2008 Woodie Awards
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Cheering for change
Activists marched to bring attention to the problem of global warming Saturday
by Braden Wolf |
"People aren't apathetic, just primed," said Wood. "We need every fan in that stadium on our team. We want stadiums filled with football fans, not hurricane refugees."
The gathering at the EMU also featured cheers led by a group of children from Eugene and Springfield public schools, global warming raps by University student Ari Lesser and a number of tables with petitions and sign making.
The signs came in handy when the group marched from the EMU to Autzen Stadium to make its voice heard loud and clear. The rally set up shop near the dog park across the street from Autzen, allowing the activists to educate thousands of fans regarding the threat posed by global warming.
The Step It Up event in Eugene was one of hundreds taking place around the United States. Forty-five members of Congress and numerous presidential candidates, including Republican John McCain and every Democratic candidate, had pledged to attend a Step It Up rally.
The Step It Up campaign was started by author and environmental activist Bill McKibben in January. The organization has three explicit priorities. The first is to create five million "green jobs" by 2015. The second is to push for Congress to cut carbon emissions by 80 percent by 2050. Finally, Step It Up wants to completely end the construction of new coal plants.
McKibben is optimistic about the possibility of making major progress with these priorities, especially when it comes to carbon emissions.
"There was a recent proposal that called for a 60 percent cut by 2050," McKibben told the Emerald before a speech he gave at the University on Tuesday night. "Just a year ago that would have seemed very radical. We are really uniting around what we want to get done."
McKibben believes that having separate events around the country is much more effective than simply marching on Washington. Hough echoed this sentiment at the outset of the rally when he announced, "The idea of the event is to create a community."
And quite a community it was. The activists turned heads and perked up ears as they marched and cheered in unison to promote their cause. This same scene took place in hundreds of locations across the country in what McKibben said was the largest single day of global warming activism in the history of the United States.
The gathering at the EMU also featured cheers led by a group of children from Eugene and Springfield public schools, global warming raps by University student Ari Lesser and a number of tables with petitions and sign making.
The signs came in handy when the group marched from the EMU to Autzen Stadium to make its voice heard loud and clear. The rally set up shop near the dog park across the street from Autzen, allowing the activists to educate thousands of fans regarding the threat posed by global warming.
The Step It Up event in Eugene was one of hundreds taking place around the United States. Forty-five members of Congress and numerous presidential candidates, including Republican John McCain and every Democratic candidate, had pledged to attend a Step It Up rally.
The Step It Up campaign was started by author and environmental activist Bill McKibben in January. The organization has three explicit priorities. The first is to create five million "green jobs" by 2015. The second is to push for Congress to cut carbon emissions by 80 percent by 2050. Finally, Step It Up wants to completely end the construction of new coal plants.
McKibben is optimistic about the possibility of making major progress with these priorities, especially when it comes to carbon emissions.
"There was a recent proposal that called for a 60 percent cut by 2050," McKibben told the Emerald before a speech he gave at the University on Tuesday night. "Just a year ago that would have seemed very radical. We are really uniting around what we want to get done."
McKibben believes that having separate events around the country is much more effective than simply marching on Washington. Hough echoed this sentiment at the outset of the rally when he announced, "The idea of the event is to create a community."
And quite a community it was. The activists turned heads and perked up ears as they marched and cheered in unison to promote their cause. This same scene took place in hundreds of locations across the country in what McKibben said was the largest single day of global warming activism in the history of the United States.
Viewing Comments 1 - 2 of 2
Ken Bowerman
posted 11/05/07 @ 7:52 AM PST
Congratulations and well done! Keep up the good work. Your generation will have to "carry the ball" on this one, I think. Are you up to the challenge?
loonygopher
loonygopher
posted 11/06/07 @ 2:10 AM PST
One hopes the enthusiastic cheers of the Step It Up crowd inspire everyone of the gathering to the work. To some it will be a burden, to some increasing joy. (Continued…)
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