Welcome New Regional Directors!

by. Kayti Wingfield, Campus Coordinator 

WELCOME all new Regional Directors! I am very excited to work with all of the exceptionally talented leaders in this program. I expect BIG things from this group and I am looking forward to being a part of the solution with you on your campus with 2020 Vision.

An Amazing Year of Coalition Building and Action

by Lois Rundell, University of Wisconsin; Madison, WI

What an amazing year!  I can hardly believe it is over!  In Madison, we focused on coalitions, awareness and legislative action.  At the beginning of the school year, we had a biodiesel tour bus demonstration, worked with the university’s energy conservation plan, “We Conserve”, and worked to get a small but solid core group of activists.  Global warming continues to be one of the hottest topics on campus and there are many organizations that involve climate change and environmental justice.  We formed coalitions with WisPIRG, Global Warming: FACT, and the university’s “We Conserve” campaign. 

For more information, click the story title.

Great Learning Experience as a Regional Director

by Sarah Grillo, Burlington College; Burlington, VT

My time as a Regional Director has been an interesting experience for me, and fulfilling in that it gave me a foundation from which I have learned about the world of non-profits, lobbying, and activism.  I started out last semester by forming a small group of interested students who have worked with me in a variety of ways throughout the year. They helped me organize a film night at my school where we showed The End of Suburbia (with an overwhelming student turnout) and they assisted with tasks such as tabling at concerts and community events.  One of them is also taking the position of editor for my documentary on peak oil, which I’m now setting up as my degree project for the end of my senior year of college.  Through my knowledge of peak oil and my position as Regional Director, I also found my presence requested on a few occasions at lectures and conferences.  One such conference was a weekend for high school students at Woodbury College in which I taught three separate classes on the subject of oil depletion, and was surprised to find the students interested and excited to learn more.

For more information, click the story title.

Many Events Throughout the Year at UPenn

by Katarina Lackner, University of Pennsylvania; Philadelphia, PA

This past year has been a very rewarding experience. During the training week in Washington D.C. I learned about some of the most important issues of our generation, including our oil dependence and the implications it has for our national security, economy, and environment. Armed with a mission, I formed a group on Penn’s campus to raise awareness about these issues and undertake initiatives that would reduce our university’s ecological footprint. We had 30 loyal members who were dedicated to the cause and an ambitious agenda.

We held our first event in October. The College GREEN Energy Fair was an event in coalition with other environmental groups in the Philadelphia area to raise awareness and get people involved. We had a series of posters hanging up with facts and statistics about our everyday energy use and how to simply and effectively cut back. We also had a petition to the university president to encourage green development of the postal lands, a plot of land recently purchased by the university. In mid November we held a screening of An Inconvenient Truth. We had 360 people fill the auditorium and even had to turn some people away at the door.

For more information, click the story title.

A Great Year with 2020 Vision!

by Sarah Parsons, Emory University; Altanta, GA

Working with 2020 Vision has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my college career. On that first plane ride to DC to meet my fellow 2020 Vision Regional Directors, I could have never anticipated the opportunities that awaited me with the 2020 Vision Program.
After DC I came home to Stockbridge, Georgia with visions for new clean energy in the Southeast. I had dreams for concerts to raise enthusiasm around alternative energy. I had visions of lobby days and biodiesel tour buses. Amazingly enough, with the help of my amazing chapter members at Emory University, we accomplished almost all those visions – just short of the BioWillie (Willie Nelson) concert.

For more information, click the story title.

Year End Checklist for Minnesota

by Jim Skoog, University of Minnesota-Duluth; Duluth, MN

1. Major actions planned this year.
- February conservation month.
- Sold energy efficient light bulbs and Nalgene bottles.
- Showed "An Inconvenient Truth"
- Earth Day Festival and clean energy parade

2. Accomplishments
-Institutionalized a Sustainability Task Force at UMD
-Presented a plan for campus clean energy procurement through REC's (Renewable Energy Credits)
-Participated in a statewide college conservation campaign "Campus Wars"
-Set-up a deal with Food Service to give a discount for BYOC (Bringing Your
Own Cup).
-Sold "Nalgene Bottles" for fundraiser

3. I learned how to purchase renewable energy credits and how to determine if they are legitimate. I learned the complexities of clean energy procurement for power utilities. Also, I learned how to present ideas to policy-makers.

