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Student interns with Greenpeace came to campus on Wednesday, as part of the Renew CSU campaign to promote the use of clean renewable energy, on all California State University campuses. [Click to enlarge]

The rally was a part of the Renew CSU campaign, a coalition with Greenpeace, which is urging California State University Chancellor Charles Reed to take steps toward making all CSU campuses powered by clean energy. The coalition is asking for 25 percent of CSU energy to come from renewable sources, such as wind and solar, by 2014.

Andi Plocek, who attends Northwestern University in Chicago, helped organize the rally and said she was pleased with the turnout. She is currently an intern with the Greenpeace organization in Washington, D.C.

"Our personal goal was 40 and to have 50 was awesome," Plocek said. "We thought the rally was awesome. We had a great turnout. Lots of students showed up to hold signs."

Each of the signs the students held named a different institution that has switched to clean energy. These institutions included Princeton University, Duke University, Yale University, University of Vermont, University of Colorado at Boulder and all of the University of California schools.

Under each institution's name, the signs read "Reed: Why wait? Clean energy for Cal State."

CSU spokeswoman Clara Potes-Fellow said the CSU has negotiated a new agreement with its energy supplier that will take effect in July. The new contract has the option of acquiring green power, Potes-Fellow said.

"The CSU is very supportive of energy conservation practices and the use of renewable energy in university buildings," Potes-Fellow said. "The CSU is considering including 12 percent to 14 percent of green power among the mix of power sources within the next three years."

Two people spoke at the rally and encouraged students to get involved with environmental issues.

The first speaker, Terry Trumbull, a lecturer in the environmental studies department at SJSU, encouraged students to get involved in policy making by registering to vote and voting.

"I wanted to make the world better for you, for my kids and, for that matter, myself," Trumbull said after his speech. "We can make a difference right now."

Trumbull also said there are many companies that have decided to switch to clean energy and they're not waiting for the government to tell them to. The campaign is an effort to persuade Reed to take similar steps.

Trumbull said one way for Reed to start the use of clean energy on campuses is to modify the way buildings are built. He said that by putting solar panels on the roof and by putting trees up to block the sun in the summer, the buildings wouldn't need to use power provided by companies such as PG&E.

The second speaker for the rally was Evelyn Gutierrez, a senior at Fresno State majoring in economics and political science who is also an intern with Greenpeace this semester.

Gutierrez said the Renew CSU campaign has been going on for almost two years.

"It's important because the CSU system consumes so much energy and that contributes to global warming," Gutierrez said.

In her speech, Gutierrez also made suggestions on how the CSU system could construct new buildings to use clean energy.

Gutierrez said that the campaign is trying to visit the more populous campuses and build coalitions. She said they went to several campuses in southern California, including Cal State Long Beach. She also said that they were planning rallies at campuses up north, such as Cal State Chico.

"I think this is a small part of the bigger issue of global warming," Gutierrez said.

Sarah Stillman, a fourth-year philosophy major and Academic Senate member, volunteered to act as a liaison between the campaign and SJSU to help organize the rally.

Stillman said the goal of the rally was to bring awareness to SJSU and to Reed.

"The goal was bringing awareness about the lack of resources in California and the need to look towards a future with clean energy," Stillman said.

The interns working on the campaign began asking students to sign a petition last week, Stillman said. The petition will eventually be sent to Reed.

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