Over the weekend, in East Lansing, Michigan, a fierce network of student activists reconfirmed its commitment to raise hell for anyone who stands in their way on the path to sustainability. The group is called the Michigan Student Sustainability Coalition, or the MSSC, and its mission is to band together enviros from universities across Michigan to take on problems ranging from recycling to transportation to a state-wide renewable energy portfolio standard.

The MSSC summit, held at Michigan State University, offered workshops on everything eco – sulphide mining, environmental justice, labor and student alliances, renewable energy, fuel solutions and false solutions – just to name a slice.

The second day was dedicated to community service projects in and around East Lansing, reminding folks that while there are certainly national and global issues to tackle, there’s plenty of work to be done right here in Michigan. To begin, many are taking on the auto industry, working with the Freedom from Oil campaign to launch the Transportation Challenge on their campuses.

The closing ceremony was attended by some very tired students and, much to their surprise, Adam Gardner, vocalist and guitarist for the band Guster. A supporter of RAN whose wife used to work on the U’wa campaign with us, Adam earns his green credentials with a nonprofit organization called Reverb that is successfully cleaning up the music industry (well, maybe not the language or the hygiene, but definitely the carbon footprint).

Adam and his band are cruising the college circuit as ecologically as they can, constantly finding new ways to reduce their impact and inspiring fans to take on climate change. He even wore the MSSC summit T-shirt on stage during his concert later Sunday evening (pictured 3rd from the right).

This was truly a weekend spent among rockstars…of course, I’m referring to the students of the MSSC!