NOTICE: Environment Colorado is no longer accepting applications for a summer 2007 internship. Please feel free to submit resumes for a fall 2007 internship or beyond.

Undergraduate Student Internships

Environment Colorado is currently accepting applications for internships at our Denver office. Environment Colorado is a statewide non-profit that advocates for clean air, clean water, and open spaces. We uncover threats to public health and well-being and fight to end them, using the time-tested tools of investigative research, media exposes, grassroots organizing, advocacy and litigation.

Description
Interns learn to use a variety of news media and public forums to educate the public about our campaigns. They write press releases and letters to the editor, research reports, make presentations to community groups, and generate grassroots support for our campaigns. The top issues we'll be working on this summer are:

Energy: Promote the use of renewable energy like wind and solar power while working to stop inappropriate fossil fuel development on public lands.

Transportation: Build support for new light rail lines proposed as a part of FasTracks.

Sprawl: Work to preserve the urban growth boundary around the Denver Metro Area and make our communities more livable.

Our internships offer students the opportunity to learn about problems affecting our environment while getting hands-on experience in the fight to save our planet. The Environment Colorado Internship Program bridges classroom studies with real world experiences. Interns are required to work a minimum of 8 hours a week. Course-credit is also possible.

For more information on these or other internships, as well as volunteer opportunities, contact Matt Garrington (303) 573-3871 ext. 310, .

Description
Everyone wants to have an impact. Yet for too many students, their summer internships will offer them little opportunity to substantially affect their world. At the Environment Colorado, our interns achieve concrete, practical changes on issues ranging from air and water pollution to preserving open space in Colorado.

Environment Colorado internships are designed to enable you to quickly take on increasing levels of responsibility. Here’s our approach:

• Each intern is closely mentored by an Environment Colorado advocate as they work side by side on an issue-based campaign. Interns become part of the full Environment Colorado community, attending weekly strategy sessions, coalition meetings, and organizational conferences.

• While much of Environment Colorado’s work centers on the legislative arena, Environment Colorado takes its issues to whatever forum offers the best hope of winning concrete results. We do whatever it takes to get things done, often against stiff opposition from powerful corporate lobbyists or entrenched politicians. That means our interns are able to get hands-on experience in regulatory policy, shareholder advocacy, and community organizing.

• Interns start off by researching real problems that affect people in their daily lives, then work to implement concrete policy solutions. As the internship progresses, you quickly take on greater responsibility and duties, from holding press conferences to lobbying decision-makers, from formulating political strategy to drafting legislation.

This approach requires each intern not only to develop expertise in public policy, but also to become skilled in the political process. You become expert at:

• Creating new policy ideas. The problems are easy to identify, but practical, feasible solutions are harder to come by. An Environment Colorado intern helps our staff survey the current best thinking on the issue and think through the best policy options.

• Devising an effective strategy. Whether an Environment Colorado proposal becomes public policy is often a matter of how the problem is framed for public debate, who is seen to be for and against the proposal, and whether we have made a persuasive case to the public. Our interns help our staff combine these elements into an effective public interest campaign.

• Conducting investigative research. Facts, figures and examples are the bedrock of any intelligent public policy debate. An Environment Colorado intern pulls together the research on an issue in order to illustrate the problem, and demonstrate the viability of the proposed solution.

• Drafting legislation. The devil, as they say, is in the details, and nowhere more so than in the legislative process. An Environment Colorado intern helps craft legislation and keeps an eye out for unfriendly amendments.

• Lobbying. Whether it is a U.S. senator or a state representative, each decision-maker must be convinced on the merits, in person whenever possible. The style of advocacy employed by Environment Colorado was best summed up by Washington Post columnist David Broder many years ago: “politely persistent.”

• Media outreach. The spotlight of media attention helps to inform the public, offer new perspectives on old problems, and put decision-makers on notice that the public is watching their actions. An Environment Colorado intern works to get our issues and opinions covered by the media, through news releases, press conferences, interviews, “op-eds,” new Web sites, and more.

• Organizing political support. When public interest proposals meet special interest resistance, public support can provide the push to overcome political opposition. An Environment Colorado intern helps to broaden the constituency for our proposals, building a coalition that can help sway decision-makers.

What qualities and abilities does being an Environment Colorado intern require? A strong commitment to public interest issues. The ability to frame a debate on your own terms. The ability to engage others, whether one-on-one or in a group. The ability to think strategically. A willingness to engage in creative conflict, to persevere, and to lead by example.

Most Environment Colorado interns are graduate students in law, public policy, or environmental studies, but students in any area of study may apply. While most Environment Colorado interns are unpaid, some may qualify for up to $3,000 in funding. Environment Colorado internships are based in Denver.

For more information on these or other internships, as well as volunteer opportunities, contact Matt Garrington (303) 573-3871 ext. 310, .