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by Peggy Mansperger

On April 14, people all over the country will hold events for “Step It Up: A National Day of Climate Action.” Organized by six recent college graduates and Bill McKibben, scholar in residence at Middlebury College, Step It Up is expected to be the largest day of citizen action focused on global warming in U.S. history.

Step It Up is designed to capitalize on the national movement to spread awareness about global warming. Parents, children, entrepreneurs, and college students are setting up rallies and events in the name of Step It Up, demanding that Congress put the United States “on a course to cut carbon emissions 80% by 2050.”

Over 900 events are planned across all 50 states. From senior citizens to first-graders, people are planning ways they can be part of the day’s action. Events are planned locally so supporters can emit the least amount of carbon, and so that the educational impact of events is made at home.

In Florida, scuba divers are planning to hold underwater signs by the damaged reefs. There is a children’s march planned in South Dakota and a “bubble parade” in Berkeley, California. Thousands will rally in New York City. Citizens in other parts of the country plan to rally, march, sing, and bike in their own hometowns.

College students are also joining the movement, helping by planning, promoting, and attending events.  Step It Up boasts allies of student groups like Campus Climate Challenge, Focus the Nation, Sierra Club, and Student Conservation Voters. The Student Public Interest Research Groups’ website explains that University of Maryland College Park students started their Step It Up campaign a month in advance. They’ve gathered over 300 photo petitions of students asking Congress to “Step It Up! Reduce Carbon by 2050.”

University of California San Diego students are going to rally on the green of Eleanor Roosevelt College. The University’s student environmental groups are getting involved, and so are colleges like Paul Smith’s College. Students at SUNY Oneonta and Hartwick College are painting murals. Student clubs are joining together in La Jolla, California.

The nation’s sororities, too, are getting involved.  In January, Bill McKibben wrote an article showing that the Alpha Phi Sorority chapter from the University of Texas at Austin was helping to spur the Step It Up events and issues.

Teachers are motivating some of the organizing students and friends are motivating others, but all are being motivated by the possibility of making a difference.

For more information on Step It Up, go to: http://www.stepitup2007.org/