4. Positive experiences. It was great to work with adults in the institution. I was surprised to see how many people in the administration, whether they were in facilities management or finance, were really onboard and excited to tackle global warming at a local level. I was also impressed with the local power utility, Minnesota Power, they were very receptive and willing to meet in person to talk. Overall, meeting like-minded individuals, from students to policy-makers, was a very positive experience.

A Fun Year as Regional Director at Seton Hall

by Jessica King, Seton Hall University, South Orange, NJ

This year as a Regional Director for Seton Hall University has been a great learning experience. Not only did it enhance my leadership skills and knowledge of environmental issues, it helped me grow as a person. I have always procrastinated a little too much and working with 2020 vision and having amazing directors ;-) pushing me and giving me deadlines was great. It helped me become more organized and gave me confidence in my abilities.
The first semester was very difficult juggling volleyball, injuries, school and the internship and unfortunately wasn’t able to do much with 2020 Vision. However this past semester I was able to do a lot more and couldn’t be more grateful for my experiences with 2020 Vision.
After doing a lot of research, I found out that the NFL, FIFA World Cup, the Olympics and The World Ski Federation all went carbon neutral. With a lot of help from 2020 Vision, I was able to create a proposal and meet with senior athletic directors to have Seton Hall Athletics purchase carbon offsets for some of their athletic events. The senior directors are in the process of devising a way to have the teams raise money and have a donor match it. If this works, Seton Hall University will become the first school in the Big East Conference to offset sporting events. I have a general proposal that I will be sending to all the other schools in the Conference when I get word from our university.

For more information, click the story title.

A Year in Review from UNC

by Jennifer St. Clair, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC

Here at UNC we worked hard to create change to better the environment, the economy, and our national security. Plans for the year included a showing of “An Inconvenient Truth” prior to the November elections of 2006, tabling events to give out information on 2020 Vision and energy security in general, a film screening of “Kilowatt Ours”, changing campus police cars from regular fuel use to hybrids within 5 years, and passing a commuter alternative’s initiative that would allow staff and faculty across the University to telecommute to work. A final action planned for the middle of the 2007 summer will take place in my hometown of Cape Girardeau, Mo. I will be conducting training for over 30 people on energy security, the most recent legislation, personal actions to reduce impacts, and more community-based actions as well.

For more information, click the story title.

Many Accomplishments this year at KU

by Studie Red Corn, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS

I planned to show “An Inconvenient Truth”, bring Al Gore to campus, work for a shareholder responsibility committee with the KU endowment, bring an Ethanol Pump to town, switch the university police to hybrids, and pass a referendum for renewable energy.

For more information, click the story title.

Three Big Campaigns at KU

by Studie Red Corn, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS

This past week has been especially active. We are on the final drafts of a referendum that we are going to put forth to the Student Body at KU. Also we presented a proposal to KU police to switch to Hybrids. The idea was well received. They were surprised to find out the comparable features of each vehicle. They also learned about the large amount of savings that could be gained from making the switch from 8mpg Crown Victorias to the over 40mpg Prius. On top of this we are working to help form another organization to run a waste cooking oil to biodiesel conversion plant, to be located in the school of engineering.

Stop Global Warming in Wisconsin

On March 15, 2007, from 9 AM to 1 PM, you have the opportunity to join dozens of other student activists at the Wisconsin Capitol demanding a brighter future for us all.

Come lobby for comprehensive legislation, modeled after last years landmark California bill, which will drastically cut carbon emissions in our state. Just think of the benefits this will have for our health and environment. Let's make Wisconsin a national leader in the movement to stop global warming! Your direct, in-person communication with your legislator is the only way we can make it happen.

Click here to register!
Click here for more information about the bill!

Spring kick off

by Katarina Lackner, University of Pennsylvania; Philadelphia, PA

We recently applied to become officially recognized by the University as a new student group. This will allow us to have a web page and list-serve through the University.

