As part of its Earth Day teach-in on April 22nd, SUNY Fredonia will host a town hall meeting on energy issues from 3 to 4 p.m. in the Multipurpose Room of the Williams Center. During the forum, Western New York residents can share their concerns about proposed energy projects with elected officials and their representatives.
Participants will include Susan Mackay, Fredonia Village Trustee; Lori Cornell (representing Assemblyman William Parment); Sam Teresi, Mayor of Jamestown; Donna Coughlin (representing Congressman Brian Higgins); and Kory Ahlstrom, Director of Planning and Development for the City of Dunkirk. Dr. David Rankin, Associate Professor of Political Science at SUNY Fredonia, will moderate the forum.
Although the meeting’s focus will be on local issues such as the proposed clean coal power plant in Jamestown and the county’s landfill to methane project, the forum is also part of Focus the Nation’s series of town hall meetings on renewable energy. Between April 16th and April 23rd, an unprecedented 103 political forums will take place, involving more than 50 members of Congress along with dozens of city and state elected leaders nationwide.
The town halls are largely being organized by hundreds of youth who are driving
today’s clean energy movement. The success of the events is a result of multi-sector and multi-
generational partnerships that they are building in their communities. At SUNY Fredonia, Chuck Cornell, Director of the American Democracy Project, and several student groups on campus, jointly organized the forum.
"I feel that it is important for us to hear first-hand what the decision makers in our area have to say about important topics such as energy and renewable resources. And it is equally important that they hear our opinions on these issues as well," said Alex Staunch, President of Campus Climate Challenge.
The events are part of a growing clean energy movement that includes Focus the Nation
and partner groups such as 1Sky, Energy Action Coalition, Green For All and 350.org. Together,
these motivated leaders are mobilizing youth, business leaders, elected officials and other sectors
to create climate and energy solutions within a necessarily rapid time frame.
Students at SUNY Fredonia are also hoping that the event will build on increased political and civic engagement sparked by the 2008 Presidential election. College Democrats President Caitlin Levesque was optimistic that the event would spark future political dialogues and create lasting change. “By allowing the students, faculty, politicians, and community members to join forces and start a real conversation about the direction that Chautauqua county is heading towards within the sustainability movement, we are making our mark in a global effort to save the future of our world,” Levesque said.
The town hall event is a part of SUNY Fredonia’s Earth Week celebration, which will be from Sunday, April 19th to Saturday, April 25th. For the full Earth Week program of events, visit www.fredonia.edu/gogreen. For more information about any of the programs, contact Dr. Christina Jarvis at 716-679-9254 or jarvisc@fredonia.edu
