of Portland has taken upon itself in creating our Focus the Nation event at the Chiles Center.
The discussion between students and policy makers at the Chiles Center event will concentrate on global warming solutions, and will be live on OPB radio. Thousands of students and community members will attend this event, and the audience will be treated to global warming-themed comedy, music by Pink Martini and other musicians, and scientific and political commentary. The attention that this event will generate will become part of a national effort towards a sustainable, just, and prosperous future for all.
I feel that we, as a nation, fully understand that the science is not the issue anymore - our generation recognizes that greenhouse gases are building up, we're seeing the climate change before our very eyes, and we know that we are amidst the sixth mass extinction of the earth - but we also refuse to accept this as a future for ourselves and our children.
So I guess what I'm trying to say is that we, as individual students at an exceptional private institution, must make use of the outstanding privileges and opportunities that we have. Our professors are here for us, we must utilize them as instructors of higher education and as moral beings. We must pull from them, and ask them to guide us through this journey which we did not ask for. We must collectively build a framework which will play a part in rewiring society. Without this critical input from our centers of higher learning, we are simply hampering our education.
We as a generation have more diversity and opportunity than any other before us. Making decisions and acting on our political motivations will not result in the ostrification or assaults of the Feminist or Civil Rights Movements of the past. We stand to lose little in comparison, yet everything all at the same time. If we fail to defend our planet, we plan to lose our future.
Ralph Nader addressed the audience at Powershift with the idea of a "civic personality"; this personality does not give up, burn out, or lose heart in its passion. It uses losses as lessons, builds goals, and keeps learning and studying about the issues it is passionate about.
A civic personality is extroverted and embraces all, not just other activists with the same enthusiasm - these personalities transform civic justice in the pursuit of happiness. We must pursue a civic personality if we hope to challenge the devastation of global warming.
So, as students at UP who may care about the issue, but may simply not know how to become involved or help out, I offer you this advice: remember the courage of the people of the past, develop your own civic self-respect (know the issues you care about), and think about what you will tell your grandchildren when they ask you about global warming and what you did about it.
Pay attention to Focus the Nation events on campus and build a base of knowledge about the social, economic, and political aspects of the climate change issue. Participate with a powerful voice and the privileges you have, make little steps now to leap bounds later, and most importantly, protect your future. We have the potential to be the greatest generation. After all, we have one world, one chance.
Focus the Nation will host a lecture: "The Future for Renewable Energy" in the Buckley ?Center Auditorium tonight at 7 p.m.
?Lacey Riddle is a senior environmental ethics and policy major
