Oregon State Public Interest Research Group Gives Students Oppurtunity to Earn Money While Saving the Enviroment

For Tim Stakes fighting global warming is more than just preventing the greatest environmental disaster of our time, it is also his job.

As Citizen Outreach Director for the Oregon State Public Interest Research Group's (OSPIRG) Eugene office, Stakes is playing a key role in building support for a bill that would require that 25 percent of Oregon's electricity be generated from renewable energy sources by the year 2025.

To build grassroots support for the Clean Energy Standard bill OSPIRG plans to pass out 36,000 brochures and gather 32,000 signatures. To reach those numbers OSPIRG is hiring students to canvass neighborhoods door to door to build support for the energy bill and raising funds for the campaign effort. Canvassers have the opportunity to make between $275 and $500 a week. Pay is based on meeting performance goals. "They (canvassers) have the opportunity to start making a lot more than the base right away," Stakes said.

Door to door campaigning is an effective way of countering the message put out by industry that man does not cause global warming Stakes said. "You have so many powerful special interest like oil companies spreading misinformation."

Eugene resident Babette Jones agrees. Jones wrote OSPIRG a check after Stakes canvassed her house and explained the potential effects of global warming on Oregon and how the Clean Energy Standard will "reduce pollutants by 25 percent."

"I get things in the mail and set them aside and never getting get around to reading them," Jones said. "I contribute more because they come my door. I'm not an activist but they do important work."

According to Stakes, only one percent of Oregon's energy needs are currently met by renewable energy sources. A fact he finds ironic considering the largest wind farm in the country, the 24 megawatt Klondike Wind Energy Facility , is located in Sherman County, in eastern Oregon and one of the largest builders of wind farms, PPM Energy, calls Portland home.

Asked about concerns by opponents that mandatory renewable energy quotas might lead to an increase in cost to consumers Stakes counters that the potential economic benefits are enormous. "Renewables create more jobs and a better economy. They keep the money in the state," he said. "They also protect the economy from global fluctuations in foreign oil and natural gas prices.

A dedication to promoting renewable energy and protecting the environment brought Louisa Hamachek, 50, to OSPIRG as a canvasser. "I saw it as an opportunity to make some money while doing something important," she said.

Hamachek also teaches watershed geology classes in local elementary schools. Her passion for teaching children carries over into her canvassing. She recently found herself giving an impromptu class about solar and wind energy to a group of neighborhood kids attracted to the color brochures they saw her leaving at houses. Hamachek was disappointed that the adults in the neighborhood did not show any enthusiasm for her message but took solace that a younger generation had the chance to learn. "Even if I didn't make any money it was fun," she said.

OSPIRG's is putting out the call for, "positive, motivated people, who care about the environment," Stakes said. "We're looking for as many staff as possible

On a typical night, an OSPIRG canvasser will visit between 80 and 90 houses in his or her assigned neighborhood, known as "the turf." Typically a canvasser will talk to about 40 people a night and sign up 5 or 6 new (OSPIRG) members," Stakes said.

Many new canvassers are apprehensive about talking too strangers and soliciting money to fund OSPIRG's environmental campaigns. Before being sent out to a neighborhood, OSPIRG staff ensures that canvassers are comfortable saying the "rap", a script that contains all the information about who OSPIRG is, what the issues are and how people can help.

Canvassers and OSPIRG staff spend time prior to each canvassing shift rehearsing the rap and role-playing. Laurie Solis, OSPIRG Field Manager, listens as canvasser Danny Gates raps with her about global warming and what she can do to help. Pretending to be an interested but unsure citizen she adlibs, "I know global warming is bad but I have family that work in logging. How is this going to effect them?" When Gates is unsure how to answer Solis admonishes him to "say the rap the way it was written, the best canvassers say the rap the way it is written." When dealing with a person who seems supportive but hesitant, Solis advises Gates that a focusing question such as "are you with us on this issue" will help get the conversation back on track.

Even with the training, role-playing and rehearsal Hamachek initially found approaching strangers in their home intimidating. "I was shy, embarrassed and miserable the first week," she said. "I stuck with it and it got better, fear is waylaid by all the cool people you meet."

In addition to earning money while protecting the environment, canvassers will take away knowledge and interest in politics Stakes said. "College kids who get involved with OSPIRG are more civicly involved in adulthood," he said. "They start following politics and know how state laws are made."

Hamachek, with an encyclopedia like knowledge of renewable energy that she fires off at a machine gun like rate with little prompting, admits to knowing little about the political process before coming to OSPIRG. "I hadn't paid attention to politics before this," she said.

Canvasser is the entry-level position at OSPIRG but career opportunities as campus organizers, filed managers, and campaign coordinators exist for college graduates Stakes said. "We want the most talented college students to fill our positions," Stakes himself started out as a canvasser for the Arizona PIRG while earning a degree in justice and social inquiry from Arizona State University. Impressed by the work OSPIRG was doing he decided to move to Oregon after graduation. "I saw OSPIRG and how aggressive they were and really wanted to come here," he said.

To reach areas outside of Eugene OSPIRG plans several "camping canvasses" this summer to Bend, Ashland, and Coos Bay. According to Stakes the out of town canvasses will be optional but it will an opportunity for staff to network with local activist in those locations.
Persons interested in working as an OSPIRG canvasser can contact the Eugene office at (541) 686-2771. More information about OSPIRG campaigns is located on their website: www.ospirg.org. Information on career opportunities with the state Peoples Information Rearch Groups can be found at www.pirg.org.