Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Media contacts: Energy Action Coalition, Brianna Cayo Cotter, (415) 305-1943
We Campaign, Giselle Barry, (650) 543-7300
** PRESS RELEASE **
Al Gore Calls on Students to Vote, Hold Leaders Accountable
for Campaign Promises on Clean Energy
154 campuses air live webcast, kick off national climate and get-out-the vote efforts
Menlo Park, CA – With Election Day less than a week away, Nobel laureate and Vice President Al Gore today called on students on college campuses across the country during a live webcast to get out the vote and hold elected leaders accountable for climate change and clean energy campaign promises. 154 campuses and more than 15,000 viewers nationwide tuned in to the special webcast organized by Power Vote, a national non-partisan effort spearheaded by the Energy Action Coalition and the “We” Campaign, a project of Gore’s Alliance for Climate Protection.
“To Repower America with 100 percent carbon-free electricity within 10 years, we’re going to need the enthusiasm and dedication of millions of motivated students and young adults,” said Vice President Gore. “I applaud the Energy Action Coalition for their valuable work encouraging students to vote on Election Day.”
Joined by Jessy Tolkan, Executive Director of the Energy Action Coalition's Power Vote campaign, Vice President Gore spoke to students about his recent Repower America challenge – to generate 100% clean electricity within 10 years. He addressed the importance of the upcoming election and urged students to encourage their friends and classmates to vote on November 4.
As part of Energy Action Coalition’s Get Out the (Power) Vote campaigning leading up to Election Day, campus webcast viewing parties were followed by activities that encouraged students to vote. After being joined by the university president and other campus officials to watch the webcast, Portland State University students went “Trick or Vote bike-storming” across the city. Pennsylvania State University students heard remarks from Sierra Club Executive Director Carl Pope. And University of Maryland - College Park students, dressed in Halloween-themed “climate change” costumes, visited campus dormitories to urge students to got to the polls next Tuesday.
“When young people turn out in record numbers on November 4, we expect the candidates we vote for to show real leadership and vision in addressing the climate crisis,” said Tolkan. “Our country, and our generation, deserves bold, political leadership that is committed to creating a clean energy future that will make our nation healthier, safer, and more prosperous.”
Students attending webcast viewing parties also were asked to sign the Power Vote pledge to send a strong message to elected leaders. So far, 310,288 people have signed the pledge. It states:
We are young Americans demanding real solutions to global warming by voting to create a clean energy economy, green jobs for all, and to secure our climate. Join us. I pledge to make clean, just energy a top priority in my vote this election.
The webcast is available for viewing at www.wecansolveit.org/webcast. For more information on participating Power Vote campuses, visit www.powervote.org.
About the Energy Action Coalition:
The Energy Action Coalition and its more than 40 partner organizations are currently engaged in organizing young people across the United States to pledge their vote for “clean and just energy.” To date, more than 200,000 people have volunteered for the Power Vote effort. For a list of Energy Action Coalition partners, please visit www.energyaction.org.
About the “We” Campaign:
Unprecedented in scale for a public policy issue, the Alliance for Climate Protection’s “We” Campaign draws from the best practices of successful commercial, social marketing and political campaigns. The We Campaign combines advertising, online organizing and partnerships with a diverse and growing group of grassroots organizations, to educate the American public on the urgent need to solve the climate crisis and activate them to demand real solutions from elected officials -- in part through repowering America with 100 percent of its electricity from clean carbon-free sources within 10 years.
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