The Torch

Issue date: 11/8/07 Section: News

Media Credit: Melissa Upshaw The crowd expresses their support, at UO campus on Nov. 3, for the Step It Up campaign and the continuing fight against global warming.

Demonstrations spanned the entire country Nov. 3, exactly one year before the 2008 election, to rally citizens to become actively involved toward what scientists are calling the most pressing issue of our time, global warming.
Bill McKibben, author of ten books, and professor at Middleburg College in Vermont, gave a lecture in the Erb Memorial Union ballroom at the University of Oregon last week concerning the new sense of urgency toward global warming, human impact, and what needs to be done politically. McKibben spread the message about the demonstration, encouraging everyone to attend.
Step It Up, an organization founded by McKibben and several of his students, is a grass roots organization bringing action through the public to the government concerning climate change. This is the second nation wide demonstration the group has spearheaded, and a rally took place in all 50 states.
Three demands on government were targeted for this demonstration: that we cut carbon emissions 30 percent by 2020, 80 percent by 2050, ban new coal fired plants under the general rule of shifting federal subsidies from fossil fuels to clean energy, create five million "green-collar jobs."
Close to 200 individuals gathered at the EMU for Eugene's rally on Saturday at noon. The number paled in comparison to the 5,000 students that gathered on the Cole Memorial Field at the University of Maryland and some individuals shared their disappointment that more people didn't turn out. The crowd donned yellow and green, showing what appeared to be equal support for the Ducks' victory in that day's game.
Mayor Kitty Piercy kicked the event off by speaking to the crowd about the recent Climate Summit of Mayors held in Seattle. Piercy mentioned the efforts that cities across the U.S. are making toward curbing their negative impact on the environment, Eugene included. "Big changes in big cities can make a big impact," Piercy explained.
The mayor mentioned many steps that Eugene has taken to reduce the city's carbon footprint, including meeting lead standards for all new buildings and "buying all the wind power E-web has to offer, but we can do much much more," Piercy said.

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