CFACT headed out west this past week to Arizona to participate in the largest conservative conference in the nation, America Fest (Amfest). Hosted by Turning Point USA, CFACT co-sponsored the event and was able to make its presence known to many of the roughly fifteen thousand people in attendance.
With a booth in a prominent location, National Field Director Greg Neff and Driessen Fellow Gabe Chambers (a meteorology major from Western Kentucky University) were able to disseminate CFACT material and interact with innumerable activists from around the country. The duo showcased two of the organization’s more popular campus activism kits, “Beef or Bugs” and “Find the CO2”. The first kit involves challenging spectators to either “Resist the Reset” by accepting beef jerky, or to reject freedom by “eating bugs.” The second kit served as a visual demonstration of how little CO2 is in the atmosphere. In this case, participants were asked to locate a lone red bead (representing CO2) that was mixed in among 2499 other white beads representing other elements of our atmosphere (CO2 accounts for only .04% of the atmosphere or 1/2500 parts). Both activities were a hit with conference goers.
One attendee, an engineer, stated that he was “glad to see that people haven’t given up on influencing the next generation.” Another, a prominent author, also approached the booth inquiring about sponsoring his local university to have a Driessen Fellow. This played right into one of the main purposes of CFACT’s attendance at Amfest, which was to locate potential spring semester interns (Driessen Fellows). CFACT staff reported they signed up multiple dozens of students interested in becoming interns and were encouraged that many seemed to be highly qualified in such fields as mathematics, biology, engineering, and computer science, among others.
Of course, no CFACT event can be complete without at least one stunt taking place. On the second day of the four-day conference the attendees were introduced to the organization’s “I Love Fossil Fuel” T-Rex. This 8-foot-tall fossil costume has made the rounds this year with appearances at LSU, WKU, and Ohio State before arriving in Phoenix. Gabe donned the outfit and pranced through the sponsors hall, up and down media row (the major gathering hub for reporters and podcasters attending), and finally into the main ballroom where prominent public speaker Riley Gaines was giving a presentation. He finally came to rest at the CFACT booth, and it was there that curious gawkers decided to line up for photos with the Jurassic mascot.
