Moving Beyond Dirty Energy

On the morning of May 8, I joined an action more than one hundred people strong calling on the US Environmental Protection Agency to enforce the Clean Water Act.  Dozens of Appalachians had traveled hours to the heart of our nation’s democracy in Washington, DC.  They came all the way from the hollers of West Virginia and the mountains of Kentucky.  They came seeking justice for their families and communities.  They came because their survival and their futures depended on it.

They weren’t there alone.  The crowd was composed of allies from DC and up and down the East Coast.  It was populated by students calling on their universities to divest from the very industries that harm Appalachia – students from Georgetown University in DC all the way to Middlebury College in VT.  “I felt called to take action and come to DC.” said Greta Newbauer, a student divestment activist who traveled all the way from Wisconsin to stand in solidarity with Appalachia Rising "because their fight is my fight - our struggle for justice is the same."

For Hampton University in Hampton Roads, Virginia, Earth Day marked a new day in history for the school: Hampton's inaugural Environmental Justice & Sustainability panel. Over 100 students came out to the panel discussion Monday evening to hear from professors, fellow students, and local non-profit organizers to learn about environmental and climate justice and how they can take action on their campus, in the local community, and beyond.

As yet another semester at Bowling Green State University inches towards its conclusion, I realize how difficult it is to adequately summarize the accomplishments of Environmental Action Group in the form of the written word. Our campaign for 100% clean energy at BGSU by 2020 has reached heights that attest to the dedication of all students and community members who have been directly involved or have expressed valuable support and that highlight the urgent situation escalated by continued fossil fuel usage.

On Monday April 15th, the Environmental Action Group at Bowling Green State University launched a week-long “Call-In” drive to our President’s office to demand a 100% clean energy future for BGSU with an end goal of 2020.

The day started off slow at 10am, when most college students are still half asleep and just rolling out of bed. By 11:30, our administration had really begun to hear the students’ demands in numbers. The administration sent the University’s police captain out to where we were standing in our Student Union’s Oval to tell us that having students call into President Mazey’s office was “illegal” because it was “disrupting the work that could be done in the office” and supposedly “harassment”, ultimately threatening us by saying that he “could write us a ticket.”