Conference Updates

Alternatives Journal's Laura McDonald is tweeting, Facebooking, and blogging about speakers, panels, workshops, and the great work delegates from across the country are doing. You can read the full update at www.alternativesjournal.ca. Find Laura at Power Shift to get your free download of the latest Education-themed issue of Alternatives, Canada's national environmental magazine.

Wow, what an incredible weekend.

Over 300 young people converged at Florida A&M University for the Southeast Student Renewable Energy Conference (SSREC) this weekend, coming together to learn the skills they need to fight big polluters and take action on climate change in their campuses and communities. Young clean energy activists from all over the southeast converged to learn from each other through a series of workshops, speakers, and trainings, and to share with their communities all over the region.

But it didn’t stop there.

We knew this year was a special year right away. Not only was SSREC being hosted in Tallahassee, Florida - the Capitol of a very important swing state - but this year’s SSREC had a renewed energy and spirit that you could feel in the air. With the help of the incredible FAMU Green Coalition, climate activists at SSREC organized an amazing march and rally to call on the candidates to break the silence on climate change and promote true clean energy solutions.

Stopping fracking in New York State has never been more important. The fight against dirty energy locally is the fight for a stable climate globally. If New York bans fracking, it will be a huge win for grassroots efforts everywhere.

SSREC 2011 is almost here! In less than 2 weeks, November 4-6, hundreds of youth from across the Southeast will come together in Asheville, NC for the Southeast Student Renewable Energy Conference. SSREC will take place exactly a year from the 2012 Presidential Campaign, so now more than ever, we need grassroots leaders to step up and take a stand for clean energy and climate justice. At the SSREC, we will come together to learn the skills we need to make that happen. Over 300 students will be making plans for clean energy campaigns to call on Obama to stop the Keystone XL pipeline, but more importantly to show collective power for clean energy, not just a candidate.