Howard Actively Supports Earth Day

Students and speakers are scheduled to rally around the flagpole this afternoon to make a statement about climate change.

The organized gathering, called Earth Hour, is the World Wildlife Fund's (WWF) global initiative where individuals, businesses and governments turn off their lights for one hour to show their support for action on climate change.

At 12 p.m., there will be a pre-earth hour rally to garner interest about the more formal event that will take place at 8:30 p.m. on Saturday.

Keith Miles, chief of staff at the Office of the Vice Provost for Student Affairs, said Howard was the only historically black university to be invited by the WWF to be a flagship university of this event.

"The pre-rally is so that this event is brought to the attention of the students," Miles said.

"We don't want the issue to be swept under the carpet."

Earth Hour is held around the spring equinox, which insures nearly equal sunset times in both northern and southern hemispheres. Flagship cities include Washington, D.C., Miami, Atlanta, Nashville, Tenn., Chicago, Las Vegas, Los Angeles and San Francisco. In addition, cities in more than 60 countries around the world have committed to Earth Hour 2009.
Some of these cities include Cape Town, South Africa, Hong Kong, Mexico City, Singapore, Toronto, Rome, Dubai,  United Arab Emirates and Sydney, Australia.  

This year is a critical year for the fight against climate change. Hundreds of countries, including the United States, will be coming together at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, Denmark this December to potentially sign a successor to the Kyoto Treaty.

The Kyoto Treaty is an international environmental treaty produced at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development. The Protocol establishes legally binding commitments for the reduction of four greenhouse gases (carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide and sulfur hexafluoride) and two groups of gases (hydrofluorocarbons and perfluorocarbons) emitted by industrialized nations, as well as general commitments from all signing countries.

"President Ribeau wants to make a bold statement about climate change," Miles said.

"Earth Hour symbolizes that by working together, each of us can make a positive impact in the fight against climate change and send a global message to our political leaders that Howard University cares about this issue and stands with the rest of the world in seeking to find solutions to the escalating climate crisis and furthering a global conversation on climate change with the aim of affecting future legislation and international agreements."

Some of the speakers will include Leslie Aun, vice president for public relations for the WWF; Miss Black District of Columbia Breyuna Williams; Nick Owen, president of the Howard University Student Association; and Aprille Ericsson, a member of Howard's Board of Trustees.

Also scheduled to attend are employees of Sodexho, the company that supplies Howard with food, who will be speaking about ways the campus can begin to become more environmentally friendly.

Immediately following the ceremony on Saturday, there will be a catered reception. It will feature all organic foods, and there will be no plastic used, with participants eating on bamboo plates and bowls.  

"We want participants to come out feeling like they can save the planet and get an idea of the impact on them and their future families," Miles said.

Mother Nature may have something in store for participants on Saturday. There is rain in the forecast ,and if it happens, students will "just be out there with our umbrellas," Miles said.