Hey SEACers! This is Chris Klarer an NC member from Southern Illinois. This is my first blog post, so I hope ya likes it!

I wrote the following to be published in our campus newspaper as a warning to the fools at Southern Illinois University who're all about coal. They think they can start talking about the only coal fired power plant currently being proposed on a university campus in the US on our watch?

They don't even know what's coming. We're starting a campaign with some solid, ambitious goals. They're not building that plant. Oh, and they're going to start shifting funding from our Coal Research Center to the creation of a renewable energy and efficiency research center too.

This weekend, hundreds of students from around the Southeast will converge at Valdosta State for the 5th Annual Southeast Student Renewable Energy Conference. Drawing off the momentum of Powershift and Focus the Nation, this is shaping up to be a solid weekend of movement building, strategy, and FUN! Student and youth organizers in Southeast states have been busy networking to develop strong statewide alliances and this gathering will continue to grow our regional power. From South Carolina, over seventy students will make the trek down to Georgia, with nearly sixty traveling together on a charter bus, helping cut down on the carbon footprint of the conference.

Come to POWER-VEG! The West Virginia Energy Gathering will be held on September 28th, 29th and 30th at Glenville State College. Come for a weekend of sharing, learning, and strategizing around energy issues with other students and youth from across the state! Build solidarity among youth and community groups working to make energy in West Virginia both sustainable and just! Power-Veg can become the foundation for a youth environmental justice coalition in West Virginia! This is not intended to be a summit of workshop after lecture after workshop. Instead it will be first and foremost a strategy session, a space for us to hash out just how we intend to make change on our campuses, in our communities, in our state, and in our world. Come share your vision and create a better future!

SEAC Appalachia

Welcome, Appalachian SEACers! For more information or to get involved contact Dana Kuhnline, the Appalachia regional organizer - dana@seac.org

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Video footage from the Mountain Justice Spring Break that we co-sponsored: Video 1 Video 2

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SEAC Appalachia groups

Shepherd University - Shepherdstown, WV