FARMINGTON – A national call to rally for climate change was answered in Farmington by a Mt. Blue High School sophomore.

A “Step It Up 2007: Green Leadership” event will take place from noon to 2 p.m. Saturday in the Education Center on the University of Maine at Farmington campus. Another rally, one of 1,100 nationally, was organized here in April to push Congress to act on global warming and reduce carbon emissions.

Amanda Hall, 15, will host Saturday’s rally to raise awareness of global warming. It’s one of many events being held across the country to demand leadership on global warming, she said.

Step It Up is a movement started by a group of Middlebury College students and environmental economist and author Bill McKibben.

On Saturday, a year before the presidential election, the Step It Up organization seeks to build a movement strong enough to put climate change on the table where it can no longer be ignored, as stated on their Web site.

The rallies are being built around McKibben’s book, “Fight Global Warming Now, A Handbook for Taking Action in Your Community.”

As host, Hall said she could take the local rally in whatever direction she wanted and has chosen to show there are things that can be done locally to help the environment.

“It’s a good way for the community to come together to help save the planet,” she said Tuesday. “All are welcome to attend.”

She chose UMF’s Education Center, a certified green building, for the location and will bring displays and representatives from businesses that offer green products.

“One’s that allow each of us to make a difference on this pressing issue,” she said.

Tours of the center will be given by college students, she added.

U.S. Rep. Mike Michaud, D-Maine, will join Hall at the rally Saturday. Members of Congress were invited to the Step It Up rallies. Michaud’s staff was surprised when they asked about Hall’s college life only to be told she was a sophomore in high school, Hall’s mother, Lisa Ellrich, said.

Hall became involved this summer when she attended Northeast Organic Farmer’s Meeting with Amy Leblanc of Whitehill Farm in Wilton. McKibben spoke at the meeting and after reading his books, Hall wanted to meet him. Leblanc got her an invitation to join him and others for a dinner held after his speech. She found his message on bringing awareness of climate warming and environmental change to the local level interesting, she said.

Hall invited a dozen or so local businesses to provide information on everything from pellet and corn stoves to solar power and composting.