Last November, CAUSE student Kate Darby attended the United Nations Framework Convention
on Climate Change in the Netherlands with other students, scientists, lobbyists, heads of
state, and presidents of countries with environmental concerns. (Al Gore and Bill Clinton
would have attended had it not been for the on-going presidential election.) The conference
goal was to negotiate a final draft of the Kyoto Protocol, which sets greenhouse gas emission
limits on countries in an effort to curb climate change.
"The whole experience was amazing," says Darby. "This was the first time a huge group of
students was allowed into the conference." The 225 American students attending the conference
flew to the Netherlands courtesy of Ozone Action and Greenpeace (the two groups recently merged).
Greenpeace prepped the students with a crash course in climate change politics, legal briefings,
media confrontations, and the Protocol. Unfortunately, Darby couldn't attend the weekend workshop,
but she researched the topics and held her own at the conference.
"I snuck into a formal dinner and talked to nuclear lobbyists. They had no idea I was a student
and against nuclear energy," says Darby. One of the students' goals was to pressure the United
States to adopt a fair treaty to mitigate climate change. Darby thinks that the United States
government is more concerned with technology and keeping ahead of other countries than with the
environment.
The majority of the students at the convention were against the United States’ stance in
the negotiations. To prove their dissatisfaction with their country, half of the students
fasted on Thanksgiving Day. Darby was one of them. "It wasn't easy knowing that back home my
family was enjoying a good meal, but if we don't do something now, there may never be another
Thanksgiving meal," Darby says emotionally. The Thanksgiving fast wasn't the only way students
expressed their opinions — marches and media events took place, and a few of the students
were arrested. "We all had a lot of energy because we're so passionate about climate change. It
consumed us, but we loved it" she adds.
Shortly after the conference ended, Darby graduated with a bachelor’s degree in chemical
engineering. In January, she started a six-month internship at the Washington D.C. office of
the Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). She is now working
with NREL researchers on two projects: one encompassing solar energy and the other creating
"High Performance Schools."
"By May, we hope to have a solar energy awareness display on the D.C. Mall. We're even bringing
a fountain powered by solar energy," she says. "My duty with this project is to create awareness.
Show people that solar energy is efficient. And what I've learned about renewables in CAUSE will
help."
Her CAUSE knowledge will also help her with the "High Performance Schools" program. "These
schools will be energy efficient and will use renewable energy so they're Earth-friendly.
I'll be working with architects and engineers to develop guidelines to get these buildings
up and running around the nation," she says. "It's a great idea and I'm so excited to be a
part of it.
"I know I wouldn’t have had all these amazing experiences without CAUSE. That's where
it all began."
