CONTACTS:
Brandon Knight, 248.521.4219
Angela Walker, 650.766.2748

Media Advisory
*Interviews available
*Visuals: ten 7ft tall wind-turbines,

WHEN: January 23rd through January 25th

WHERE: Grand Valley State University's Pew Campus, Grand Rapids, MI

WHAT: The Michigan Student Sustainability Coalition in conjunction with human rights group Global Exchange and the Grand Valley State University Sustainable Community Development Initiative will host the third annual Michigan Student Sustainability Coalition Summit. During the Summit, students, youth, activists, energy professionals, professors, and the Michigan community will converge to strategize effective solutions for appropriate renewable energy technology in Michigan and on Michigan campuses. The conference will have national implications as it will be the first event building up to the national Power Shift youth climate conference in Washington D.C., February 27-March 2nd. Jessy Tolkan, the director of the Energy Action Coalition and the Power Shift conference will give a keynote speech to kick off the conference on Friday, January 23rd.

"As the economic crisis continues to hit hard in Michigan, it's great to see these young people putting forward real solutions," said Jessy Tolkan, Executive Director of the Energy Action Coalition. "MSSC knows that investing in clean energy means creating thousands of new green jobs that can help rebuild the economy in Michigan and across the country. I am excited for these young people to let their vision for a clean energy economy ring throughout the state of Michigan, and for them to bring this demand for a power shift to Washington, D.C. in late February."

The Summit will offer trainings, workshops, networking and service opportunities. Over 25 workshops are planned including trainings on: environmental justice, community organizing, corporate campaigning, organizational development, clean and sustainable transportation, sustainable technology, sustainable business, campus organizing and environmental law and policy. On January 24th, summit participants will enjoy a lunch with Grand Rapids Major, George Heartwell, after completing 14 community service projects in the surrounding communities of Grand Rapids working on 14 different service projects during the morning. The Summit will also feature a Saturday night concert featuring the bands The Ragbirds and Brett & Circus.

WHO: This year's Summit will feature spokespeople and workshop facilitators from Global Exchange, Michigan Environmental Council, National Wildlife Federation, the Michigan State University Campus Office of Sustainability, University of Michigan Environmental Issues Commission, and Michigan State University ECO. The keynote speaker on the evening of Friday January 23rd of the summit will be Appalachian based coal activist, Judy Bonds, the co-director for Coal River Mountain Watch. She is a coal miner's daughter, granddaughter. She is an Appalachian American and her family has lived in the Coal River Valley in West Virginia for 10 generations. Julia has been fighting for social and environmental justice for Appalachian coalfields since 1998.

"Michigan as a state is poised to benefit immensely from significant investment in to sustainable technologies and renewable energy," said Michael Collins of the Michigan Student Sustainability Coalition. "As young people we feel Michigan has the opportunity to become a clean energy manufacturing powerhouse, and to bring green economy jobs to the region, while solving the climate crisis. This is even more important for us as students, because we are concerned that our state won't have jobs available to sustain our families."

WHY: The Summit is intended to empower Michigan youth to demand the state of Michigan invest in sustainable energy and transportation technology. The central focus of the Summit will be the national Campus Climate Challenge, which aims to leverage the power of young people to organize on college campuses and high schools across North America to win 100% Clean Energy policies at their schools.

This year's conference location was selected because of Grand Rapids unique commitment to sustainability, as evidenced by Grand Rapids use of renewable energy and green building technology.

For more information on the Summit, please go to www.msscsummit.org. For more information on Power Shift 2009, please visit www.powershift09.org. For interviews, please call 248-521-4219, or email Brandon@globalexchange.org.