A local environmental and government leader spoke to a group of about 50 students Thursday night at the Student Environmental Action Coalition meeting at the Holmes Student Center.

Republican State Representative Candidate Charles Marshall, who has spent the past 25 years working on local environmental issues, said Illinois citizens need caretakers for the environment. He advocated student participation in cleaning the environment and preventing pollution with properly placed landfills.

Marshall said the two major issues in his campaign are tax reform for better school funding and environmental security.

“A state legislator deals with state laws and county laws,” Marshall said, explaining he could help reform for both issues in DeKalb County and in Springfield once elected.

SEAC President Michael Baltasi said Marshall’s attitude on the environment was encouraging. “The reason we asked Marshall to speak was to let him present his environmental platform.”

Jeff Erhlich, an SEAC member and NIU campaign aide to Marshall, said members of SEAC were responsive and the meeting was productive.

However, SEAC member Joseph Krueger said, “I think it’s going to take much more than what this guy can do to protect the environment.”