On Oct. 16, 2009, just after the sun went down, loud, upbeat music could be heard coming from the campus of St. Louis University. No, it was not their marching band, nor a frat party. It was the kicking off of Power Shift '09.
"Power Shift '09 is a campaign fueled by young people across the country to demand bold action on climate and energy in 2009," according to the official Power Shift brochure. The campaign held a two-day event at SLU on Oct. 16 and 17.
On the opening night, young people were gathered by the stage which had been set up by Power Shift. The event was kicked off with motivational speeches by organizers Brett Wiley and Lindsey Berger, and was followed with a speech by Ethan Burke, the Bio Tour founder. In his opening speech, Wiley talked about how excited he was about the involvement of many students from local high schools in the workshops. Wiley said it is crucial for high school students to be involved from a young age and be taught to be more environmentally friendly.
Taking a big part in this two-day event was STLCC-Meramec's own MoPIRG, supporters of the Power Shift '09 campaign. "We're all trying to get clean energy legislature happening in America as soon as possible," said Jess Ward, a member of MoPIRG and student at Meramec.
The Power Shift '09 campaign and MoPIRG are both trying to put pressure on local congressmen, and especially President Obama, to pass the Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act by December, according to Katie Thomas, a student at Meramec and a member of MoPIRG. Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act demands for emissions limits, green transportation, coal plant greenhouse gas regulation, among other environmentally beneficial programs.
On the second day of the event, Power Shift and its supporters started their workshops and training activities. There were several workshops and training activities that started at 9 a.m. and went all the way through 10 p.m. on Saturday.
"We are trying to make 130 videos, which we already have 94 of them, of people reading off scripts and asking President Obama to demand strong climate legislature," said Ward.
"This weekend is a way for us as a state to hold our voice and make it clear," said Wiley. Supporters from all across the state were expected to participate in the event. "We have over 240 people from across the state coming to SLU this weekend for the Missouri Power Shift summit, and we're going to have demonstrations and training from anything like nonviolent communication to how to have your own organic garden."
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