Collegian Hosts “Debate Watch”, Discusses CO2 Pipeline at U. of Illinois

This week students at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) were treated to a special presentation by Driessen Fellow Eaan Tang. On the night of October 1, dozens of UIUC students came trickling into a classroom tucked away in a corner of campus. Excited in anticipation of the vice-presidential debate that was to occur shortly after their arrival. Filling up on soda, pizza and dessert provided by CFACT, they took their seats and settled in.

Before the debate began however, their TPUSA chapter president and resident CFACT Driessen Fellow Eaan Tang stood at the front of the classroom and lectured on the potential environmental dangers and private property rights violations the Summit Carbon Solutions C02 Pipeline poses. A tax-payer subsidized project that CFACT has long publicly opposed.

Providing a passionate argument, Eaan provided an excellent overview of CFACT as an organization, outlined why any principled conservationist should take issue with the pipeline project, and urged his fellow students to sign a petition calling for an immediate halt on construction.

Swayed by his PowerPoint presentation and impassioned speech, sixteen students took turns putting their name to paper in a show of unity against the corrupt pipeline project (their phone numbers have been scrubbed from the photo below for privacy). When asked later how he thought the event turned out, Eaan had this to say, “I think the event went really well. We had a good turnout, almost everyone in attendance was willing to sign the petition and agreed with the scientific and legal reasoning of CFACT’s position.”

After his presentation concluded, the debate quickly took center stage as the livestream officially began. With the lights dimmed and the growing crowd hushed, the watch party commenced. As the debate got underway, audible gasps, laughs, and scoffs could be heard as students witnessed in real time the obvious bias of the debate “moderators.”

Though disappointed with the systematic bias towards conservatives on full display, students reported having a great time. In all, those in attendance learned a valuable lesson that evening: you can’t trust the mainstream media to give you a fair picture of anything. Whether it be C02 pipelines, or “fact checks” on vice-presidential candidates, they’re better off getting the real facts from CFACT.