We have been trying to discuss additional ways to make the March PowerShift conference fun and interactive. Our group members are on the look-out.

We have also been putting together ideas for an earth day celebration, similar to our College GREEN Energy Fair in October.

Lastly, we have been doing some research on how to start an advisory committee on investor responsibility. We are currently working on solving the issue of low investment transparency.

Lobby Day in GA a success!

by Sarah Parsons, Emory University; Altanta, GA

Our 2020 Vision chapter at Emory, with the help of college students from various Georgia Universities (among those represented were UGA, Kennesaw State, Georgia Tech, Georgia State, Agnes Scott, and Emory), met at the state capitol last Saturday to lobby for biodiesel in the state of Georgia.  Representative Tommy Smith of Georgia spoke on the bill and recognized our student coalition during session.  It was a very wonderful moment :). Right after that he had seven state representatives sign on to support the bill.   When the session recessed, our student group visited several state representatives and senators to lobby for the bill, which will come to the floor in the next couple of weeks.  Representative Tommy Smith is going to introduce the bill with a number this week, and we have designed a calling/email network throughout the state (with all the Georgia Universities) to call in one day next week to various Georgia representatives.  

For more information, click the story title.

"Sustainability is Sexy"

by Lan Truong, University of Hawai'i at Manoa; Manao, HI

Aloha to all!

     A campus-wide biodiesel project has been launched at the University of Hawai`i at Manoa that would recycle all vegetable oil/grease waste generated on campus, and reuse it as biodiesel in all university  operated diesel vehicles.  Also, we are working on another campus-wide sustainability project called Sustainable Saunders.  Saunders Hall on campus has a huge energy bill at the university so we want to install of energy-efficient lighting, insulation, solar panels, and a green (garden) roof.

For more information, click the story title.

Campus Conservation Proposal in the works

by Ryan Corry, Chapman University, Orange, CA

At this point in the year, we have made enough progress to get a meeting scheduled with some of the top officials at our university to - hopefully - come to a conclusion through a resolution on how to conserve energy around campus. A group of students and I are writing up the proposal to present to the administration in a few weeks.

For more information, click the story title.

Commuter Alternatives at UNC

by Jennifer St. Clair, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC

Our campaign has taken a different direction after speaking with a UNC official in charge of the Commuter Alternatives Program. Currently we are doing research around the policy of TeleWorking. This is the idea that several positions at the University are capable of allowing individuals to work at home, at least a few days a week. There are a lot of benefits to this policy decision: 1. decreased use of gas due to fewer commutes to work each week, 2. possibility of shared work offices, therefore less need to have larger buildings...saving energy and decreasing UNC's environmental footprint, 3. less congestion from traffic, 4. more parking available, 5. decreased absences from work ....and the list could go on and on.

For more information, click the story title.

Space Reserved for PowerShift

by Sarah Grillo

I've been diligently organizing for my PowerShift conference. We have the space set up, and I plan on meeting with the representative from UVM who will take me on a tour of the facility and go through everything I'll need to know...we were actually supposed to meet today, but we got hit with a blizzard that should give us over two feet of fresh snow by tomorrow morning, so everything is closed. I also have two *really* great guys on board to help me out with the promotional stuff.

Click the story title for more information

Starting the PowerShift

by Kelly Conner

In the Sooner state this month, 2020's branch is working toward the  Powershift conference on April 28th, 2007.  Also, along with Ethan, I  have written a letter to Oklahoma's Lt. Governor Jari Askins regarding a coal power plant's placement in either Oklahoma or Kansas. Hopefully she will get back to me soon. Furthermore, my student group is working with Students for Alternative Energy and OUr Earth for Action Week next week where we'll be promoting alternative energy initiatives for Oklahoma and specifically for OU. We'll see how that pans out. Last, I'm doing some research to find possible sponsors for my conference in April among energy alternative- promoting companies in Oklahoma. BOOMER SOONER!

Kick off to the NCAA Carbon offsets campaign

By Jessica King

2020 Vision here at Seton Hall University has been a lot more active this spring semester! 2020 Vision has teamed up with the Ecology Club and now every Monday night has become a 2020 Vision/Ecology club meeting. We are getting more and more members every week!

