With climate change being a key topic during the 2016 presidential election, Keene State College has hosted many environmental and political organizations on campus.
This past week NextGen Climate had a table in the L.P. Young Student Center, where they promoted political action on climate issues.
At the table, a KSC alumni and NextGen’s Keene State campus organizer, Brian Rogers, was answering students’ questions on climate change and how to get involved.
Last Thursday, September 24, Rogers spoke to Keene State College’s Environmental Advocacy and Ethics class. During this meeting Rogers explained his own experience with environmental advocacy and how he came to work for NextGen Climate.
“The real overall goal last year was to promote voter turnout, this year is a little different…We are focusing on bringing climate change to the forefront of politics, we are doing this through many different hosted events while also collaborating with other environmental and political groups,” Rogers said.
He continued, “We are also looking to co-host events with a number of inter-sectional clubs,
Samuel Douglass / Equinox Staff
who’s work would not have always historically aligned with climate action. The goal is to reach new and different communities to find common ground where we can push for climate action.”
NextGen Climate sponsored “Keene’s Concert for Climate Change” this past summer, which brought multiple artists and climate activists to downtown Keene. These events are a part of a larger effort of NextGen Climate that focuses on political motivation for educated voting on climate issues.
NextGen Climate is a San Francisco-based non-profit environmental advocacy organization, founded by Philanthropist Tom Steyer.
The overall goal for NextGen Climate is to push bold political action on climate issues by supporting candidates as well as holding educational workshops for all who are interested.
Currently the strategy of NextGen Climate is to focus efforts in just three states: Iowa, New Hampshire and California.
The importance of Iowa and New Hampshire as swing states if clinched for climate issues could have a larger effect on the greater outcome of the election.
Keene State Environmental Advocacy professor Fred Taylor said, “It is of key importance that organizations like Next Gen exist to combat other powerful companies and organizations that benefit from the lack of environmental regulation and education.”
Taylor said he offers his students extra credit to get involved and participate in environmental workshops. One of these workshops “Beyond the Ballot” was held last weekend at Southern New Hampshire University and over 80 students from KSC and nearby schools were in attendance for the event.
“I personally feel that there is a lack of activism in our generation. I’m excited for the 2016 presidential election because I believe with so much focus on climate issues in the news candidates must make actions to improve the current state of the climate, if they want to win,” KSC first-year student Sarah Cantor said.
As the 2016 presidential election approaches, the presence of political organizations on Keene State College campus will only increase.
“It is important for Keene State students to understand their role and how their vote can push us closer to a more environmentally focused future,” Rogers said.
Rogers said that there will be people representing NextGen at an event this coming Wednesday, September 30, where presidential candidate Donald Trump will be speaking at Keene High School. “We have a crew of ten folks going to ask Trump pointed questions about his plan to utilize renewable energy resources,” Rogers said.
According to nextgenclimate.org, the involvement of college students is important to their overall vision. KSC is one of the campuses affiliated with NextGen, and those interested in becoming involved can join team Keene State at nhnextgenclimate.org.
Samuel can be contacted at sdouglass@kscequinox.com
