Students ride for global climate change

Author: Caitlin Prentice

On April 1, college students from across Vermont will converge on the state house lawn in Montpelier to support House Bill 49, a climate change action plan for the state. Here's the catch - in order to show their support for cleaner transportation options, students will ride bicycles the 38 miles between Burlington and the capitol. The event, dubbed "Fossil Fools Day," will include a letter writing campaign on the state house lawn, and is being organized primarily by a group of Middlebury students.

The group, known as the Middlebury Climate Campaign, is not an official student organization but started when students teamed up in Assistant Professor of Economics Jon Isham's Winter Term class, "Building the New Climate Movement." Today, the campaign includes over 70 students on its list-share and prides itself in its large and active membership. Kelly Blynn '07 said that the group tries to focus on positive solutions to climate change and not to dwell on negative messages. "We want to empower people to find solutions," she said.

Emily Wheeler '07 is one of the students involved in planning the Fossil Fools bike event. She is particularly excited about the fact that students from many colleges will be involved, including the University of Vermont (UVM) and Green Mountain College.

Students will depart from their respective colleges early on Friday, April 1 and meet in Burlington that morning where they will hop on bikes and make the journey to Montpelier. Upon arrival, students can write letters to Congressmen, listen to legislators' speeches and learn about Bill H 49. The bike ride and the lawn event will raise awareness about the legislation as well as transportation and climate change issues in general. "It's very exciting to see Middlebury kids taking action on issues they believe in," said Wheeler.

In addition to the Fossil Fools Day event, the Middlebury Climate Campaign has a busy month ahead, including non-violent civil disobedience training April 3, traveling to meet with the Climate Crisis Coalition in New York City on April 8, participating in Earth Day activities in town April 24 and hosting an Interfaith Climate Change Celebration April 28.

Blynn said that the Coalition tries to provide a variety of opportunities for different people to get involved in the movement. "We try not to make the environment a special interest because it's something that affects everyone," she said.

Will Bates '06 is organizing the Interfaith Climate Change Celebration, which grew out of a contact the group made at the Climate Change Conference at UVM last month. Fred Small, a Unitarian Universalist minister from Massachusetts, will speak at the event in Middlebury about his experiences working with other religious leaders to promote change in regards to the global climate. "If you look back at other large movements, like the Civil Rights Movement, religion and belief were what motivated a lot of people," said Bates. "Climate change is going to effect people all over the world and faith is a motivating factor." The event will also include student speakers from different religious traditions and their perspectives on climate change.

One long-term project that many students in the group are involved in is "The Road to Detroit." Next August, citizens from across the country will converge in Detroit, the symbolic car capitol of the world, to tell automakers that American consumers want fuel-efficient, American-made cars. As with the Fossil Fools event, as many participants as possible will travel to Detroit by bike, hybrid car, or other clean transportation options.