Proposition 23: Youth Leaders Say Echo Boomers Helped Shoot Down Big Oil-Funded Ballot Measure
California Student Sustainability Coalition, a group that organizes young people to vote for environmental causes, says Echo Boomers played a major role in the defeat of Big Oil-funded Proposition 23 on Tuesday.
"No on 23" campaign poster
"In an election that's been characterized by record corporate spending, capitulation to moderation, and a lack of leadership behind clean energy, the victory against Proposition 23 demonstrates that the youth vote is capable of delivering a victory for clean energy when clear choices are on the table," says Courtney Hight, executive director of the Energy Action Coalition, a national youth coalition of clean energy organizations that works with CSSC, in a press statement.
Hight also promises that young voters between the age 18 and 29 -- there are around 55 million of them -- will become more engaged in the political process because of the Prop. 23 defeat.
"Clean energy victories will continue to motivate young voters and we'll build off of this decisive victory to create more of them," says the activist.
CSSC and the Energy Action Coalition, which is based in Washington D.C., were key players in the effort to turn out the youth vote in California.
L.A. Weekly wrote a cover story about CSSC campaign director Gabe Elsner, detailing his work in beating back Prop. 23.
Elsner says in a press release that CSSC mobilized "thousands" of voters to fend off Prop. 23 by creating various student networks across the state.
We wouldn't be surprised if President Barack Obama tries to tap that resource in 2012.
Contact Patrick Range McDonald at pmcdonald@laweekly.com.
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