One way to kick-start youth vote: environment

One way to kick-start youth vote: environment

To many longtime voters, the fall election will again be about national security and the economy. But to college students like Andrew Sylvia, it's about the environment, too. And if he gets his wish, it will push his Generation-Y buddies out of their dorm rooms and to the polls.

Already, one of the most intense efforts ever in the United States is under way to turn out the 18- to 24-year-old vote. At least 100 organizations of various stripes are targeting young people, observers say. In a close contest, the environment may prove the sleeper issue that can make the difference, they say.

But college campuses pose a huge challenge for organizers. With students more interested in electives than elections, the youth vote traditionally has proved more pipsqueak than powerhouse. That is why green groups are focusing their efforts on campuses in swing states.

"We're at full throttle now, and the amount of interest we're seeing is comparable to the best we've ever seen," says Joshua Feldmark, executive director of the Center for Environmental Citizenship in Washington, D.C. "We're working on clean-energy programs on about 100 campuses. Once we can engage these folks on consumer activism, they quickly engage and understand their role in the political process."

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http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0416/p11s01-uspo.html

The Environment being a top issue for the youth today makes sense to me. When I attended Elementary school during the early 1990s, I learned about deforestation in the Amazon, Global Warming, and Marine Biology. Although I may not know the complex science behind Global Warming, I do know that CO2 = bad and Coal Power Plants = bad. We also were encouraged to recycle and volunteer our time to clean up the local beaches.