Instead of heading to Mexico, Florida, or Hawaii for
vacation, CALPIRG students from across the state spent Spring Break touring
California to build support for strong global warming legislation. Forty-five
students traveled the state complete with one 15-foot tall windmill and
superhero outfits going from city to city holding press conferences to meet with
local climate heroes and award them with Climate Hero capes. Students also
called for continued leadership in California to pass global warming legislation
in the first 100 days of the Obama Administration.
Young people have the
most at stake in the global warming crisis. Rising sea levels, increased forest
fires, and disappearing snow pack are just a few examples of ways climate change
is already effecting everyday life. Global warming is an enormous problem, and
strong action needs to be taken to stop its worst effects in the next few years.
The good news is California is leading the way in the solutions to global
warming. Whether it is a wind farm, solar array, innovate Silicon Valley
businesses, or a pioneering legislator, California is taking the strongest first
steps.
The tour stopped in eight cities and along the way students met
with representatives from the offices of seven elected officials including House
Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Congressman Henry Waxman, and State Senator Fran Pavley,
as well as the EPA Secretary herself, Linda Adams. Additionally, students
collected over 300 photo petitions urging Congressmembers to be climate heroes
as well as public comments to the EPA in favor of granting the California Clean
Car waiver.
Some highlights:
Day 1: San Francisco &
San Jose
The tour kicks off in San Francisco where UC Berkeley
student Gabe Elsner presents Melanie Nutter from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s
office the first Climate Hero award of the week in front of City Hall. Students
and superheroes then gathered at San Jose's City Hall where a representative
from Councilmember Kansen Chu stopped by to welcome the tour.
Day 2:
Sacramento & Fresno
To the Capitol! UC Davis student Ramneek Saini speaks on the steps
of the Capitol in Sacramento where we are joined by UC Davis Professor Ellis
Jones, author of A Better World Shopper, and EPA Secretary Linda Adams.
Secretary Adams told the students to let her know when they were graduating so
she could recruit them for jobs! The next stop was Fresno where students met
with Councilmember Henry T. Perea and generated over 100 photo
petitions!
Day 3: San Luis Obispo & Santa Barbara
After spending the night at Santa Margarita Lake
campgrounds, the tour headed to San Luis Obispo where USC freshman Max
Tomaszewski presented Assemblyman Sam Blakeslee’s staff with a Climate Hero cape
and were also joined by Cal Poly Professor of Civil & Environmental
Engineering, Yarrow Nelson. Then we quickly jetted down to Santa Barbara where
many special guests made appearances including: UCSB Professor of Environmental
Studies Ed Keller, Nobel Prize-winning Chemist Professor at UCSB Walter Kohn,
and Jonathan Saur from Congresswoman Lois Capps office. (Also pictured above,
the 15 foot tall windmill goes up in front of the Santa Barbara County
Administration Building while students make media calls.)
Day 4:
San Diego
Next the tour headed down the coast all the way to San Diego. UCSD
Chapter Chair Daniel Teplitz presents an award to State Senator Christine
Kehoe’s office. Dorothy Edwrds from UCB gets a San Diegan to sign a public
comment card to the EPA urging them to grant the California Clean Car Waiver and
UCSD’s Coral Castillos speaks with Univision News while tourists and superheroes
look on.
Day 5: Los Angeles
On Friday
the tour descended upon Los Angeles, and even though Climate Superhero
Congressman Waxman was in DC readying the draft of his global warming
legislation, we made sure his presence was still felt with our own Superhero
Waxman. State Board Chair and UCLA junior Sarah Dobjensky and UCD’s Ramneek
Saini ran into LA City Councilman Jack Weiss in front of City Hall and he gladly
took a picture to support strong global warming legislation. Also joining the
tour were Darrell Clarke, Chair of the Angeles chapter of the Sierra Club,
Stephanie Mollen from State Senator Fran Pavley’s office and Matt Cameron from
the office of Congressman Waxman.
Matt Cameron accepts Congressman Waxman’s Climate Hero Award from
Sarah Dobjensky and UCSB freshman John Haberstroh leads the group in cheers and
a rendition of “Captain Cooldown.”
Spring Break Media Highlights
"Climate Heroes" Swoop Through Santa Barbara; The Santa Barbara Independent
Students ask leaders to tackle global warming; The Daily Sound
Trading in spring break to make a difference; KSBY
Climate Hero Tour '09 kicks off; It’s Getting Hot In Here - Dispatches from the Youth Climate Movement
CALPIRG is a statewide
student-directed and student-funded public interest organization that stands up
to powerful interests. CALPIRG consist of student chapters at 8 University of California campuses and USC. Students from
SDSU and SFSU also participated in the tour. www.calpirgstudents.org
