The greenhouse gas emissions of the New England region equal those of the entire nation of Germany. This fact served as both a sobering reality check and an inspiring challenge to the attendants of the 3rd annual Northeastern Climate Conference, held last weekend at the University of Vermont in Burlington.
Eight Bowdoin women joined over 200 students from colleges and universities throughout the northeastern U.S. and eastern Canada, attending three days of lectures, workshops, and meetings focusing on climate change issues and the potential for regional actions to combat climate change.
The event was organized by the Climate Campaign, a non-profit organization devoted to organizing and educating college students in the Northeast for climate change activism. The program included lectures delivered by such academics as Jonathan Isham of Middlebury College, who spoke about the central role of the community in mitigating climate change; regional politicians such as Vermont governor Jim Douglas; and activists such as Elaine Alexie, a 25-year-old woman from the Tetlit Gwichin First Nation of Canada's Northwest Territory. Alexie delivered a compelling speech, which gave an indigenous perspective on the issue of drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The refuge has become a central concern in the environmental community as the Bush administration seeks to open protected areas on Alaska's North Slope to extensive commercial development.
Jon Fishman, the former drummer of the band Phish, lent his celebrity to the agenda.
Workshops ran on a range of topics, and the presenters likewise ran the gamut of professions, age, and experience. Highlights included "Radical Simplicity," a presentation by Jim Merkel based on his book of the same name, which taught participants how to create and attain a "personal sustainability goal" by reducing one's ecological footprint and making life choices that do not harm the environment. Another exhibit, "Making Cape Wind Happen," the focused on the controversial proposal to build the world's largest offshore windfarm in the Nantucket Sound.
There were also many opportunities for networking with students from other schools, which conference organizer Meg Boyle '05 identified as one of the weekend's primary functions. State Break Out sessions were run in order to facilitate connections with other students in one's own state. The Maine Break Out included students from Bowdoin, Bates, USM, U-Maine at Orono, Unity College, and College of the Atlantic. The group developed a preliminary strategy to raise support and awareness for Maine's Clean Cars legislation, which will be debated in the state legislature this spring. Participant Kristen Roland '07 commented, "We all fed off of each other's energy and returned to our campuses recharged and ready for action." Attendants from the various Maine schools are planning further coordinated actions throughout the semester to support the Clean Cars bill.
The conference ended Sunday with an address by Bill McKibben, a visiting scholar at Middlebury College, in which he poignantly cautioned students against becoming disillusioned by a movement that had no potential for clear victory, but infinite possibility for positive change. Holly Kingsbury '07 expressed this sentiment by saying "I was getting a little overwhelmed by the vastness of climate change and its problems, but the conference really renewed my determination to be part of the solution." More information about the conference and the Climate Campaign is available at www.climatecampaign.org.
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