Marshall to host Power Shift ‘09

A weekend of environmental awareness and concern for local green issues will take place on Marshall University’s campus Oct. 23 - Oct. 25. Students from West Virginia and Kentucky will look for answers to tough local questions on sustainability.
“Students are hosting the event to unite with peers, exchange ideas and share information,” said Lalena Price, Marshall’s communications coordinator. “I think that will happen based on their agenda, the speakers and their idea to talk and share different viewpoints on campus.”
“Clean energy jobs, environmental justice and ending mountaintop removal are the focuses of the conference,” said Danny Chiotos, youth organizer for the West Virginia Student Environmental Coalition and co-coordinator of the event.
“The conference will focus on local issues with a strong backing to the national climate legislation that transitions into clean energy and economy,” Chiotos said.
“We’d like to see a shift to the most responsible forms of energy. We want to transition the state and its workers to clean energy use and sustainability.
“We want green job creation in the communities instead of relying heavily on the coal industry,” Chiotos said.
Chiotos sited examples of West Virginia efforts to transition jobs from the coal industry to clean energy jobs, including The Coal River Project in Raleigh County, W.Va. and The Just and Open Businesses that are Sustainable, or JOBS, Project in Mingo County, W.Va.
Chiotos points out that the initiatives of the conference are in line with Federal Government initiatives.
“The Legislature wants cuts in carbon emissions of 20 percent by (the year) 2020 and 80 percent by 2050,” Chiotos said. “The House bill is frustrating because big coal negotiated it down to relative ineffectiveness. I have high hopes for the Senate.”
“I think students can learn a lot at a conference like this about sustainability and the environment,” Price said. “People have different ways of doing that, whether it be to talk about recycling or stopping mountaintop removal.”
The conference is an entirely student planned and run project of the Energy Action Coalition in conjunction with the Student Environmental Action Council, the West Virginia Youth Action League, and the Kentucky Student Environmental Coalition.
“We hope there is a great exchange of ideas and that the students learn from the experience,” Price said. “If you can’t exchange ideas that are unpopular or difficult to grasp on a college campus, then where can you do it?”
“Marshall is already passionate about the environment. Just over a year ago, the Greening Marshall Committee was formed,” Price said.

Elizabeth Adams can be contacted at mccoma36@marshall.edu
 

1 comments

heather sprouse

Wed Oct 21 2009 11:54

it is so good seeing students coming together to share ideas and viewpoints!
appalachia.powershift09.org

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