Sierra Club Chief Discusses Activism at Kennedy School

About 50 undergraduates from Harvard and other colleges, Kennedy School students and Cambridge residents engaged in a discussion with the president of The Sierra Club at the Kennedy School of Government last night.

The youngest person ever to head the 104-year-old Sierra Club, the nation's largest grassroots environmental organization, Adam M. Werbach told the mostly college-age audience to refute the myth that members of their generation are apathetic about activism and inconsequential in shaping public policy.

"Because of our youth, we have an arsenal of weapons," he said, adding that Generation X-ers were born into the culture of environmental activism as a result of Earth Day in 1970.

College students can raise their voices louder than adults in the work force, according to Werbach, because they have more time to devote to environmental causes. Citing successes gained by the environmental movement since 1970, such as the Clean Air Act, he urged students to become involved in activism at the level of government.

Werbach was also quick to condemn the current 104th Congress as "the worst Congress on the environment in history" and told the group the most pressing issue environmentalists must currently address is campaign finance reform.

Members of the audience interviewed said they are pleased to see someone so young wielding influence in environmental policy-making. Many said they could relate to him and liked his personable approach.

Stressing Good Communication

Dressed in a checked blazer and cowboy boots, Werbach seemed to practice his own preaching about persuasive, '90s-style environmental activism to the audience and the camera crew from Today on NBC.

He stressed the importance of strong communication skills and techniques throughout his speech. And the audience seemed receptive to this, developing a rapport with Werbach, who made self-deprecating jokes, cracked his knuckles and sipped a Sprite while speaking.

He remained in the auditorium for about half an hour after the event, informally talking with people and giving them his e-mail address.

"He's very responsive to questions, right on target and on the ball," said Barbara J. Mack, a first-year student at the Kennedy School who is studying for a master's degree in public administration and law.

Leaders of campus environmental groups said they came to see Werbach speak because they wanted to learn how he rose to his position and gained so much influence at his young age.

When he was elected to the presidency of The Sierra Club last May, Werbach had already founded and directed the organization's national student program and brought it to a membership of 30,000.

Although Werbach said environmental activism has reached a "new peak" and Harvard students are "active, intelligent, plugged-in and critical," the co-chairs of the Environmental Action Committee and the Direct Action Subcommittee said environmental activism here still has a long way to go.

"Everyone is so involved in their own passions that the level of campus wide activism is not there yet," said David S. Grewal '97-'98, co-chair of the Environmental Action Committee.

And Danielle C. Schindler '98, co-chair of the Direct Action Subcommittee and Grewal both agreed Harvard's environmental activism can't compare to that at colleges like Brown and Stanford.