Editor’s Note: The previous article published in the Sept. 8 edition of The Appalachian about PowerVote was inaccurate. The following article is an updated version.

by ANNE BAKER
News Editor

Students at Appalachian State University can choose to be a part of progressive change this election year through Power Vote.

“Power Vote is a non-partisan, grassroots organizing project that hopes to engage at least 1 million youth voters in a nationwide push to make this country energy independent,” Rio W. Tazewell, junior sustainable policy major, said.

Tazewell is the coordinator of Appalachian’s Power Vote group.

Power Vote is a national campaign that includes college campus and state coordinators and is led by the Energy Action Coalition.

Brianna C. Cotter, communications director of the Energy Action Coalition said the coalition is made up of 48 environmental organizations and Power Vote stemmed from those organizations.

Tazewell said Power Vote is building a network of youth in all 50 states who would like to see changes in energy efficiency be made.

“We feel like investing in clean energy infrastructure can address our nation’s most pressing problems such as [the] failing economy, the impending environmental concerns such as global warming and our overwhelming dependence on fossil fuels...” he said.

Tazewell said it is also important to put pressure on elected representatives and hold them accountable in the federal, state and local levels of government through the form of lobbying, petitioning and public demonstrations. 

“We incorporate a variety of tactics, but our goal is to present our arguments professionally and articulately so we can actually be taken seriously,” he said.

Students at Appalachian have been responsive to Tazewell and the Power Vote campaign, helping him build a team of interested students quickly.

“The first two and a half, three weeks of school I pretty much talked to people as much as humanly possible about Power Vote,” he said. “I was representing

Power Vote everywhere I went, whether it was between classes on Sanford Mall or at parties I would go to on the weekends.”

Tazewell said a major part of the Power Vote platform is government investment in renewable energy infrastructure.

“One example is the manufacturing of wind turbines, right now all over the country there are factories being shut down due to outsourcing,” he said. “These factories can be retooled relatively easy to produce wind turbines, employing thousands, or millions, of middle-class workers.”

Tazewell said this alone could revitalize the nation’s economy, which could lead to the production of energy domestically and reduce the United State’s dependency on petroleum sources.

There will be a Power Vote meeting tonight at 8 p.m. in room 421 of Belk Library & Information Commons.

Tazewell said he has seen over 80 people attend the first two Power Vote meetings held on Appalachian’s campus, and plans to have visible events to promote the campaign over the next few months.

“The energy level has been really high...I can really see this taking off,” he said.

The first event will be held Saturday, Sept. 27 before the home football game against Presbyterian College.

“We plan on having a massive tailgating presence at Duck Pond Field,” he said. “We will have people there asking others to sign the Power Vote pledge and will have a Power Vote party later that night to hopefully get a lot of people out.”

Tazewell said pledge cards are a way for the campaign to demonstrate its strength in numbers, and hopes to have at least 5,000 Appalachian students sign the card.

“What I would like to see is [the Appalachian Power Vote network] become a political force and a vessel for political activism beyond Appalachian State University,” he said.

Those interested in Power Vote can sign a pledge card online at powervote.org.

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