Power Shift stresses global change

Author: Michelle Constant

On April 19-21, between 40 and 50 students from the College, local high school students and other community members united on campus for the Power Shift Vermont 2008 conference. On Monday, the group traveled to Montpelier to demand that the Vermont legislature and governor pass a strong version of the climate solution bill. Keynote speakers included Vermont State Representative David Zuckerman, chair of the House Agriculture Committee, and Betsy Taylor, co-founder and board president of 1Sky.

Power Shift Vermont was modeled after the national conference Power Shift 2007. The national event was based on a global initiative to reduce carbon dioxide concentrations to 350 parts per million, while it is currently at an unsafe 383 parts per million. According to the organizers of the Vermont conference, there have been many other follow-up conferences, including Massachusetts Power Shift and Cascade Power Shift in the Washington and Oregon area.

In order to work towards this goal locally, Vermont Power Shift supports cutting Vermont carbon admissions at least 75 percent by 2050, creating a green jobs program in the state of Vermont and encouraging the use of renewable resources and sustainability in all sectors, including heating and transportation

"The name Power Shift shows how we want to literally shift how we get power," said conference organizer Lilly Corenthal '10, "but it also works in a political, social sense of how we want to shift power into the hands of the community."

The objective of Power Shift Vermont includes giving Vermont college and high school students the necessary knowledge to take action in finding sustainable energy sources. The organizers were enthusiastic about the event's potential to share ideas and solutions among students and community members.

"Our goal is to unify Vermont in this climate movement, bringing in lots of education aspects and getting people more in touch with what is going on with the environment," said Corenthal.

Despite the diversity among those that attended the conferences, organizers felt that the common cause helped bring people together.

"The climate movement really is diverse and impacts all sorts of people," said Erickson. "I hate to label it an environmental issue - it is really a social justice and economic issue. It is about everything integral to our economic system."

The organizers of Power Shift Vermont aspire to be active in the community and appeal to a large base of individuals. As a result, the weekend included informative panels, interactive workshops, intense discussions and speeches by distinguished leaders.

"Representatives from Vermont's agricultural department came to discuss the complexity of these issues," said Erickson. "It is great how accessible they are."

Some of the speeches included "Cow Power" by Dave Dunn of Central Vermont Public Service Cow Power, "Justice and Diversity in the Climate Movement" by Middlebury students Becca Wear '10 and Kyle Hunter '11, and "Spirituality and the Climate Movement" by Reverend Paul Bortz.

"We tried to focus on all of the issues, including diversity and race and how that connects to climate change," said Corenthal.



In addition, conference participants attended the Town Earth Day Celebration, slept over in McCardell Bicentennial Hall all weekend, screened the TV series "Planet Earth," and ate their meals at Weybridge house and local restaurants. On Monday, the participants spent the day in Montpelier, meeting with legislators and rallying on the State House lawn. The organizers discussed with state representatives exciting ideas about creating sustainable energy, with Vermont acting as a leader in these progressive, environmental issues.

"I see this as an opportunity to change our current system and make it better," said Erickson, "I feel empowered by talking to legislators about real solutions such as transferring to clean energy sources. I like the idea of my children living in a world with local economy, clean energy and more justice."

According to conference organizer Chester Harvey '09, the success of the College's previous efforts on carbon neutrality is a good indication for the future success of the goals of Power Shift Vermont.

"The College worked intensely on carbon neutrality last year, which has since been embraced by the administration and given a certain amount of clout from the president and trustees," said Harvey.

Organizers of the conference felt that the weekend's events highlighted an uniting force that can be used to address other pressing problems.

"Under the title climate we can achieve powerful things, though this title is not enough for what Power Shift represents," said Corenthal. "It encompasses political, social and economic issues of what we will face in the coming years."