As the presidential election draws near, organizers of the national environmental movement are ardently trying to sway public opinion in favor of environmentally-friendly candidates.

And Harvard students are playing a part.

On Saturday, a group including Harvard undergraduates will door-drop voter guides comparing the environmental records of Republican U.S. representative Peter Blute and his challenger in the Massachusetts third congressional district, Democrat Jim McGovern.

Organizers estimate that if they can sway 2,000 votes in this tight race they can deliver the election to McGovern, whom they view as the "greener" candidate.

This activity marks another stage in the increasing presence of the environmental movement on Harvard's campus.

Two weeks ago the undergraduate environmental scene gained a moment of attention when the Massachusetts chapter of the Sierra Club contacted the Environmental Action Committee (EAC) at Harvard to arrange a visit to the Institute of Politics by the club's national president.

Much of the national movement has become more political. At Harvard, students have exhibited many of the movement's broader trends.

Shifts in the national movement toward increased diversity, scientific knowledge and political activism are being reflected at Harvard, say leaders of campus environmental and political groups.

"At Harvard, we're going to be at the forefront of thinking critically about these issues," says David S. Grewal '98-'97, the co-chair of the Environmental Action Committee (EAC).

Not All "White Kids from the Suburbs"

Grewal, who is also vice president of the Harvard Wilderness Alliance, says that environmentalism has been making a concerted effort to expand its support base to include poor urban residents, who may be endangered by toxic sites in their neighborhoods.

"Early on, the [conservationist] agenda tended to be taken on by upper-middle class, white Americans," he says.

He says EAC, the largest environmental organization at Harvard, has members from many backgrounds and ethnicities.

"Are we all white kids from the suburbs? No," Grewal says. "We're foreshadowing the demographic changes that have to occur in the environmental movement nationally because we're the [next] generation."

In addition, the movement has attempted to invigorate younger supporters. Speaking at the Institute of Politics two weeks ago, Sierra Club President Adam M. Werbach encouraged members of Generation X to become involved in politics.