Nicholas Casciano/The Ithacan RALPH NADER CRITICIZES corporate control during an Earth Day address Monday night in Ben Light Gymnasium.

Former Green Party presidential candidate Ralph Nader issued a cry against corporate waste and called students to become civic activists during an Earth Day speech at Ithaca College Monday night.

The event drew more than 2,000 students, faculty and community members to the Ben Light Gymnasium.

Nader criticized the corporate emphasis on technology above all else, which he said is destroying the natural world. Corporate emphasis on technology and profit is hindering long-sighted development, he added.

A good example of this, he said, is the current fuel efficiency of cars. He said consumers should be getting 60, 70 or 80 miles per gallon instead of 20.

He lambasted corporate involvement in the political sphere, which he said has discouraged government from regulating big business more.

“Corporations should get out of politics,” Nader said. “They’re not voters, they’re not real human beings, they’re artificial entities.”

Nader also said the definition of pollution needs to change to a form of deadly violence. Then people will begin to look at what they can do to effect change, he said.

He said that change can begin with efforts ranging from supporting the organic food industry to lobbying legislators for more regulation.

People should not feel that their contributions will not make a difference, Nader said.

“The Mississippi starts with a drop of water,” Nader said. “The moment we start thinking we can’t make a drop in the bucket, the bucket will never fill.”

The Ithaca College Environmental Society and Habitat for Humanity were the primary sponsors of Nader’s speech.

Sophomore Eric Lieb, a member of both organizations who helped to organize the event, said Nader did a good job of educating those with less knowledge of his policies.

But after the speech, Nader had not converted everyone to his point of view.

“I thought Nader was competent and made good points, but his argument was overgeneralized and economically unsound,” freshman Michael Wier said.

Others in the crowd were empowered by the speech.

“Even though he was preaching to the choir, it makes the choir sing a little louder,” said sophomore Martin Smith, an ICES member.