If you were on campus last Sunday, September 9, between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m., you probably noticed the Teslas, Chevrolettes, Nissans, Volkswagens, Mercedes and several other expensive cars parked on the mall. No, it wasn’t Creighton students protesting the lack of available parking spaces. The electric vehicles were part of an event hosted by the Nebraska Sierra Club for National Drive Electric Week.

Keynote speakers Anne McCollister, the executive director of the Nebraska Community Energy Alliance, and Moe Alahmad, Ph.D., an Associate Professor of Architectural Engineering at the University of Nebraska Lincoln, presented in the Skutt Center Ballroom.

The presentations focused primarily on an overview of electric vehicles and their benefits, charging stations and the current position of electric vehicle use in Nebraska.

Following the keynote speakers was a panel of experts who helped to answer questions from attendees and Sierra Club members. The panel consisted of a board member from Nebraskans for Solar and a project manager at Omaha Power Public District.

College of Arts and Sciences sophomore Rizwan Siddiqui joined the Sierra Club last year and helps to write the Nebraska chapter’s weekly newsletters, which cover various environmental events.

“I wanted to volunteer with Sierra Club so I could make a positive impact on the environment and help my experienced fellow volunteers in their goals of educating people and making the state a more suitable place,” Siddiqui said.

There were also booths by local organizations that focused on providing more information about clean and sustainable transportation, like Plug In America and Sierra Club.

“Sierra Club is one of the largest and longest-running environmental organizations in America,” said David Corbin, President of the Sierra Club’s Nebraska chapter and former adjunct professor at Creighton. “We helped to pass the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, and Endangered Species Act.”

Nebraska’s chapter has over 3,000 members, while the National total is over 3 million.

Along with hosting educational and awareness events like National Drive Electric Week, the Sierra Club also focuses on affecting environmental legislature. Lobbyists from the state and federal level work together to protect the status of our planet. For more information on Sierra Club visit their website at www.sierraclub.org.