Two girls walk past me with plaid scarves wrapped around their necks discussing whether they should go for the greening your school or the organizing on campus seminar; a young man with a dapper step jams to his iPod with a “Green the Ghetto” shirt; another young man with long blond hair whisks past me taking two steps at a time, clearly focused on making the next panel; volunteers in green-and-white shirts speak into their headpieces to make sure rooms aren’t double booked, volunteers are on hand and everything is going smoothly. Crowds of young students buzz and huddle outside the conference rooms of the D.C. Convention Center; a whole line of students throw open the glass doors and pour in, a rush of cold February air blows past…
This is PowerShift09.
PowerShift09 – the largest training and lobby day for climate change solutions in the history of the United States. It’s amazing to say that. I mean, the “largest,” “biggest,” “brightest,” “most-effective” of anything is totally awesome, but it is of special significance when you can say that is was created for young people, by young people. Young people with clear passion and vision who are seeking outlets to create change.
These were the same words I reiterated at UCF this past October. As I was registering yesterday I wondered if I’d see anyone from UCF here. Much to my pleasure, I ran into Jason and Jeff, two UCFers that made their way up here with 43 others to rabble rouse and partake in the PowerShift09 festivities. Word.
It’s crazy to imagine that just in November 2007, we had 5,500 young people here…and now a year and a half later, we’ve assembled together once again – 12,000 of us (I’m just ONE of 12,000 young people!!!) – with a new-found enthusiasm – and a presence that was not felt back in November. What is it? What is different? I spoke with Nikki from Green for All yesterday because I couldn’t put my finger on it. We concluded that people are refocused, they have a clearer vision. But most of all, they are proud to be here. They are not afraid to say what they think, what they feel. They are not afraid to be judged by their backgrounds, their race, their gender, their affiliation because we are all in this together…There is this – confidence that we do not have to hide behind our struggles, our accomplishments and our vision any longer. Because of this, a cloud has lifted – and the line between politics and passion has blurred a bit…and it all of a sudden seems so human, so real…
This is PowerShift09. This is our power shift.
Tags: climate change, climate change action, energy security, global warming, green jobs, lobby day, powershift09