Greenpeace

Throughout my internship at Greenpeace, my main goal has been to expose politicians that are taking dirty money from energy companies and to educate others about it. Working with the student network has allowed me to do so in a rewarding and exciting way. I was so pumped when I first found out that I was selected to participate the town hall style meeting with President Obama, I immediately began thinking of a question about the recent lift of the moratorium on off-shore drilling.
     After spending nearly four hours in a church basement with no windows, a group of 224 students from the surrounding area and myself, were shuttled to BET studios in Northeast DC. I was so excited to get out of that room, I almost able to adjust to the torrential downfall that was ensuring while we sprinted to the closest bus. May I add that we were stripped of all forms of communication as soon as we arrived making the wait a little more agonizing. After we finally made it to the studio we were briefed about etiquette and the workings of live television, and warned that we would ALWAYS be on camera in front of millions of viewers. Promptly at four, the lights dimmed and the hosts of CMT, BET, and MTV began introducing themselves and then out walked the 44th President of the United States. Barack Obama was just as I imagined and throughout the program, which can be found here http://www.bet.com/video/1379470, he was charismatic, respectful and insightful.

Quinlan Brennan(Student Network Intern) sits directly above President Obama as he shakes another student's hand.

When the show finished and we were off the air, President Obama stayed in the studio and shook almost every person’s hand. I unfortunately was one of the few unlucky members of the audience that did not get this privilege but how could I possibly be upset. I was a little bummed that I didn’t have the opportunity to ask a question. Also I feel like the question he addressed about the environment not as relevant and important as other current environmental issues that he could have addressed but I am happy that it was mentioned.
Generally this experience was one of the most thrilling experiences of my life and I will never forget it. MTV, BET and CMT got a lot of negative comments and criticism over the methods they used to select the audience members, but I must give them credit for holding such a successful and relevant event. Just weeks before the midterm elections, this event allowed students to voice their concerns and was a way to re-engage America’s young voters. Within my row alone, there were three other girls who stated that their prime concern was also energy and the environment. This was very exciting because the concern that our generation is posing to government officials will only benefit our future!

Hello!

 My name is Quinlan Brennan and I am the Fall 2010 intern for the Student Network! I am so excited to work with such a fascinating group of professionals and to work on campaigns that I am thoroughly interested in. Since starting with Greenpeace, I have been helping the Student Network research information about congressmen and officials and the amount of money they are accepting from energy companies. After spending hours on the websites dirtyenergymoney.org and opensecrets.org, I have learned some intriguing and alarming truths about our elected officials. The information I am currently researching will be sent to campus coordinators around the country to help get the word out to students so they can make a local impact. With the upcoming 2010 election, timing is crucial in preventing the appointment of representatives that are irresponsible and accepting dirty energy money.

I also was able to participate in the week on action and helped generate calls on my campus to Secretary Salazar to stop BP’s Liberty project and drilling in the Arctic. My experiences so far have been exciting and have kept me very busy. I am excited to see what comes of the next few weeks and I can’t wait to further update about this informative and entertaining position.