Who are we

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(No Transcript)
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Who are we?

• A project of The Student PIRGs (MASSPIRG,
  ConnPIRG, NJPIRG Student Chapters, MaryPIRG,
  MoPIRG, OhioPIRG, WISPIRG, INPIRG, CoPIRG,
  WashPIRG, OSPIRG, CALPIRG), Black Mesa Water
  Coalition, California Student Sustainability
  Coalition, Climate Campaign, Energy Justice
  Network, EnviroCitizen, Environmental Justice and
  Climate Change Initiative, Free The Planet!,
  Global Exchange, Greenpeace, Indigenous
  Environmental Network, LCVEF/Project Democracy,
  National Association of Environmental Law
  Societies, National Wildlife Federation's Campus
  Ecology Program, Rainforest Action Network,
  Student Environmental Action Coalition, Sierra
  Student Coalition, Sierra Youth Coalition,
  Southeast Student Energy and Climate Network,
  Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, Students
  United for a Responsible Global Environment,
  Youth Environmental Network

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What is your name?

• Where do you come from?
• What are you working to do to make your campus
  rock?
• (Quickly)
• Thank you for your work

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Ben
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Contents

• Intro to the state PIRGs30 years of Student
  Action for Change
• Global WarmingIs there a way out?
• The State of the Nation
• Students Take the Lead
• The ChallengeLets do it, and lets talk

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CALPIRG Student Chapters

• California Student Public Interest Research
  Groups
• Non-partisan, student directed and funded
  non-profit
• Started in 1972
• Eight chapters around the state at the University
  of California campus
• Work on environmental, consumer, hunger and
  homelessness and democracy issues.
• Mission
• Educate
• Serve
• Develop leaders
• Activate

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How Ben sees CALPIRG

• Students are the Natural Born Killers of
  activism
• Were passionate, just getting out into the
  world, and not jaded enough to roll over when a
  problem of Social Change proportions comes our
  way

• CALPIRG is the intentioned institutionalization
  of student action
• Connect students to a cadre of professional
  organizers and advocates in the field and in the
  Capitol to build huge groups and win big victories

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CALPIRG and Energy

• RPS20 by 2017 in CA
• Million Solar Roofs Initiative
• 7 CALPIRG student chapters ran grassroots
  campaigns mixing media, visibility, and coalition
  power to pressure in district Assembly Members to
  co-author the bill.
• More comments on Solar than gay marriage
  billwhich should not be incredible, but is

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Campus Climate Challenge

• Our generations greatest challenge
• Not just pollution
• Or democracy
• Or Turtles

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Global Warming

• The Problem
• Extreme Weather
• Rampant Disease
• Human Suffering

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Extreme Weather

• In 1980s the total amount insurance2 billion
  (average year)
• 12 billion average since, until 1998
• 98in 1998
• One event Hurricane Katrinawe dont even know
  how muchover 100 billion
• Extreme firesworst fire season on record
• Extreme rains, floods
• Blizzards in Asia

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Rampant Disease

• Mosquito epidemics will increase over 100 times
  over the next few decades, meanwhile cholera has
  been seen in Bangladesh and Malaria is appearing
  in South Africa, places that these diseases were
  previously unheard of.1
• 1 http//www.heatisonline.com

• Alaskan oystersbreeding ground is now warmer
• so a bacteria that previously was unable to
  exist, is now a problem threatening the species

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Human Suffering

• 150,000 people killed as a result of hurricanes
  in Gulf Coast region
• Facing greatest catastrophe in human history
• 1 in 6 of the worlds countries face food
  shortages due to drought
• Floods in Indonesia left 5,000 people dead
• Next?

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Is there a way out?

• Yup. We need to stop burning fossil fuels
• Do Americans agree?

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Pew Research Center for the People the Press
survey conducted by Princeton Survey Research
Associates International. Feb. 1-5, 2006. Adults
nationwide.

