Powershift Day 1

Friday April 15 2011


We left Columbus at around ten pm on Thursday and arrived safely in Virginia at Collins house at about five in the morning. Collin is not only hosting the nine of us but also a group from upstate New York and a group for Michigan. (The house was packed)

Cort and I headed into the city with Dan and Olivia at around noon and decided to take in the sites. We visited the Washingtom monument the Lincoln Memorial the WWII memorial the Vietnam memorial and a few other things around the mall. After touring Cort and I grabbed some hot dogs and headed up to the convention center.

Cortney and I on the Metro into the city

The Capital building from the Mall

The Washington Monument from the Mall

Cortney being artsy taking a picture up the monument

WWII memorial

WWII memorial

Lincoln Memorial

Lincoln up close

Vietnam Memorial, which was incredibly sad

Tulips in Obama's garden (Presidents Garden)

White House!

Al Gore! (on the screen)

After checking in we went to the opening ceremony and listened to the many keynote speakers. First up was Al Gore, who was treated like a rockstar. He passionately spoke about taking action and that this was the perfect time for the youth movement. Van Jones, who spoke after Gore, is a very very motivated man who was appointed by president Obama to be special advisor for Green Jobs. Mr. Jones talked about the size of our generation and the potential we have to make real lasting change. He encouraged the youth to hold their politicans acountable. He spoke about there not only being liberty for all but also justice for all. This is what makes the environmental justice movement different than other environmental movements. With environmental justice you are not just thinking about saving the environment but also about how you do that and who you step on along the way. So not just making solar panels but making solar panels in communities where there are no jobs so that not only are you providing clean renewable energy but also you are boosting a communities economy so that they have the means to continue improving their condition. Every decision that we make effects every aspect of our lives, so you can not say that you want to fight climate change without being aware of who is affected by your actions.

Other speakes we had were a woman named Michele Roberts who was amazingly energetic who spoke passionately about standing strong for social change. There were also people speaking about coal production and it's dangers to not only the environment but also the people where it is mined and where it is used. For example Miami of Ohio's students got their board of trusties to stop the use of coal on their campus. There was also a young man from Appalachia who spoke about mountain top removal and how the mining is not just destroying the mountain but also severely affecting the lives of those people who live in the community.

Overall the opening was all about pumping us up to see that we can make a difference and that we are making a differnce already.