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    Powershift 2007

    This weekend, seven Carleton students representing all four classes will travel to College Park, Maryland for what is shaping up to be the largest youth conference on climate change ever–Power Shift 2007. There are currently over 5,000 students attending from all 50 states and the list of speakers and events is lengthy and still growing. On Saturday and Sunday, students will attend panels and workshops where they will learn about the current status of the climate crisis as well as how to make a difference on a local (specifically on their campuses), national and international level. Then, on Monday, the entire conference will rally at DC and spend a full day lobbying senators and representatives. Examples of available workshops are: Make Your Campus Climate Neutral, Sustainable Design on Campus, and a discussion of case studies on universities from around the country. The panels will include talks on the environmental priorities of the 2008 presidential candidates, briefings on the status of climate change legislation and much more.

    The seven Carleton students were able to obtain funding from the CSA, the ENTS deparment as well as the office of the president and will depart on Friday (11/2) and return on Monday night (11/5). “It was no easy task to raise this money” says one of the organizers, Elizabeth Webb’09 , “but we can guarantee that Carleton’s presence at this conference will be a strong one and all attendees will return with invaluable skills and information about the climate crisis and what to do about it.” Plans for bringing some of the information back onto campus after the conference include a “chili night” that will take place in the winter with the support of the ENTS department to discuss some of the environmental options available to Carleton.