The Palmetto Environmental Action Coalition is the state environmental network for the state of South Carolina. We meet a few times a year face to face as a group and use conference calls the remainder of the year to communicate and plan events. We show up to hearing across the state to be the voice for the environment and lobby our representatives in Columbia.
Our goals are to :
- Energize our state network to share and take action on environmental issues pertinent to South Carolina.
- Build strong statewide campaigns together to act as one voice for the environment in South Carolina.
- Facilitate communication among environmentalists and other conservation/natural resource advocate groups in SC.
- Provide resources and support to one another across the state.
- Lobby our state representatives and governor regarding environmental issues in SC.
If you would like to join the network and pitch in or call in to our monthly conference calls, please email Holly Garrett at hgarret@clemson.edu.
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Sunday, May 8, 2011
PowerShift 2011 Summary
Hello, all that may be interested! Back on April 15-18, we PEACers saw tens of young adults represent South Carolina at the largest youth environmental conference in the country - PowerShift 2011. Students (and former students) from Clemson, USC, Winthrop, Coastal Carolina, Furman, and USC Aiken attended the weekend events and the Congressional Lobby Day. Over 12,000 young adults united to meet like-minded persons concerned about environmental issues like coal-fired plants, big oil, nuclear technology, and sustainability.
The first day included speeches from Al Gore and Van Jones, and preparation for the big day on Saturday. That following morning, we all had to answer the question of "why are we here?" For four hours (alongside Florida's attendees,) we analyzed and augmented our Stories of Us to become Stories of Self - to find the joint reason(s) for why we'd come to D.C. Following this, some of the PowerShifters took it to the streets and participated in long-standing rallies. Others remained in the D.C. Convention Center and frequented learning sessions covering entirely too many environmental topics to name here. Saturday finished up with speeches from environmentalists, new and old, tall and short, and powerful. Lisa Jackson, Director of the EPA spoke well of our intentions and encouraged us to keep at it, or else nothing will happen. After the speeches, a concert followed celebrating our passion.
Sunday saw the regions reconvene in their rooms and continue working on their Stories of Us. And following lunch, the individual states had breakouts to discuss their take on the weekend's events and to begin planning for making change back home. We South Carolinians determined that we cannot waste any more time in achieving our goals and that 2011 will see the action and similar successes PEAC obtained in 2009.
Not everyone was able to stay for Lobby Day on Monday, but Coastal Carolina and a University of New Hampshire student from the state were able to visit a few aides of our Congressmen.
All in all, Powershift 2011 was not as energized for our state in comparison to 2009, and the conference seemed a little slow at points. Nevertheless, having 12,000 persons concerned about making this country and world a better place for them, the poor, and the powerless in the same place is one of the strongest statements we can make to our political leaders.
The first day included speeches from Al Gore and Van Jones, and preparation for the big day on Saturday. That following morning, we all had to answer the question of "why are we here?" For four hours (alongside Florida's attendees,) we analyzed and augmented our Stories of Us to become Stories of Self - to find the joint reason(s) for why we'd come to D.C. Following this, some of the PowerShifters took it to the streets and participated in long-standing rallies. Others remained in the D.C. Convention Center and frequented learning sessions covering entirely too many environmental topics to name here. Saturday finished up with speeches from environmentalists, new and old, tall and short, and powerful. Lisa Jackson, Director of the EPA spoke well of our intentions and encouraged us to keep at it, or else nothing will happen. After the speeches, a concert followed celebrating our passion.
Sunday saw the regions reconvene in their rooms and continue working on their Stories of Us. And following lunch, the individual states had breakouts to discuss their take on the weekend's events and to begin planning for making change back home. We South Carolinians determined that we cannot waste any more time in achieving our goals and that 2011 will see the action and similar successes PEAC obtained in 2009.
Not everyone was able to stay for Lobby Day on Monday, but Coastal Carolina and a University of New Hampshire student from the state were able to visit a few aides of our Congressmen.
All in all, Powershift 2011 was not as energized for our state in comparison to 2009, and the conference seemed a little slow at points. Nevertheless, having 12,000 persons concerned about making this country and world a better place for them, the poor, and the powerless in the same place is one of the strongest statements we can make to our political leaders.
Friday, February 25, 2011
Powershift 2011 or Bust!!
South Carolina student leaders are gearing up to travel to Washington DC from April 15-18th for Powershift 2011. This conference has become THE central event in the youth climate movement bringing together students from all over the United States to learn from, share with, inspire and empower each other to create the clean, renewable energy future we need! We are coming together to reclaim our democracy from greedy corporations and push our nation to move beyond dirty energy that is harming the health of people and the planet.
This Sunday, Feb. 27th at 9pm EST the Palmetto Environmental Action Coalition will be hosting a conference call to discuss our next steps in getting student leaders to DC in April. We'll talk about recruitment, registration, and fundraising. If you are interested in getting on this or future calls to represent your school or organization, please email stuenva@g.clemson.edu for the call-in information.
Here is a video from the first Powershift in 2007. The late Judy Bonds speaks to the crowd about our responsibility as youth to lead the way and build a better, cleaner future. Judy was taken from us this year but her memory and spirit will live on in the actions we take and words we speak.
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