Some campuses, particularly private institutions, may be able to work with their campus administrations to promote state and regional policy if it is clearly bipartisan and does not seem overtly political. This may include renewable energy standards, policies to remove subsidies from fossil fuels, or support for new research and development.
In collaboration with your regional/state student network, the National Campus Energy Challenge, and the Campus Climate Challenge (http://www.climatechallenge.org/), you can help make a real difference in our nation's energy policy. You can contact non-profit organizations in your region that are tracking policy initiatives and offer your support. Students have a key role in terms of mobilizing youth support, engaging communities, and encouraging non-profit advocates to push for transformative policies. The regional networks we build can empower ambitious climate solutions at the national level.
You can write to your representative or city council member and support policies and programs that will promote effective climate solutions. We can bring clean, reliable and affordable energy technologies to the marketplace and make a difference in our everyday lives by enhancing our energy choices - and our quality of life. Organize letters and callins to regional and national to legislators when important energy bills are being considered. Get larger institutions like your college, local businesses, and non-profits involved.
We can use this year's momentum to bring some change to this country. Perhaps, forty years from now, we will be able to look back and say that we did our best in this critical time to save the planet for future generations to come.
