The Oberlin Review
<< Front page News October 13, 2007

Green to the Corps: Oberlin Alums Explain Innovative Program

Thanks to a program that allows college graduates to work on an environmental project of their choice, many Oberlin graduates have put what they have learned here to good use, pursuing activism in locations across the U.S. with the Green Corps. To promote this often overlooked post-graduate option, Claire Miller, OC ’07 will return to campus this weekend to lead discussions and workshops.

According to the Green Corps website, its mission is to “teach the next generation of environmental leaders the strategies and skills they’ll need to win tomorrow’s environmental battles while providing critical field support for today’s pressing environmental problems.”

Completing an environmental studies major at Oberlin led Miller straight to the Green Corps program. “I was an environmental studies major. David Orr was my advisor and climate change was something that I was always anxious about, but I didn’t know how to change it. After spending six months in New Orleans [with the Green Corps], I learned that I was a people-person and I was able to make the connection that this was the perfect program for me,” she said.

The program, however, is not limited to students with particular majors. “You don’t have to be an environmental studies major to do it at all,” said Miller.

Current Green Corps volunteer Eli Rosenfeld, OC ’06 is a case in point. “I always knew that I wanted to do something with politics, since I studied American politics at Oberlin, and I was looking to get a masters in international politics,” he said.  

“Only over the past couple of years did I decide to go down the environmental route,” he said. “When I was finishing up school, I was trying to figure out what to do to extend my academic career while getting started on a career path in environmental issues and political activism.”

When asked what made him choose Green Corps over other job offers Rosenfeld said, “Besides the overall mission of training tomorrow’s leaders, it’s about the network of top environmental and political organizations.”

Miller is currently working with the Maryland Sierra Club in order to organize a Baltimore area climate campaign. “I run press conferences, attend town hall meetings, help build and make connections with the environmental community, and pass on education,” she said.

When asked about her favorite part of the job, Miller said, “I get to work with people as a professional activist. It almost doesn’t feel like a real job because it’s something that I want do.”

Rosenfeld is also focusing on a climate campaign. “I’m working with National Environmental Trust, a Green Corps partner organization, in Sarasota, Florida. We want to pass a bill that will call for an 80 percent reduction of carbon dioxide emissions by 2025. Right now Senator Nelson has already committed to the bill, but Senator Martinez hasn’t taken a stand one way or the other, so we’re mobilizing supporters to put pressure on the senator.”

He explained, “There are many things you can do when influencing someone in a populous state. In a grassroots effort, we’re having people write letters to the senator such as environmental groups and non-traditional allies, such as hunter organizations and fishermen clubs. According to Rosenfeld, Florida’s location will make it the first state to feel the effects of global warming, which will have an impact on the recreational activities of these non-traditional allies.

Claire Miller will be holding an information session today in Wilder 115 from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. and at the SEED House on Saturday from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m.


 
 
   

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