*Cross-posted from We Are Powershift.org*
Virginia students are at it once again! This summer, CCAN’s internship program has expanded to college campuses, and interns are working on the campaign to expose Dominion-Virginia Power all over the state. They are working on a variety of things, including gathering petitions, writing letters to the editor, and building networks of CCAN activities in their communities and on their campuses. The students are excited, because this is the first chance some have had to finally take action on saving the climate. Indeed, this excitement becomes especially relevant when you look at their results. In the last week of June alone, the on-campus team collected over 200 petition signatures asking Dominion to fulfill its clean energy commitments with real, Virginia-made renewable energy.
However, the interns are not just walking, talking, petitioning machines. They are gaining valuable interpersonal skills and grassroots organizing skills they can use as activists in the climate movement. They’re learning to write letters-to-the-editor, deliver class raps, recruit and manage volunteers, and develop their volunteers into great community leaders. Not just interns, these students are organizers and passionate about bringing the clean energy humanity needs to Virginia.
When rarely-before-seen “derecho” storms terrorize our cities, it becomes increasingly apparent that the climate is not waiting for us to get our collective act together. The students certainly understand this, and they will do anything within their power to save it. As Theodore Roosevelt once said, “the greatest prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at something worth doing.” CCAN’s interns are working hard, and saving the world for all of us is one of the most noble causes around.
