GRN Campaign Intern, Laura Mould, in Tuscaloosa, Alabama reports on the 350.org event that she helped organize at the University of Alabama. ___________________________Members of the University of Alabama Environmental Council and select other groups celebrated 350.org’s call to action on October the 24th with their own sustainable “Take Action Tide Tailgating’ event. The group tailgated on the University of Alabama’s quad amongst other tailgaters the Saturday of the Alabama vs. Tennessee football game. To keep their tailgating as green as could be they used as many sustainable practices as possible, including bringing their own dishes and washing them on site.”We wanted to be a role model for other tailgating sites. So they could see that there are ways to be green in everything we do,” says Austin Whitten a sophomore majoring in communication studies.However, Take Action Tide Tailgating was not just for fun. The University of Alabama Environmental Council also had a friendly competition with its own environmentally-minded counterpart at the University of Tennessee to see who could get the most postcards signed. The postcards were to each state’s senior senator asking them to get behind any legislation that supports the science of reaching three hundred and fifty parts per million of carbon dioxide in the earth’s atmosphere.Will Edwards a sophomore majoring in political science says, “They were able to tap into the energy that surrounds a big football weekend and use it for a cause that really matters.” The two groups both tabled the week leading up to and the day of the tailgating event on their own campuses.I used skills gained from interning with Gulf Restoration Network to help coordinate the event, get lots of signatures, and train others to do the same. The Gulf of Mexico is ground zero for the impacts of climate change. Together, University of Alabama Environmental Council and Gulf Restoration Network are working to make sure Alabama’s elected officials do what it takes to reduce carbon to below 350 parts per million in the atmosphere while preparing for the inevitable impacts of global warming. And, not only did we win the football game, we won the competition for signatures against University of Tennessee’s environmental group!
