Global warming rallies heat up
Hannah Mintz
Issue date: 11/5/07 Section: Campus News
Tropical Storm Noel brought rain and wind to New England this weekend, but the storm didn't prevent students interested in combating climate change from gathering on and off campus. Some students rallied in Providence for environmental activism, and others attended a weekend-long summit on global warming in Maryland.
A subdued rally was held Sunday morning in front of Faunce House. Approximately 40 students gathered to listen to speeches and raise awareness about environmental issues. Around half of those students then boarded a RIPTA trolley - rented by the group for the afternoon with the help of President Ruth Simmons, according to Shane Easter '10 who helped organize the event. The group headed for a rally to fight climate change in Rhode Island at the Roger Williams Park Zoo.
Easter, who helped organize the rally at Brown, said he was happy with the turnout. "Because it was more intimate," he said, "it made the messages go deeper." Easter said it was more important for the rally to make a big impact on fewer people than to have a larger number of passive participants.
The speeches at the rally mainly focused on concrete actions students can take to help reduce their impact on the environment. Associate Professor of Environmental Studies Steven Hamburg suggested students apply pressure to Thayer Street restaurants to cut back on energy consumption. Hamburg said he believed that most Thayer Street restaurants could cut their energy use in half and that students could help bring about this reduction by voicing their concerns to restaurant owners.
State Rep. David Segal, D-Dist. 2, urged students to campaign for Frank Ferri, a Democrat running in a special election for state representative in Warwick to be held Nov. 27. According to his Web site, Ferri supports investing in business practices that encourage environmentally-friendly behavior. "If you get an activist (like Ferri) elected ... he can apply pressure and point out hypocrisies," Segal told The Herald. "It can be really powerful."
A subdued rally was held Sunday morning in front of Faunce House. Approximately 40 students gathered to listen to speeches and raise awareness about environmental issues. Around half of those students then boarded a RIPTA trolley - rented by the group for the afternoon with the help of President Ruth Simmons, according to Shane Easter '10 who helped organize the event. The group headed for a rally to fight climate change in Rhode Island at the Roger Williams Park Zoo.
Easter, who helped organize the rally at Brown, said he was happy with the turnout. "Because it was more intimate," he said, "it made the messages go deeper." Easter said it was more important for the rally to make a big impact on fewer people than to have a larger number of passive participants.
The speeches at the rally mainly focused on concrete actions students can take to help reduce their impact on the environment. Associate Professor of Environmental Studies Steven Hamburg suggested students apply pressure to Thayer Street restaurants to cut back on energy consumption. Hamburg said he believed that most Thayer Street restaurants could cut their energy use in half and that students could help bring about this reduction by voicing their concerns to restaurant owners.
State Rep. David Segal, D-Dist. 2, urged students to campaign for Frank Ferri, a Democrat running in a special election for state representative in Warwick to be held Nov. 27. According to his Web site, Ferri supports investing in business practices that encourage environmentally-friendly behavior. "If you get an activist (like Ferri) elected ... he can apply pressure and point out hypocrisies," Segal told The Herald. "It can be really powerful."