Students For Sustainability!: Powershift 2013!!

And we're home!

Powershift 2013 was a blast for everyone!
Club members Karli, Mackenzie, Anna, Sara, and Wilton went, along with kids from other local schools Peter, Fuller, Sydney and Madeline. Chaperones were Evan Huggins from IC21 and SFS Faculty Advisor Alan Brumsted.

POWERSHIFT DAY 1!

The PS13 crew met at the airport bright and early. First a short flight from Jackson to Denver, and then Denver to Pittsburgh. Luckily we were able to find a bit of homework time on the plane rides!

Above Club members Anna Karli and Sara getting some work done on the plane

The conference began right when we got there, and registration involved getting some nice ID lanyards along with personalized business cards to swap with others over the 3 day event.

Club member Sara showing off her ID badge

After registration came the opening plenary - or the keynote speakers for the first night. Some interesting speakers we saw included Josh Fox (director of Gasland Parts 1 and 2), Phillip Agnew (Executive Director of Dream Defenders), Michael Brune (Executive Director of the Sierra Club) and Ta'Kaiya Blaney, a 12 year old singer/spokes person from the Sliammon First Nation.

David L. Lawrence Convention Center

Visit WeArePowerShift.org for more stories like ours!

POWERSHIFT DAY 2!!

The setup of Powershift was basically multiple 1-hour-long sessions with 15 minute passing periods in between, with an hour break for lunch and a break for dinner, followed by the plenary and then a concert.

In session 1:

Karli, Anna, Sara, Madeline, Sydney, and Mr. Brumsted went to a session called "Faces from the Frack Fields" where we learned about polluting methane, nitrogen oxides (NOx), volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and much more from a panel of speakers who all live in major fracking areas. One of the speakers, Deb Thomas was even from Wyoming!

"My favorite session was one that ended up discussing broad-based sustainability initiatives and their importance. They also discussed creativity with sustainability and understanding that one topic might not always appeal to everyone. For example, you're not going to propose an anti fracking project to a family whose parents work in the fracking industry. You would be much more likely to make a difference understanding that fracking is their livelihood, and propose a composting or waste diversion program." -Club Member Mackenzie

Peter, Fuller, and Evan went to a session called "Capitalism, Climate, and Injustice: Systemic Roots of Intersecting Crises"

Mackenzie and Wilton went to a panel titled " You Are What You Eat, So What Are You?: A Discussion on Food Justice" all about communities access to food and food systems, and also on "what health and systemic problems are exacerbated and created by conventional farming methods, genetic engineering, and corporatization of agriculture".

Here are the session descriptions from the Powershift agenda

In session 2:

Peter Fuller and Evan switched with the other group and went to "Faces From the Frack Fields"

Karli, Anna, Sara and Madeline went to "Stories From Coal Country"

Sydney and Mr. Brumsted went to the food discussion panel

Mackenzie went to "Environmental Justice 101"

"I was moved by the issues of environmental and social injustice that I heard about in the workshops and keynote speeches.

From the issues of uranium mining waste on Navajo lands in New Mexico and the pollution resulting from Tar sands development on the lands of indigenous peoples in Alberta, to the health issues in poor communities in Texas and California resulting from industrial pollution of air and water, it is clear that companies with money and power think very little of people with neither."

- Alan Brumsted

In session 3: The entire Jackson group went to the showing of Gasland Part 2 by Josh Fox.

Watch the GasLand part 2 official trailer at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzx7UXzK_z4

After a break for lunch at the food court, sessions started right back up again.

Session 4: High School Breakout Groups

There was a full session for all high schoolers attending Powershift to meet and discus their projects and successes, also breaking into smaller groups within the high schoolers to speak about leadership with in their club, composting, and much more.

In on part of the high school break out groups, we were separated into groups with other kids from around the country, and were doing interactive activities such as having half the group pose to represent those in America who are ignorant corporate leaders or silent bystanders.

Madeline -Photo credit to IC21

Club members Karli and Sara - Photo credit to IC21

Peter - Photo credit to IC21

"PowerShift was an amazing experience. It was great to be able to choose what to learn about, and to see how many different things there are to do out in the world when people work together."

- Anna

Session 5:

Fuller, Peter and Evan went to "Rebel Economists in a Warming World: Unlearning Econ 101"

Karli, Sara, Anna and Madeline went to "The Dirty Side of Green Consumerism"

After a long day, it was a nice break for everyone to get to walk around the city a bit to find a place for dinner.

Photo Credit IC21

Photo credit IC21

Day 2 Plenary (Keynote Speakers)

-Josh Fox (Director of GASLAND) "Movies don't change the world. Canvassing and organizing does. #banfracking"

POWERSHIFT DAY 3!!!

Session Block 6

Karli and Sara went to "Confronting climate deniers and other bad guys"

Everyone else attended "What kind of leader are you?: Understanding your leadership style, strengths, and challenges.

"It was really interesting to learn about the challenges in the present, and in the future, and to gain an understanding of new ways to deal with these problems. PowerShift was an experience to remember and I would definitely go again." -Sydney

State Breakouts:

State breakouts were for the purpose of different groups from each state having a time to work together on legislation that affects their state particularly. Because many states were underrepresented, Wyoming (us and 1 woman from Cody) ended up conjoining with Montana, Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Utah, and West Virginia.

Sara and Karli representing Wyoming

Peter and Fuller representing Wyoming

"Powershift showed me that all acts of activism are connected, if one is fighting for social, economic, gender, racial, or any justice, one is fighting for environmental justice." - Fuller

Day 3 Closing Plenary -

A presentation on ending the KXL pipeline

Closing Speakers - Photo Credit to IC21

Closing Speakers - Photo credit to IC21

POWERSHIFT DAY 4!!!!

Monday was the last day, but still full of fun! Our group split in two, some going to visit the Carnegie Science Center and most to participate in the PowerShift Protest!

Mr. Brumsted learning what a fish sees through their eyes

Karli, Anna and Wilton playing with some no-gravity experiments

Why protest? "We are at a crossroads" says the PowerShift agenda. "Across the country we're seeing clean energy transform communities, creating clean, local sources of energy that create jobs. But simultaneously big polluters like Big Oil, Gas, and Coal are rushing new fossil fuel development that is threatening communities, workers and our families."

"Join with people from communities across the country to demand a just and sustainable future." -PowerShift Agenda