Wesleyan is known as a center for environmentalism and activism, and a new student coalition led by Wesleyan students and partnering with groups across the region is aiming to rekindle that legacy and affect meaningful change in Connecticut.
Students for a Just and Stable Future (SJSF) is calling on Connecticut policy makers to build on the state’s civic and environmental leadership to move to 100 percent clean electricity in ten years.
Such a bold move is necessary to stake a clear stand against dirty electricity. In doing so, Connecticut will declare itself 100 percent opposed to the harmful health effects that coal mining inflicts on Appalachian communities. We will declare ourselves 100 percent opposed to contributing to the melting of Himalayan glaciers, which currently threatens communities in Bangladesh that are already vulnerable to flooding. People around the world already understand that dirty fossil fuels are not our future.
Moving away from dirty electricity is an aggressive goal, but it is a feasible one for the state. Connecticut is attached to a regional electricity grid, which would allow it to tap into substantial potential renewable energy sites in New England, such as wind power from northern Maine or off of the Cape Cod shore. Connecticut already has taken some of the most assertive steps of any state against polluting electricity and climate change. In 2001, Connecticut committed to a long-term goal of reducing emissions to eliminate “any dangerous threat” to the climate. That commitment was reaffirmed in the Climate Change Act of 2004 and the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2008. The state has already made commitments to cut its reliance on dirty electricity down to 50 percent by 2020. But Connecticut needs to act more quickly in order to truly fulfill its commitment to eliminating harmful climate effects, and to begin reaping the benefits of a clean energy economy.
To kick off this campaign, students on this campus and across the region will be sleeping outside for the week leading up to Earth Day on April 22 in an effort to take their own stand against dirty energy. But this campaign is about more than individual action. We want to demonstrate to state policymakers that clean energy is crucial issue. Clean energy doesn’t require moving outdoors. It just requires leadership that will ensure that everyone in Connecticut has access to 100 percent clean electricity.
We want to send a strong signal to policymakers that clean energy is crucial to the state of Connecticut and its residents. Getting to 100 percent clean electricity doesn’t mean that everyone must move outside as part of the conservation effort. But with this symbolic gesture, we will show policymakers and our peers that the public is concerned about dirty energy. This is not the end of our push, but the beginning.
It is crucial that this event serves as a strong beginning, and we’re confident it will be, with your help. Come join us, for an hour, for a night, for the whole week. Stand with your fellow Wesleyan students and with students throughout the state, as we call on Connecticut leaders to recognize resonant concern among youth in Connecticut, and ask them to honor their commitments and move our state to a clean electricity future.