For more information, click the story title.

Sign Up to be a Regional Director!

Interested in becoming a Regional Director? Regional Directors are chosen from across the country. They come to Washington, DC for a week of training, and lead the efforts on college campuses for a better environment. Download a brochure for more information!

"Campus Wars" in Duluth, MN

By Jim Skoog

2020 Vision is making its presence known in Duluth, MN. On top of providing information on reducing energy consumption, college students in Duluth, MN are taking action to reduce energy use by kicking off a statewide conservation competition, known as “Campus Wars”. Though the name “Campus Wars” has been somewhat controversial- because the word war is in the name-everybody involved agrees that conserving energy is important.

The campaign is completely driven by students across Minnesota on 14 campuses: St. Scholastica, University of Minnesota-Duluth, University of Minnesota- Twin Cities, University of Minnesota- Morris, Macalester College, St. Catherine’s, Carleton College, St. Olaf, Augsburg, College of St. Benedicts, St. John’s University, Hamline, Winona State University, Gustavus Adolphus College, and St. Mary’s. The schools will be competing to decrease their energy use during the month of February. Whichever school uses the least amount of energy during February 2007 - compared to their use in February 2006 –will be the winner. 2020 Vision is proud to be a part of this exciting competition.

A Year in Review from UNC

by Jennifer St. Clair, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC

Here at UNC we worked hard to create change to better the environment, the economy, and our national security. Plans for the year included a showing of “An Inconvenient Truth” prior to the November elections of 2006, tabling events to give out information on 2020 Vision and energy security in general, a film screening of “Kilowatt Ours”, changing campus police cars from regular fuel use to hybrids within 5 years, and passing a commuter alternative’s initiative that would allow staff and faculty across the University to telecommute to work. A final action planned for the middle of the 2007 summer will take place in my hometown of Cape Girardeau, Mo. I will be conducting training for over 30 people on energy security, the most recent legislation, personal actions to reduce impacts, and more community-based actions as well.

For more information, click the story title.

A Fun Year as Regional Director at Seton Hall

by Jessica King, Seton Hall University, South Orange, NJ

This year as a Regional Director for Seton Hall University has been a great learning experience. Not only did it enhance my leadership skills and knowledge of environmental issues, it helped me grow as a person. I have always procrastinated a little too much and working with 2020 vision and having amazing directors ;-) pushing me and giving me deadlines was great. It helped me become more organized and gave me confidence in my abilities.
The first semester was very difficult juggling volleyball, injuries, school and the internship and unfortunately wasn’t able to do much with 2020 Vision. However this past semester I was able to do a lot more and couldn’t be more grateful for my experiences with 2020 Vision.
After doing a lot of research, I found out that the NFL, FIFA World Cup, the Olympics and The World Ski Federation all went carbon neutral. With a lot of help from 2020 Vision, I was able to create a proposal and meet with senior athletic directors to have Seton Hall Athletics purchase carbon offsets for some of their athletic events. The senior directors are in the process of devising a way to have the teams raise money and have a donor match it. If this works, Seton Hall University will become the first school in the Big East Conference to offset sporting events. I have a general proposal that I will be sending to all the other schools in the Conference when I get word from our university.

For more information, click the story title.

Kick off to the NCAA Carbon offsets campaign

By Jessica King

2020 Vision here at Seton Hall University has been a lot more active this spring semester! 2020 Vision has teamed up with the Ecology Club and now every Monday night has become a 2020 Vision/Ecology club meeting. We are getting more and more members every week!

For more information, click the story title.

Year End Checklist for Minnesota

by Jim Skoog, University of Minnesota-Duluth; Duluth, MN

1. Major actions planned this year.
- February conservation month.
- Sold energy efficient light bulbs and Nalgene bottles.
- Showed "An Inconvenient Truth"
- Earth Day Festival and clean energy parade

2. Accomplishments
-Institutionalized a Sustainability Task Force at UMD
-Presented a plan for campus clean energy procurement through REC's (Renewable Energy Credits)
-Participated in a statewide college conservation campaign "Campus Wars"
-Set-up a deal with Food Service to give a discount for BYOC (Bringing Your
Own Cup).
-Sold "Nalgene Bottles" for fundraiser

3. I learned how to purchase renewable energy credits and how to determine if they are legitimate. I learned the complexities of clean energy procurement for power utilities. Also, I learned how to present ideas to policy-makers.

