Students protesting climate change under Interstate 81 were greeted with 135 honks Thursday.

The local chapter of the New York Public Interest Research Group and climate action group 1Sky arranged for the small gathering of State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry and Syracuse University students to come out in support of the Clean Air Act.

From 5:30 to 6 p.m., students cheered and waved signs at the corner of Harrison and Almond streets. About 10 students came out for the event, but NYPIRG project coordinator Ted Traver said he thought more students would have shown up if they had been aware of the event.

NYPIRG chose to arrange the rally on the Clean Air Act because climate change is a cause frequently disregarded for other issues, such as the events happening in Egypt, Traver said.

‘It’s one of these things that always gets pushed to the back burner,’ Traver said.

The group wanted to catch the attention of commuters on their way home from work, Traver said. He said he hoped seeing the student protestors would cause people to think about the Clean Air Act and contact New York politicians, such as Rep. Ann Marie Buerkle, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand and Sen. Charles Schumer, to support the act.

‘There are still some politicians that don’t believe in global warming, and that’s ridiculous because it’s right in our faces,’ said Elton Wong, a junior international relations major at SU.

Wong started interning with NYPIRG about a month ago and was at the rally holding a ‘Honk for Clean Air’ sign. He said the current college generation cares about climate change.

After hearing about the rally at a NYPIRG meeting two weeks ago, Jessica Collington, a freshman information management and technology major at SU, said she wanted to attend the event. She joined the students after her afternoon class.

JP Tucci, a freshman environmental biology major at ESF, was holding a ‘Think long range, stop climate change’ sign and counting the number of cars that honked in support of the group.

‘I’m obviously pro-environment,’ Tucci said.

Kelly Bell, a freshman environmental biology major at ESF, held a sign that read, ‘I like my lungs intact, protect the Clean Air Act.’ She said she felt like she was making a difference by being at the rally.

‘I just think after people know everything,’ she said, ‘they’ll be able to vote on an educated basis.’

dkmcbrid@syr.edu

 

Published on February 27, 2011 at 12:00 pm

Contact Dara: dkmcbrid@syr.edu | @daramcbride