Fall '07 Preview

I'm excited for the school year to start. Thursday Night Group is going to be lots and lots of fun. We're going to bring a lot of new students into the group, take on some really big projects, and generally work on turning Williams College into a global warming solution generating machine.

Campaigns: Promoting the local currency, the Berkshares, in the Williamstown/North Adams area, joining a fledgling state network to kick coal out of the state, bringing faculty into the sustainability project through Focus the Nation and encouraging local high school students to become climate activists are just a few of the projects that are lined up. We'll also get our president to sign the Presidents Climate Commitment and have a kick-ass Step it Up 2. We're going to get the college to allow students to propose shareholder resolutions, becoming the first college in history to do so. Of course this is only a brief and incomplete list, mainly because most of the projects we work on aren't going to come from me - they're going to come from you! Yes you, what is it you want to accomplish? What will make Williams more sustainable?

Group: As we accomplish these campaigns and continue to build our reputation as a group that gets stuff done, we're going to grow. Even from the beginning we're going to use our image and our coolness to draw in a large crowd of freshmen eager to save the world, and also a bunch of people who would never consider themselves environmentalists - people who see problems that need fixing, and can see that those solutions will not only make people immediately better off, but also ensure the ability of our civilization to continue beyond the climate crisis. Our group structure, our image and above all, our people, are poised to make this happen.

I've become very involved with the Sierra Student Coalition over the summer and I've learned a lot. First I attended a week long summer program that teaches skills on how to run campaigns on campuses. Then I worked for three weeks on the March to ReEnergize NH before finally attending the week-long national summit of the SSC. It turns out, Williams isn't the only place with sweet climate activists. All that means is we have a lot to do.

So, before we dive into to another year, lets just take a deep breath and think about how sweet this is going to be. New bumper sticker idea: I'd rather be fighting global warming.

See you all soon.