FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT:
Angela Walker, 650-766-2748
Nina Rizzo, 510-517-6855
POWER VOTE KICKS OFF IN CALIFORNIA, MOBILIZING 1 MILLION "CLIMATE VOTERS"
Nonpartisan Campaign Aims to Put Clean Energy, Green on 2008 Election Agenda
California—Today, a diverse group of California youth leaders and organizations launched Power Vote, a national non-partisan initiative to elevate the issue of climate change this election season. Spearheaded by the youth-led Energy Action Coalition, including members Global Exchange and the League of Young Voters, "Power Vote" aims to unite one million young "climate voters" behind a platform centered on combating global warming pollution, creating millions of new green jobs, and ensuring our nation's energy independence by transitioning to a dynamic, new clean energy economy.
"Students all over California want this country to move away from fossil fuels and invest in a clean energy economy,” says Global Exchange California organizer, Nina Rizzo. “From San Diego to Humboldt, they're jumping on this political moment to unite and engage tens of thousands of their peers, and to pressure candidates to meet the Power Vote platform. Power Vote is not a campaign to ignore considering young people make up 25 percent of the electorate."
In the weeks leading up to the elections, California will see an intensive grassroots effort as organizers engage thousands of young people across the state—storming campuses, addressing hundreds of classes, meetings students at bars and concerts, and showing up at candidate events—making the youth position on climate clear. From the San Francisco Clean Energy Act to the Green Jobs Now National Day of Action on September 27th, Power Voters will be taking advantage of opportunities in California to mobilize young voters, spread awareness and collect pledges. On the National Day of Action for example, San Diego State University students—whose goal is to collect 3,000 pledges—will be handing out “Passports to Green Living,” inviting people to attend the Green Expo, and sending the message that their generation is “Ready for Clean Energy, Ready for Green Jobs.”
“An inclusive green economy needs representation from people who are working on various community issues: from social and economic issues to environmental justice and beyond,” says Ellen-Rae Cachola of The League of Young Voters. “All of our issues are interconnected so I look forward to a collaborative green movement committed to structural change.”
In California, Energy Action Coalition organizations—including Global Exchange, The League of Young Voters, Green for All, and the National Wildlife Federation—are working with student organizers to run Power Vote on at least eighteen campuses including: Chico State, University of California Berkeley, San Diego State University, University of Southern California, and the Claremont Colleges.
For more information visit www.powervote.org.
The Energy Action Coalition unites 48 organizations, over 600 local groups, and tens of thousands of young people in 56 states and provinces in an alliance that supports and strengthens the clean energy movement among students and young people in the United States and Canada. The partners of Energy Action work together to build a clean, efficient, just and renewable energy future.
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