4. Positive experiences. It was great to work with adults in the institution. I was surprised to see how many people in the administration, whether they were in facilities management or finance, were really onboard and excited to tackle global warming at a local level. I was also impressed with the local power utility, Minnesota Power, they were very receptive and willing to meet in person to talk. Overall, meeting like-minded individuals, from students to policy-makers, was a very positive experience.

Many Events Throughout the Year at UPenn

by Katarina Lackner, University of Pennsylvania; Philadelphia, PA

This past year has been a very rewarding experience. During the training week in Washington D.C. I learned about some of the most important issues of our generation, including our oil dependence and the implications it has for our national security, economy, and environment. Armed with a mission, I formed a group on Penn’s campus to raise awareness about these issues and undertake initiatives that would reduce our university’s ecological footprint. We had 30 loyal members who were dedicated to the cause and an ambitious agenda.

We held our first event in October. The College GREEN Energy Fair was an event in coalition with other environmental groups in the Philadelphia area to raise awareness and get people involved. We had a series of posters hanging up with facts and statistics about our everyday energy use and how to simply and effectively cut back. We also had a petition to the university president to encourage green development of the postal lands, a plot of land recently purchased by the university. In mid November we held a screening of An Inconvenient Truth. We had 360 people fill the auditorium and even had to turn some people away at the door.

For more information, click the story title.

An Amazing Year of Coalition Building and Action

by Lois Rundell, University of Wisconsin; Madison, WI

What an amazing year!  I can hardly believe it is over!  In Madison, we focused on coalitions, awareness and legislative action.  At the beginning of the school year, we had a biodiesel tour bus demonstration, worked with the university’s energy conservation plan, “We Conserve”, and worked to get a small but solid core group of activists.  Global warming continues to be one of the hottest topics on campus and there are many organizations that involve climate change and environmental justice.  We formed coalitions with WisPIRG, Global Warming: FACT, and the university’s “We Conserve” campaign. 

For more information, click the story title.

Many Accomplishments this year at KU

by Studie Red Corn, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS

I planned to show “An Inconvenient Truth”, bring Al Gore to campus, work for a shareholder responsibility committee with the KU endowment, bring an Ethanol Pump to town, switch the university police to hybrids, and pass a referendum for renewable energy.

For more information, click the story title.

Great Learning Experience as a Regional Director

by Sarah Grillo, Burlington College; Burlington, VT

My time as a Regional Director has been an interesting experience for me, and fulfilling in that it gave me a foundation from which I have learned about the world of non-profits, lobbying, and activism.  I started out last semester by forming a small group of interested students who have worked with me in a variety of ways throughout the year. They helped me organize a film night at my school where we showed The End of Suburbia (with an overwhelming student turnout) and they assisted with tasks such as tabling at concerts and community events.  One of them is also taking the position of editor for my documentary on peak oil, which I’m now setting up as my degree project for the end of my senior year of college.  Through my knowledge of peak oil and my position as Regional Director, I also found my presence requested on a few occasions at lectures and conferences.  One such conference was a weekend for high school students at Woodbury College in which I taught three separate classes on the subject of oil depletion, and was surprised to find the students interested and excited to learn more.

For more information, click the story title.

A Great Year with 2020 Vision!

by Sarah Parsons, Emory University; Altanta, GA

Working with 2020 Vision has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my college career. On that first plane ride to DC to meet my fellow 2020 Vision Regional Directors, I could have never anticipated the opportunities that awaited me with the 2020 Vision Program.
After DC I came home to Stockbridge, Georgia with visions for new clean energy in the Southeast. I had dreams for concerts to raise enthusiasm around alternative energy. I had visions of lobby days and biodiesel tour buses. Amazingly enough, with the help of my amazing chapter members at Emory University, we accomplished almost all those visions – just short of the BioWillie (Willie Nelson) concert.

For more information, click the story title.