More than 70 members of the Ohio Student Environmental Coalition gathered in Columbus last weekend to attend the Ohio Area Student Environmental Summit. Oberlin sent a delegation of 17 students to the event.

On Sunday, Feb. 10, more than 50 students representing ten Ohio colleges and universities protested in front of the homes of Chris Korleski, director of the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency and Marc Gersken, CEO of American Municipal Power-Ohio — the men responsible for the final decision on a proposed coal plant in Meigs County.

The plant would be the fifth in the area of Racine, a poverty-stricken town in southeastern Ohio. Residents have suffered from higher-than-average levels of asthma, cancer and neurological disorders. Racine also has a low and polluted groundwater table.

A handful of students presented Korleski and Gersken with letters detailing the threats of global warming and the toxins released from coal-fired power plants. Gersken spoke to students on his lawn and said he would look into the issue.