In an attempt to influence national politicians to support clean
and renewable energy, UCLA students from ecologically-minded groups
participated in a national day of action for a better energy
policy.
A national coalition of student groups, including UCLA’s
California Student Sustainability Coalition, circulated petitions
on which the signers were asked to declare “Independence from
dirty energy.”
The California Student Sustainability Coalition is a statewide
student organization dedicated to improving quality of life on the
individual, interpersonal and community level.
On the national day of action ““ which was organized by
Energy Action, a coalition of student and youth groups for clean
energy in North America ““ students gathered signatures and
made phone calls to President Bush and his Democratic challenger,
Sen. John Kerry.
The signatures will be sent to the winner of the 2004
presidential election.
“Young voters are making the connections between U.S.
reliance on dirty energy and the issues we care about most: war,
job loss and global warming,” says Billy Parish, the
coordinator of Energy Action, in a statement.
“Our energy policy is dangerously misguided. A rapid shift
to clean energy must be a priority in this election,” Parish
said.
Energy Action posted the petition on their Web site in an
attempt to gain more youth support.
The sustainability coalition also attempted to raise awareness
at UCLA about reliance on dirty energy such as oil and coal.
“Our dependence on dirty energy has led us into a dirty
war and is unsustainable for the 21st century,” says Dorothy
Le, sustainability coalition’s campus coordinator for the
National Clean Energy Campaign.
“Moving to an economic system based on clean energy is a
necessary step in slowing global warming, ensuring national
security, and creating a peaceful world for our generation and
future generations,” Le said.
The group recently collaborated with the UC Board of Regents and
UC Office of the President to pass a system-wide Green
Building/Renewable Energy policy in July of 2003.
The “Green Building Policy and Clean Energy
Standard” calls for the UC to adopt principles of energy
efficiency and sustainability in its capital projects to the
fullest extent possible, taking into account budgetary constraints,
and regulatory and programmatic requirements.
According to a press release by UCOP, the policy also calls for
the university to minimize its impact on the environment and reduce
non-renewable energy use by purchasing green power from the
electrical grid, promoting energy efficiency, and creating local
renewable power sources.