EAST PROVIDENCE — Literacy. Drug prevention. World peace. These are the common campaigns of most beauty pageant contestants.

Miss Rhode Island, Allison Rogers, has a “loftier” goal when she competes in the Miss America contest next month in Las Vegas. She wants to stop global warming through education.

Rogers, 25, who received her title on April 22, Earth Day, recently gave a global warming and antismoking presentation to a group of seventh-grade girls at Bayview Academy, in East Providence. For an hour, she explained to students how air pollutants can cause climate change by trapping in sunlight and can lead to problems such as rising ocean levels, more severe storms and economic instability.

Rogers also told the girls how dangerous smoking can be to their health and showed a poster of a lung blackened by cancer. “What I see is connected . . . it all comes down to decisions,” she said.

On a more lighthearted note, Rogers also discussed ways to curb climate change, like carpooling and preserving natural resources. She also showed three types of Miss America hand waves and connected them to conservation methods such as screwing in an energy-efficient lightbulb, turning off the electric switch and recycling.

Armani Carrasco, 12, said she was surprised to realize that the food she eats has a direct impact on the environment. “Everything that we need on a daily basis comes from trucks, cars and [leads to] pollution,” she said.

Felicia Baker, 12, enjoyed Rogers’ talk and learned how rising temperatures could lead to freezing in some areas. Some scientists believe the melting Arctic icecaps could cool down Europe by reducing or diverting the warm Atlantic Ocean currents that cause mild weather.

Felicia was also shocked to find out that chemicals in corpse embalming fluid and nail polishes can be found in cigarettes.

“My favorite part was when she talked to us and got us into the conversation, taking our opinions, listening to what we say and encouraging us to expand our thinking,” Felicia said.

Beauty contests can be a controversial subject. Many feminists believe pageants are degrading and objectify women, focusing on physical attributes over intelligence and substance.

However, Rogers, who considers herself a feminist, believes the Miss America Organization is a leadership and scholarship program that empowers women. She also sees it as a way to educate a wider audience about the environment.

“You hear the phrase the power of the crowd,” she said. “There’s so much you can do.”

Rogers, who grew up in Providence, is in the education master’s program at Harvard. She has been an environmental advocate for five years, starting when she was an undergraduate religion major at Harvard College.

Her impetus for improving the environment came in the summer of 2002, when she worked as a camp counselor at the Cragged Mountain Farm, in New Hampshire. “That really hit home with me. When you’re outside, you leave no waste,” she said. “Everything you carry in, you carry away with you … you live life most efficiently. That was a turning point for me.”

That fall, she worked as a dormitory representative for Harvard’s Resource Efficiency Program, which promotes conservation and environmental sustainability. Rogers conducted energy, heat and food audits for her 400-person dorm and cafeteria. She also explained the importance of recycling and using less electricity to fellow students.

In her senior year, Rogers’s environmental activities grew. She became the co-captain of the Resource Efficiency Program and trained other students in environmental education. She co-organized the Harvard Northeast Climate Conference, which drew 400 students. And her undergraduate thesis focused on the connection between ecology and religion.

Through a fellowship with the National Wildlife Federation, Rogers founded ReStore, an organization that refurbishes old Harvard computers and distributes them to disadvantaged university employees.

After graduation, Rogers earned a two-year management fellowship working for Harvard’s Green Campus Initiative. During her fellowship, she organized “green living” programs for undergraduate and graduate students.

In addition, Rogers also helped develop environmental sustainability principles at Harvard and served as a youth delegate at the 13th session of the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development, last year.

During her spare time, Rogers enjoys playing the piano, volleyball and learning Cape Verdean Creole, the language of her mother’s side of the family.

Ultimately, Rogers aspires to become a university president.

For now, she is traveling across Rhode Island, educating students and the public about climate change.

One highlight Rogers experienced as Miss Rhode Island was meeting former Vice President Al Gore and his wife, Tipper Gore, during a training session in September. Al Gore held discussions and workshops in connection with the documentary An Inconvenient Truth. Rogers, along with 49 other people, spent three days in Tennessee learning how to educate others about climate change. “It was awesome,” Rogers said of the experience.

Benita Arroyo, executive director of the Miss Rhode Island scholarship program, called Rogers a role model for girls.

“She is the epitome of the best…. Very nice, very bright,” Arroyo said. “She’s the girl next door.”

Rogers isn’t the only contestant with an environmental message. Miss South Dakota, Callee Bauman, 21, is promoting ethanol, a fuel additive made from corn.

There is also a global beauty pageant specifically for environmentalists: Miss Earth. The contest, held Nov. 26 in Manila, Philippines, focused on global warming. Miss Chile, Hil Yesenia Hernandez Escobar, 22, won.

The 2007 Miss America pageant will take place Jan. 29 in Las Vegas and air on the Country Music Television channel at 8 p.m.

Michelle J. Lee is a fellow with the Metcalf Institute for Marine and Environmental Reporting.