Power Shift

Students Take Message to DC

Carnegie Mellon students recently joined other students from across the country at Power Shift, a weekend-long event in Washington, D.C. Their goal: to hold our elected officials accountable for rebuilding our economy and reclaiming our future through bold climate and clean energy policy.

"This was a phenomenal opportunity to have an active discussion on global climate change and to demand changes in our country's energy consumption habits," said chemical engineering student Alicia Marrie (E'10), who helped organize the trip. "Carnegie Mellon students deserve to have their voices heard."

After two days of learning about and discussing climate change and energy issues, the students converged on Capitol Hill. There they met with Congressional representatives, lobbying for the enactment of stronger legislation on greenhouse gas emission control and asking them to support clean sustainable energy sources such as solar or wind.

"Many students experienced the importance of civil action during the last presidential election, when college students were a key factor in President Obama's victory," said Sarah Strano (E '10), who is pursuing a double major in Civil and Environmental Engineering and Engineering and Public Policy. "Through Power Shift, students were able to take that civil action one step further by actually getting the chance to speak directly with our nation's top decision makers."

Strano added that many students at Carnegie Mellon have strong opinions about why our country should invest in clean energy, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and revamp our food system. "Power Shift gave those students a forum to express those opinions to leaders who now know that when we want something, we have the ability to mobilize young voters to achieve it."

For more information about the panels, keynotes and workshops, visit http://www.powershift09.org.

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