Students look to focus election on the environment

A national student movement and a local campus group combined Thursday to call for the voters to make the environment their top priority.

Green Action, an on-campus group with a focus on environmental activism, and Power Vote, a nationwide non-partisan organization that seeks to elevate climate change issues in this year’s election, posted nine-foot windmills near areas of media activity around campus.

The joint effort hopes to enlist young people to pledge their vote for “clean and just energy,” according to the Power Vote’s website.

"We are trying to collect 1,000,000 votes across the nation to show politicians that the youth care about clean energy, green jobs, and climate change,” said Peter Murrey, a sophomore in Green Action. "Youth are going to be an important part of this election. If [the candidates] don't talk about the environment, we are not going to listen to them. We're not going to give them our vote."

Despite the numerous organizations and interest groups that have converged on campus, the Green Action/Power Vote coalition gained considerable attention from the press, thanks in part to the presence of miniature windmills on Mudd Field in front of Graham Chapel.

“I’m impressed with how into and how responsive [students] are to what Green Action has to say,” said junior Alexandra Fine, a Green Action/Power Vote coalition member who aims for her group to collect 1,000 signatures by the end of the day.

Fine added that Power Vote has gotten some, but not enough attention from the media swarming the campus for the vice presidential debates.

“So far we’ve gotten some [media attention] but we deserve a lot more. The issues we’re talking about are those of all youth and anyone who wants a future here.”

The groups made appearances on local television affiliates, as well as a national spot on CBS’s “The Early Show.”

With additional reporting by Puneet Kollipara and Becca Krock

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