• "Would you say that the United States, as a
  country, is addicted to oil, or not?" N757, MoE
  4 (Form1)   Is Is Not Unsure
• 2/1-5/06 85 11 4

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What do you think America?

• "As I read some possible government policies to
  address America's energy supply, tell me whether
  you would favor or oppose each. Would you favor
  or oppose the government see below?"      .  
•   "Requiring better fuel efficiency for cars,
  trucks and SUVs" N1,502, MoE 3   
• Favor Oppose Unsure
• 2/1-5/06 86 12 2
• "Increasing federal funding for research on wind,
  solar and hydrogen technology" N745,MoE 4
  (Form 2)   
• 2/1-5/06 82 14 4

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Lets say we could get out

• The Concept
• A New Energy Future
• That our generation will define

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Ben, is this far off

• Right now We have the potential to get 20 of
  our energy from clean sources like solar and wind
• In California, it is already cheaper to build a
  wind farm than it is to build a new natural gas
  power plant
• But the industries are balking
• When they wanted the new nuclear bomb
• Saying that a country that can double the speed
  of microchips every 18 months is somehow
  incapable of innovating its way to energy
  independence - that is for sissies, defeatists
  and people who are ready to see American values
  eroded at home and abroad. Thomas Friedman,
  author and economist
• Its up to us to create the incentive and the
  model to make it happen

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And who better to do it?

• Students have always been the driving force in
  large-scale social change
• The Civil Rights movement
• The movement to End Vietnam

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Students will be the driving force behind this
effort

• Universities are a great demonstration of how
  this can work on a big scale
• Educating and Engaging the leaders of tomorrow on
  this and all social and environmental issues
• most of the public are in with usthey just
  dont know what do!

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Huge Victories so far

• UC, CSU
• Boulder WIND!
• Rutgers Comprehensive Reduction plan
• Clean Car shows all over CA

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Key elements of the campaign

• The Message
• This is our generations challenge, and the
  solutions are already at our fingertips. In the
  face of inaction from the federal and state
  governments, we are acting NOW.
• The Coalition
• United we standdivided were silent

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Education

• Next voters
• Next consumers
• Next politicians and decision makers
• Getting this message across is challenging.
• We CAN solve global warming with determination,
  leadership and focusthe first challenge
• Most students agree that global warming is
  happening, but are either unconvinced that it
  will really affect them, or that we can really
  solve it. And to make things tougher, its easy
  to turn people off with negative messages. So
  how can we get our points across?

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How do I start?

• What To Do
• Have fun! Make your events fun and exciting.
  Make people want to know what you have to say!
• Make your events and materials as visually
  stimulating as possible
• GO BIG!
• Be as engaging as possible, organize events that
  people will want to come and see and will be
  genuinely excited about!
• When possible be interactive and hands-on.
  Organize competitions and contests and give
  prizes, have students build solar panels and wind
  turbines, make them food, throw them a party!
• Emphasize that the solutions you are working for
  are easy, available now, and dont require major
  changes in lifestyle or big sacrifices.
• What NOT To Do
• Avoid simply sitting at a table with some fliers.
  People wont notice you and your goal is to be
  noticed!
• Avoid an event with only 20 people who already
  know all they need to now about the issue.
  Preaching to the choir gets you nowhere.
• Dont wait! Act now! Get started immediately.

