Students unite for clean energy

Sixteen Grand Valley students took their passion for clean energy to the national level by attending Power Shift 2011, a national conference that brought together more than 10,000 students in Washington, D.C. in April.

“We decided to go to the conference to network with the other schools and march to the capital; a presence that we hope would show policy makers how many passionate students have gathered for this cause,” said Josh Lycka, member of the Student Environmental Coalition at Grand Valley.

The conference was organized by the Energy Action Coalition, a group of 50 youth-led environmental and social justice groups working together to build the youth clean energy and climate movement. Featured conference keynote speakers were Al Gore, Van Jones, an award-winning pioneer in the clean-energy economy, and Lisa Jackson, administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Lycka, a junior majoring in natural resource management and French, said Power Shift really focused on organization training and how students can get involved with their local communities. 

One day was spent rallying on the steps of Capitol Hill, where thousands of students gathered to express their messages of a clean energy future.

Lycka added that his favorite part of the conference was networking with students who shared similar interests. “It was a great environment for discussion and really motivated us to continue our environmental awareness efforts on campus at Grand Valley.”

Consumer’s Energy StreetSmart program covered the registration fees for students who attended, which included Lycka, Danielle Griffin, Allison Proffitt, Andrew West, Cassandra Beach, Gwen Gell, Kirk Barber, Lissa Marques, Lena Spedacene, Nancey Finney, Camille McBride, Mary Haiderer, Jordan  Hartz, Emily Quinn, Vince Panazzo, and Yuliya Kuznetsova.