South Africa or Bust

Senior Julian Dautremont-Smith, a Truman scholar and environmental studies major, upped the ante on activism last summer when he attended the U.N. World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, South Africa.

“The experience was somewhat surreal,” he says. 

Traveling with members of Greenpeace, Dautremont-Smith joined close to 60,000 government leaders, national delegates, businesspeople, organizations, and concerned citizens at the 10-day event, from August 26 through September 4. As a member of the Greenpeace team, he helped organize a press conference with congressional leaders and participated in a Greenpeace demonstration highlighting the need for corporate accountability.

In addition, Dautremont-Smith lobbied for the transfer of clean, renewable energy technologies to the developing world, attempting to persuade governments to resist pressure from fossil fuel interests. He also worked to convince the U.S. delegation to support clean energy solutions.

“Continued dependence on fossil fuels results in acid rain; global warming; and land, air, and water pollution,” says Dautremont-Smith, who is leading the drive to make Lewis & Clark the first college to meet Kyoto Protocol standards on greenhouse gas emissions.