Power Shift ’07 was a momentous gathering of 6,000 students and activists from all across the country who came together at the University of Maryland Campus to address climate change. We arrived on Saturday morning, groggy after driving straight down I-95 through the night, but nothing brightens a November day like a crowd of excited people out to save the world.

Over the weekend there were strategy and information workshops, speakers such Ralph Nader, Nancy Poloisi, and Van Jones, and plenty of opportunities to make connections with folks from around the country.On Monday, those of us not called back by obligations for school united at the capitol to present the 1sky Campaign, which calls for 5 million green jobs, 80% reduction in CO2 emissions by 2050, and no new coal plants.

We swung the bus by K-Street to pick up the folks at ACORE (The American Council on Renewable Energy our fiscal sponsors) and wearing suits and carrying drums we joined over a thousand “Powershifters” for a lively rally on the lawn of the capitol. One thousand people together shouted demands, waved flags and signs, cheered and danced and beat drums, not yet powerful enough to shake the windows of congress but committed and growing.

Following the rally we walked into the senate building in small groups and navigated our way through the maze of staircases and corridors to find our representatives. Upon entry we received a stern look from security, concerned about the drums but confused by the suits, “You’re not going to bang those drums, right?” We said no and they cracked a smile and waved us through the metal detectors.

About twenty of us crowded into Senator Ted Kennedy’s office to speak to his energy advisor. We presented the 1sky platform and several people told personal stories while the staffer nodded and assured us that Senator Kennedy was with us all the way. That is until we asked about something specific. “Why does the senator oppose Cape Wind?” Alan asked. Despite support from over 80% of the citizens of Massachusetts, Senator Kennedy opposes the plan to build the nation’s first off shore wind farm in Nantucket Sound. The offshore turbines could supply 100% of the electricity to Cape Cod which is currently generated by burning dirty bunker fuel. ( Learn more about Cape Wind (add link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cape_Wind)).

After listening to Kennedy’s staffer make excuses about legislative loopholes and “doughnut holes??”, we left the office and followed a group of Dartmouth students into the office of Senator Sununu—Republican of New Hampshire, another visionary who as late as 2005 “wanted to see more research before concluding that humans were affecting global warming”(Concord Monitor 4/17/07) and has consistently voted in favor of oil subsidies over renewable energy. His adviser greeted our demands with polite platitudes. “Ok, so this is your top priority, not the war, not the farm bill, but the energy bill,” she said, missing the point that those issues are all interconnected, and that the order of these bills on the Senator’s desk, matters less than the principles by which he approaches this legislation.

Our last stop was at the office of Senator Mary Landrieu—Louisiana Democrat. The young aide was at least honest about the Louisiana’s current dependency on the oil and gas industries. She earned our respect for giving us frank answers about the Senator’s positions of supporting the oil and gas industries, not just rhetoric she knew we wanted to hear. We listened as frustrated students from Grambling State pointed to the office walls of that had a series of photographs of devastation from Hurricane Katrina. They pleaded for the aid to take their message back to Senator Landrieu.

The responses from rep,s and the reps of reps, ranged from rhetorical platitudes to honest disagreements over whether or not the goals of the One Sky Campaign are “politically realistic”. The majority of the population supporting a policy does not prevent it from being “politically unrealistic” in our current state of affairs. Change will happen when we organize, reach out to our leaders to take the right actions, and let them know that their jobs depend on it.

The energy at Power Shift, the thousands of vocal, excited young people discussing, organizing, lobbying, shouting and dancing invigorated the BioTour crew. But this is only a stepping stone and success will require further efforts. This is the movement of our generation and it’s growing. Check out Power Shift ’07. But, if you want to feel the excitement of thousands of young people standing together for change, redefining our culture to one of community and involvement, make sure you attend the next one, because it is gonna rock the nation.

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