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Cheering for change

By BRADEN WOLF/ THE OREGON DAILY EMERALD

The University was home to multiple events on Saturday afternoon that
featured cheers, chants and large groups of people committed to a common
cause.

Along with the football game at Autzen Stadium, approximately 350 people
gathered at the EMU Amphitheater to celebrate the "Step It Up"
campaign's second Day of Action, a crowd that far exceeding event
organizer Jesse Hough's initial goal of 100 participants.

"I'm ecstatic," said Hough, who first got involved with Step It Up on
its first Day of Action on Apr. 14. "I see a lot of familiar and
unfamiliar faces. All of this wouldn't have been possible without all
the help we've gotten," he said.

The event, which was organized to draw attention to the problem of
global warming, featured appearances by Eugene Mayor Kitty Piercy, law
professor Mary Wood and a surprise visit from University President Dave
Frohnmayer.

Piercy outlined measures that Eugene is taking to conform with the
city-level Kyoto Treaty more than 700 other city mayors have also
signed.

"We need to use less, require less, and bring dependency down to zero,"
Piercy said. "We have to approach global warming like we approached the
New Deal."

Piercy talked about the new sustainability office the city is developing
and about how city employees are encouraged to bike, walk and utilize
mass transit to get to work.

"Small choices make a big difference," Piercy concluded. "We can do it,
we should do it, and we can do it together."

Wood praised the activists for their commitment to the cause. "No matter
who wins the game over there (at Autzen), you are the real champions,"
she announced.

Wood listed numerous scientific discoveries that are showing what a
danger global warming has become. She pointed out that forests and
oceans are absorbing less carbon than ever before, and that the system
is on the brink of runaway heating. She said government needs to lead
the effort, but it is up to activists to take the message to the
government.

"People aren't apathetic, just primed," said Wood. "We need every fan in
that stadium on our team. We want stadiums filled with football fans,
not hurricane refugees."

The gathering at the EMU also featured cheers led by a group of children
from Eugene and Springfield public schools, global warming raps by
University student Ari Lesser and a number of tables with petitions and
sign making.

The signs came in handy when the group marched from the EMU to Autzen
Stadium to make its voice heard loud and clear. The rally set up shop
near the dog park across the street from Autzen, allowing the activists
to educate thousands of fans regarding the threat posed by global
warming.

The Step It Up event in Eugene was one of hundreds taking place around
the United States. Forty-five members of Congress and numerous
presidential candidates, including Republican John McCain and every
Democratic candidate, had pledged to attend a Step It Up rally.

The Step It Up campaign was started by author and environmental activist
Bill McKibben in January. The organization has three explicit
priorities. The first is to create five million "green jobs" by 2015.
The second is to push for Congress to cut carbon emissions by 80 percent
by 2050. Finally, Step It Up wants to completely end the construction of
new coal plants.

McKibben is optimistic about the possibility of making major progress
with these priorities, especially when it comes to carbon emissions.

"There was a recent proposal that called for a 60 percent cut by 2050,"
McKibben told the Emerald before a speech he gave at the University on
Tuesday night. "Just a year ago that would have seemed very radical. We
are really uniting around what we want to get done."

McKibben believes that having separate events around the country is much
more effective than simply marching on Washington. Hough echoed this
sentiment at the outset of the rally when he announced, "The idea of the
event is to create a community."

And quite a community it was. The activists turned heads and perked up
ears as they marched and cheered in unison to promote their cause. This
same scene took place in hundreds of locations across the country in
what McKibben said was the largest single day of global warming activism
in the history of the United States.