Enviro. groups mark
Earth Week

// news / daily - april 20, 2005

http://daily.stanford.edu/tempo?page=content&id=16937&repository=0001_article
written by Camille Ricketts

A full-size trawl net decorated White Plaza and students feasted on free sustainably caught Dungeness crab Monday afternoon during the kick-off event for Earth Week 2005. More than 400 students who attended or passed by the event signed cards encouraging legislators to limit the fishing practice called bottom-trawling in vulnerable ecosystems.

Students for a Sustainable Stanford, one of the main groups organizing the week’s festivities, has placed “Global Witness” displays around White Plaza, highlighting specific stories about the impacts of environmental damage on communities around the world.

“We wanted to make sure people realize that Earth Week is about the interaction between people and the environment in addition to recycling and conserving our natural resources,” said sophomore Erin Gaines, a coordinator for Students for a Sustainable Stanford.

Sophomore Becca Miller, also of Students for a Sustainable Stanford, agreed with Gaines.

“So many people see themselves as humanists before environmentalists, but we really wanted to show that they are intrinsically integrated,” she said.

On Friday, Stanford in Government will host a panel entitled “President Bush’s Environmental Policies,” featuring Larry Goulder, professor of environmental and resource economics, Thomas Moore, senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, and David Victor, director of the program on energy and sustainable development. The panel will be followed by a celebration in White Plaza.

Dorm environmental representatives have also been encouraged to send out information on Earth Day and tips on energy and water conservation to their residents.

While the Monday event focused on over-fishing, Gaines said it is important for students to be aware of other major environmental issues, including climate change, the loss of biodiversity and habitat conversion.

“Many of these global issues lead to serious problems for humans, including, but not limited to, loss of topsoil necessary for agriculture, land loss due to sea level rise and the spread of diseases,” Gaines said.

Miller said that sometimes people need to realize that others’ access to clean water and air around the world depends on major environmental issues.

“We talk a lot about the kind of esoteric destruction caused by global warming, but people don’t think about the people in South America and Central America who will be suffering higher rates of malaria because of the seasonal weather pattern changes caused by global warming,” Miller said.

She added that she hopes Earth Week will not only acquaint students with environmental problems on a national and global scale, but also on the local level.

“One of our main campaigns right now is focused on creating a sustainability coordinator position on campus, similar to positions at numerous universities in the country,” Gaines said in an e-mail. “The person would coordinate the efforts of students, faculty and staff to most efficiently and economically address environmental issues and sustainable development on campus.”

Miller said that she thinks students will become interested in the message of Earth Week if they see their friends and peers participating in the activities, adding that she hopes the energy generated by some of the events will be contagious.

“I just want everyone at Stanford to realize that the people who control the environment are not the environmentalists,” Miller said. “They are the politicians, the businesspeople, the everyday citizens.”