It’s been a long week, but now that I’m back from Powershift ‘09, I’m feeling renewed and ready to step up and keep working towards the goals we outlined in D.C. The student climate movement is alive and well, and I think we’re going to see some important changes finally reach the country this coming year.
Before I go too far into detail; For those of you out there who don’t know what “Powershift” is, there’s plenty of information available on the website, with all the details including schedule of events and speakers. As they describe the event themselves, “Power Shift 09 will bring 10,000 young people to Washington to hold our elected officials accountable for rebuilding our economy and reclaiming our future through bold climate and clean energy policy.” Speakers this year included Lisa Jackson (Head of the EPA), Van Jones (Green Jobs Now), Ken Salazar (Secretary of the Interior), Congressman Ed Markey and Congresswoman Donna Edwards, as well as musical performances by The Roots and Santigold.
For those of us traveling from Des Moines, the weekend involved some long-haul driving. I was joined by three freshman students from Drake University and another from Iowa State, and the 17-hour drive flew by in a haze of political and environmental discussion. By the time we reached D.C., I think we had finally figured everything out, but promptly fell asleep on the floor of the convention center and tragically forgot our solutions to the world’s problems before being able to enlighten everyone.
Saturday and Sunday were set aside for workshops and panel discussions during the day, and musical performances and speeches at night. There were over twenty different meetings to choose from for each two-hour block, and though they focused on fascinating things like “Ecopedagogy” and “Bird-Dogging for Change” and “The Road to Copenhagen,” a quick walk around the Washington Convention Center Saturday morning revealed that a good number of the 12,000 students there had also chosen to spend the first few sessions catching up on lost sleep. (Powernap ‘09, you might say) After a restful hour curled up in one of the thousands of corners at the DC Convention Center, I attended a great panel discussion on creative media activism, featuring the likes of Leilani Munter (Celebrity NASCAR driver, the fourth woman to ever race on the circuit and an outspoken environmental activist) and Daryl Hannah, who surprised me by being not only extremely eloquent, but also one of the most well-versed activists at the conference.
Saturday night’s Roots performance was inspirational as well, though in a slightly different vein, and by Sunday afternoon I was feeling far more informed and equipped for the challenges ahead. The students from Iowa had a “Break Out” meeting to discuss Iowa specific issues Sunday night, where we went over the QC Rail project, the Marshalltown coal plant, and the possibility of securing a National Renewable Energy Portfolio Standard (and how Iowa would benefit from that.) I met a lot of other committed, interested students from around the state and did some important networking before taking in a short documentary and getting some well-needed sleep. In the morning; it was time to lobby congress.
Monday started off with an extended discussion with a member of Boswell’s staff, who engaged our group of 25 interested students in a lively discussion about things like a carbon cap and renewable energy. He played Devil’s Advocate for much of it, reminding us that Boswell agreed with almost all of our demands, but threw out figures about how weaning our state off of coal would increase electricity bills by 3 fold, a point that we heatedly refused. Later, at a meeting with Harkin’s representative, we were told Harkin would likely continue to spearhead projects in line with our demands. Though I wasn’t able to attend the meetings with Loebsack, Braley, or Latham in full, I heard they had similar outcomes, and in the meeting with King, who has traditionally been opposed to environmental measures in the past, some common ground was found when discussion turned to the potential for the wind industry to help create new jobs.
The most noteworthy meeting of the weekend was with Senator Grassley himself, the ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, which was held on Monday afternoon. More than forty students crammed into his meeting room and used our alloted fifteen minutes to the best of our ability. We made our pitch and asked if we could count on him to support a cap-and-trade system in the upcoming year, and received an unclear answer that suggested he wouldn’t. When I asked him if we could count on him to support a renewable energy portfolio standard in the future, he turned to one of his aides and said, “Doesn’t he know I’ve supported the last four RES bills?” A humorous skirting of the question; we never got clear answers from either him or his staff, though they treated us very respectfully.
Overall, it was one of the best weekends I’ve had since coming here. The chance to interact again with other interested and committed students my age was revitalizing, and I’m excited to try and put some of the things I learned to work. If you’re interested in visiting the conference next year or learning more about it, visit their website here
