The Friday that Change It(!) started our cell phones were ringing off the hook. It seemed like everyone—all 137 of them—had delayed flights that relayed into missed connections, which turned into not making the shuttles from the airport to Catholic University in Washington DC. And, like all considerate people, the 137 in-college and just-out-of-college-students who were attending our 5-day organizer training program made possible by Seventh Generation and the blood, sweat and tears of the Greenpeace Grassroots Team were calling to let us know.  “I’m sitting on the plane, and I’ve sat here for two hours,” Area Code 917 told me testily. “Um, ok, thanks,” I replied. Though I wanted to chat with 917—I’m from New York; you’re from New York too?  What a coincidence!— a second later I had to get off. Missed flight after missed flight, area codes flew at me.  
   Despite all the flying problems, a good number of the 137 were able to get to DC by Friday night. Change It kicked off with a welcoming by Greenpeace’s Executive Director, John Passacantando as well as a speech by Congressman Bernie Sanders (I-VT).
    By Saturday, most people had arrived. Impressively, they gracefully dived into the week’s intense program. Saturday’s lectures included Welcomes by Phil Radford, Greenpeace’s Grassroots Manager, and Jeffrey Hollender, President and CEO of Seventh Generation. There was a brief “About Greenpeace” presentation, as well as introductions to the Greenpeace Student Network and the Greenpeace Organizing Term. Lawrence Bell of the National Coalition Building Institute and Author Rafe Martin spoke. And then—in the middle of Greenpeace Student Organizer Josh Lynch’s Facilitation Training—disaster struck.
    Well, not disaster. Not exactly.
    Interrupting Josh’s training was the unfolding and explaining of the Sweet Water simulation. The university town of Sweet Water, the students were informed, was in the middle of making an important energy decision. The university desperately needs more energy, and it could either invest in renewable, clean power, or expand its dirty coal power plant. The students were broken up into groups representing all sorts of interested parties—including campus environmental group, the town birdwatchers, the faculty business club, the national electricians union. Each group had specific goals (for example, the town birdwatchers were against the development of wind turbines, and the faculty business club wanted the coal power plant expanded so that the students at Sweet Water University could build relationships with Americoal, the company in charge of the plant). The Change It staff introduced themselves to the Change It students as various people in Sweet River University. Some of the characters represented included a Liberal, student-loving teacher, the President of Sweet Water University, the President’s Assistant, the Publicity Relations Manager of Sweet Water University, newspaper reporters, Sweet Water University’s Director of Facilities and her assistant. The students were told that they had until Tuesday morning to successfully campaign for Sweet Water’s energy future.
    With campaign tactics ranging from banner hangings off the dorms, to lobbying different Sweet River University characters, to coalition building amongst different groups, to protests during dinner time, to nature poetry reading, to posters plastered everywhere on the Change It quad, the students showed an awesome amount of campaign skills know-how. In addition, each day the students’ skills were sharpened with lectures on lobbying, coalition building, planning an event and media training.
It was a hard call—coming down to the “Clean COALition” or the Renewable energy coalition (I don’t think I ever caught the name)—but Sweet River needed a solution to her energy problems, so one side had to win. The morning after the Town Hall style meeting, where each group presented its side for three minutes and then the forum was open to the audience, the actors in the “Committee,” announced that Sweet River could look forward to a clean energy future.  
    But Change It wasn’t over! The students were needed to help launch Project Hot Seat (www.projecthotseat.org). On Wednesday, we traveled to the Capital, where we wrote letters to our Congresspeople demanding that they take action on global warming. After delivering these letters (one student even got her Congressman to suggest that he come to her University to speak!), the Change Itees put on their Change It tee-shirts, and formed an arrow out of their bodies. The body-arrow pointed to the Capital, and at the arrow’s base, the students first held a banner that read “Global Warming Starts Here,” and then, putting a hopeful spin on the issue, held up a banner that read “Global Warming Stops Here.” (Check out http://www.flickr.com/photos/71485028@N00/.)
    Thursday was the last day of the program. Speakers included Lois Marie Gibbs, the Executive Director of the Center for Health, Environment and Justice. Gibbs, who got her organizing start as a housewife in upstate New York (in case this reference is too damn oblique—which it undoubtedly is, but this blog is getting unwieldy, and I’m getting tired—we’re talking about Love Canal here) gave a superb talk on the importance of organizing.
    And then people went home.
    PS: Check out some more things: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2204765826 for the Sweet River Facebook stuff, and go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_S5duSxi6xo to see what we were really up to.