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Imagine

• Everywhere you go on your campus you are exposed
  to global warming solutions not merely on paper
  or in theory but actually being put into
  practice
• Clean Car Show on the Quad or Pimp My Clean
  Ride Car Show
• DJ, guys and gals walking around in swimsuits
  posing with the cars, an exhibition or show by
  the campus dance clubs, a BBQ, games and
  competitions, and a barker constantly making
  announcements over a megaphone.
• More ideas
• Solar Powered Events Smoothies, Concerts, Street
  Fairs, The Biggest Loser, Greek Green
  Challenge,
• Iron Chef Clean Energy

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Policy

• 1. Develop Your Goal. Your policy goal at any
  particular point should be the most ambitious
  proposal that you think has a realistic chance of
  being adopted by the administration. That means
  that some campuses will push for something
  similar to the University of Colorado Boulders
  long term plan to reduce its global warming
  pollution down to zero and other campuses will
  push for a policy requiring all university
  computers to be shut down at night like at the
  University of Wisconsin Madison.
• 2. Write Your Proposal. This is where you
  actually research and write your policy proposal
  and get it reviewed by and approved by a
  supportive faculty member.
• 3. Submit Your Proposal. Take your proposal to
  the campus administration and sell it.
• 4. Build Support for Your Proposal. This is where
  you need to build support for your proposal to
  show the campus administration and
  decision-makers that the campus community
  supports your idea.
• 5. Implementation! Once your proposal has been
  approved, work closely with the administration to
  follow through on it and get the project
  completed, all the while advocating for the next
  policy goal!

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Comprehensive Policy Goals

• 1. A formal goal and timetable for reducing the
  universitys global warming pollution as close to
  zero as possible.
• We suggest a goal of reducing global warming
  pollution by 90 below 2005 levels by the year
  2030, or a 4 reduction each year. The State of
  California adopted a similar goal last year that
  most scientists think is both aggressive and
  reasonable to achieve.

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2. An initial and ongoing Greenhouse Gas
Inventory.

• ?A greenhouse gas inventory is a detailed report
  of exactly how much global warming pollution is
  emitted by the campus and from what sources.

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3. Comprehensive plans with specific benchmarks
and timetables in at least the following areas

• Renewable Energy To get as much of the
  universitys electricity from renewable energy,
  either from purchasing renewable energy from the
  local utility or by generating more energy
  on-campus from solar panels and wind turbines.
• Green Building This includes either retrofitting
  existing buildings to be more efficient or
  committing to all new construction to the highest
  efficiency standards.
• Conservation/Efficiency One of the most
  cost-effective ways to reduce your campus usage
  of dirty energies. This can be as simple as
  policies to turn off all university computers at
  night, replacing all university lighting with
  compact fluorescent bulbs or purchasing more
  efficient appliances.
• Transportation Decreasing usage of
  fossil-fuel-powered transportation, using
  alternative fuels and/or upgrading to more
  efficient vehicles. Commuter travel to and from
  campus, is usually the largest source of
  emissions, so encouraging and supporting a shift
  to alternative forms of transportation, such as
  buses and carpools, to campus can have a large
  impact on total transportation emissions.

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Students have had incredible success in this
area, including the following examples

• Purchasing renewable energy from the grid
• Generating energy through on-site solar energy
• Generating energy through on-site wind power
• Retrofitting existing buildings to be more energy
  efficient
• Energy efficiency in new building construction
• Campuswide conservation policies (such as using
  only compact fluorescent light bulbs)
• Converting university fleets to low and zero
  emissions vehicles
• Reducing individual automobile use to and from
  campus

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Great places to Start

• The campus facilities director
• The chair of the sustainability committee (if one
  exists)
• An environmental studies or engineering professor
  who is concerned with the issue

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Dudes, Lets get it on!

• We need to start nowso whats your plan
• Breakout discussions
• What is your next event?
• Plan walkthrough
• What are the needs of the sustainable soldiers

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Resources

• www.exxposeexxon.com
• The Clean Air, Cool Planet Greenhouse Gas
  Emissions Calculator
• Higher Ed Factsheet (will post)
• Apollo Alliance Reportin Coalition
• New Energy for Campuses
• Conservation, Financing Strategies, Purchasing,
  Transportation
• CCC Toolkit

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You and me are like Al Green (and Will, too!)

• Ben Smith
• ben_at_calpirgstudents.org
• Will Conklin
• willc_at_pirg.org