Accomplishments

Campus Climate Challenge: WISPIRG's Big Red Go Green campaign helped convince the UW-Madison administration to pledge to reduce energy consumption by 20% by 2010. In addition, WISPIRG helped to organize the first-ever Midwest Student Clean Energy Conference, which had 250 attendees from more than 20 schools, representing 12 states and three countries.

Hunger and Homelessness: WISPIRG organized 108 students to travel to New Orleans and volunteer for a week to help victims of Hurricane Katrina. WISPIRG's annual Hunger Cleanup raised over $5,000 to support local shelters and social agencies.

Clean Energy: WISPIRG students lobbied for and passed Senate Bill 459, which requires Wisconsin to purchase 10% of its energy from renewable sources by 2015, and requires all state buildings to purchase 20% of their energy from renewable sources by 2015.

Wilderness Protection: WISPIRG was among the leading organizations that again convinced Congress to protect the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge from oil and gas drilling.

New Voters Project: WISPIRG ran the New Voters Project on campuses throughout Wisconsin and registered 142,000 students to vote in 2004.

In Fall 2006, WISPIRG’s Vote 2006 Coalition registered more than 4000 students to vote, and leading up to Election Day, contacted more than 8000 to get out the vote. On Election Day, young voter turnout rates at 12 student-dominated wards shot up by 66%. Nationally, the increase in youth voter turnout was four times the rate of the general population’s increase (4% for youth, 1% overall).

Clean Water: WISPIRG students and advocacy staff led the campaign that passed the nation's strongest clean water law here in Wisconsin to control runoff pollution.

Higher Education: WISPIRG worked with a national coalition to convince the U.S. House of Representatives to pass HR 5, which would cut in half the interest rate on student loans.  The bill passed with overwhelming bipartisan support, by a vote of 356 to 71.  The bill would lower interest rates over five years on subsidized Stafford student loans, which are used overwhelmingly by students from low- and middle-income families.  This would save the average low or middle-income borrower starting school in 2007 $2,300 in debt.