SFCC sophomore Tracey Chace and freshman Rachel Friedlander got the chance Monday to lobby politicians in Washington, D.C., on environmental issues.
But they weren't alone.
Along with 6,000 other students from around the country, the two SFCC students took part in Power Shift 2007, the largest global warming summit in the world, Friedlander said.
Chace said that along with attending the Senate Majority hearing, they met with the staff of Florida Sen. Mel Martinez, a Republican, and Rep. Corrine Brown, a Democrat who serves Gainesville and Jacksonville in the House of Representatives.
"We are trying to get 5 million green jobs, cut carbon by 80 percent and stop the construction of new coal plants," Chace said.
Chace said the lawmakers were receptive to their ideas.
"We are also trying to get the Florida senators and representatives to support the energy bill that is going through congress at this time," Chace said.
This was one of many sustainability related events that took place at Power Shift 2007 in College Park, Md.
From Friday to Monday, the students were able to attend panels on different areas of sustainability.
"We were also able to take workshops on how to accomplish the goals that this summit has talked to us about," Friedlander said.
Friedlander attended workshops on renting solar panels and bringing sustainability to her school.
SFCC President Jackson Sasser "is going to implement sustainability into Santa Fe's curriculum by next year," Friedlander said.
Friedlander said she is an advocate of implementing sustainability in the education curriculum at all levels and grades of the public school systems.
She said she thinks it is important to teach kids how to take care of the environment at a young age.
