The Chronicle

Issue date: 11/6/07 Section: News
Last update: 11/6/07 at 7:35 AM EST

Media Credit: HON LUNG CHU Thousands of students from across the world gathered at the U. S. Capitol for an environmental rally Monday.

WASHINGTON - This weekend thousands of students gathered together in one place for an occasion that, in the words of participants, was empowering, inspiring, energizing and hopeful.

Nearly 6,000 students from across the world came to the University of Maryland at College Park for the Power Shift 2007 conference, a large-scale youth summit advocating for political policies to solve climate change problems. The conference ended with activists rallying and lobbying on Capitol Hill Monday.

Duke was represented by 23 students at the event and North Carolina, the third most-represented state, sent over 300 students.

"This is a historical occasion, as you all may know," Ralph Nader, political activist and four-time presidential candidate, told attendees. "The University of Maryland, which is too often known for its basketball team, will be known for launching the next wave of student activism on the environment."

Nader was one of hundreds of speakers, panelists and policy makers who spoke during different sessions of the summit. Nancy Pelosi, speaker of the House of Representatives, made an appearance Saturday night, repeatedly bringing students to their feet.

"I am understanding that this is the biggest gathering for global warming in the history of the world," Pelosi, a California Democrat, said.

In her speech, she expressed the significance of the conference in reducing carbon emissions.

"I love the name: Power Shift. It means so much. It means 80-percent [carbon reduction] by 2050," Pelosi said, as she was met with a standing ovation. "And it represents the initiative taken by the next generation of leaders. And the power of our country-not just energy power, but political power."

The three major principles supported by the organizers of Power Shift 2007 are 80-percent carbon reduction, the creation of five million "green jobs" and a firm moratorium on new coal power plants.

Other speakers also expressed the need for environmental action.

"This planet has a fever and there are no emergency rooms for sick planets," Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass., said in his keynote address Saturday night. "We have a chance to pass laws nationally which will change the course of the history of the United States and the history of the planet."

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