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Youth take climate fight to Washington D.C.
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The Capitol Power Plant in Washington D.C.
Young people are getting serious about Global Warming. We’re tired of lawmakers preaching renewable energy from a podium, and then stepping off stage to accept campaign contributions from big energy companies. We realize that once the curtain closes politicians are all too happy to take the cash and meekly go about their business. Not anymore. We’re bringing the fight to Washington.
On March 2, 2009 thousands of college students, young people, protesters, community organizers, and more marched on Washington D.C. in a massive demonstration against current U.S. energy policies.
The Capitola Climate Action group and Power Shift 2009 gave congress a jolt that day. They sent a message: It’s our future we’re dealing with. We want green energy. If you won’t take the lead, we will.
“We’ve got to take the slogan ‘yes we can’ seriously. With a new administration and a new Congress, we have a window of opportunity to build a clean energy economy that will protect the health of our families, our climate and our future,” said Rebecca Tarbotton of the Rainforest Action Network in a press release.
The CCA, with the help of about 40 environmental, labor, faith-based, and social justice groups, including Greenpeace, organized the largest civil disobedience on climate change in U.S. history. The target of the demonstration was the Capitol Power Plant, a coal burning plant that is owned by Congress and symbolizes the influence ‘Big Coal’ has over our nation. Coal is the single greatest fossil fuel contributor to global warming.
About 250 brave protesters risked arrest, and frostbite in the cold weather, while blockading five separate entrances to the building for over five hours. No mass arrests were made, but the people involved were definitely willing to spend some time in the big house to get their message across. The blockade worked, young people “shut them down.”
Power Shift 2009 was organized differently than CCA. Instead of staging a mass civil disobedience outside the Capitol building, the Power Shift group organized a lobbying effort to include the obedient, scheduling meetings with over 350 members of Congress. They held a massive lobbying effort, where youth testified before lawmakers about climate change, the future of green energy, and sustainability efforts.
Jesse Jenkins posted a three-part story on Huffington Post about the increasing awareness of climate change, and the impact organizations like Power Shift have had. You can read the story here.
Two separate actions, one great day. If you’re more of the scholarly type, Power Shift 2009 is a great way for you to make a difference. Willing to sit in a jail cell with Tom Hanks’ mermaid girlfriend, Daryl Hannah? Then Capitol Climate Action is for you. This is the future, America. Better get used to it.
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