News Releases

For Immediate Release:
July 20th 2007

Contacts:
Ellynne Bannon, Director, Student PIRGs’ New Voters Project, 202-468-7635, ebannon@studentpirgs.org
Sujatha Jahagirdar, Student PIRGs’ New Voters Project Program Director, 323-309-6120, sujatha@studentpirgs.org

On the heels of a new report that predicts disastrous consequences for the country’s national parks as a result of global warming, young people in Chicago and throughout the country are bringing their concerns about global warming directly to all of the Presidential candidates.

“Global warming will have a huge impact on the world that I inherit,” said Rebecca Reynolds, mid-west regional What’s Your Plan? campaign coordinator. “It is very important to me to know what all of the candidates’ plans are to deal with this problem.”

This weekend young people will be hot on the trail of Barack Obama in Chicago, Mitt Romney in Iowa and all the candidates at the debate in Charleston, South Carolina to ask them: “What’s Your Plan? to stop global warming.”

The question that students will pose to candidates this weekend is part of a new national campaign called What’s Your Plan?  that calls upon all the Presidential hopefuls to pay attention to young people and address key youth issues such as global warming, college affordability, health care, and financial security.

Since the campaign launch, young people have spoken to almost all of the Presidential candidates including: Mitt Romney, Rudy Giuliani, Barack Obama, John Edwards, Duncan Hunter, John Cox, Bill Richardson, Chris Dodd, John McCain, Tommy Thompson, Ron Paul, Dennis Kucinich, Hillary Clinton, Sam Brownback, Mike Huckabee and Joe Biden. See photo gallery

The new report, released by the nonprofit National Parks Conservation Association, highlights the possibility of more wildfires in Yosemite, flooding in the Everglades, and disrupted ecosystems in the Smoky Mountains as a result of global warming.  “With more floods, drought, and air pollution, global warming will have enormous consequences for the word young people will inherit,” stated Ellynne Bannon, the Student PIRGs’ New Voters Project Director.  ”Young people are very aware of this fact and are more interested than ever in how the candidates plan to tackle this problem.”

According to a recent poll published by the New York Times, 58 percent of young people say that they are paying attention to the 2008 elections, compared to just 35 percent at this point in 2004.

The Student PIRGs predict that youth voter turnout will continue to increase in 2008 – and if the candidates offer up detailed policies on youth-specific issues and communicate them directly to young people, young people will vote even more.

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The Student Public Interest Research Groups (Student PIRGs) are non-partisan, student directed, state-based organizations that work to solve public interest problems related to the environment, consumer protection and government reform. www.studentpirgs.org

What’s Your Plan? is a project of The Student PIRGs’ New Voters Project and allied youth organizations.  Since 2003, the project registered more than 600,000 young voters and made more than 650,000 personalized Get Out the Vote contacts leading up to Election Day to turn out young voters.  www.whats-your-plan.org