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Environmental group tackles climate crisis
by Tess McBride | News reporter
"On a global level, the regions expected to be hit the hardest by severe droughts, storms and rising sea levels are generally places with the least fossil fuel infrastructure - in other words, the people least responsible for creating climate chaos," according to the organization's Web site.
Vaughan said people who want to live carbon neutral or support emissions trading often don't know that some of the organizations accepting donations are owned by big corporations - the ones emitting the thickest carbon emissions and making a profit off the carbon neutrality battle.
"Market-based 'solutions' like carbon offset schemes - whereby corporations are allowed to profit from their 'sale' of greenhouse gas pollution - create social and ecological problems of their own, and serve to reinforce the same unsustainable system that got us into this mess," according to the Web site.
Vaughan said the U.S. is stealing resources from other countries through colonization, and we aren't recognizing the negative effects of our actions. The benefits are imported and the damages are exported, she said.
"I think that often at times it's easy to feel really small when dealing with this issue," Vaughan said. "When individuals can see themselves as a community they can realize they have a great effect."
Rising Tide North America is asking people to form local groups or become a contact for the organization, emphasizing the benefit of community-based work Vaughan speaks of.
"Activism can exist in a group and on an individual level and I just want people to think about what they're contributing to," she said.
Since March 22, the group has made presentations in Portland, Seattle, Olympia, Wash., Vancouver, British Columbia and Victoria, British Columbia, working to "debunk some of the misconceptions about global warming," Vaughan said.
For more information on Rising Tide North America go to www.risingtidenorthamerica.org. To get involved send an e-mail to contact@risingtidenorthamerica.org.
Contact the people, culture and faith reporter at tmcbride@dailyemerald.com
Vaughan said people who want to live carbon neutral or support emissions trading often don't know that some of the organizations accepting donations are owned by big corporations - the ones emitting the thickest carbon emissions and making a profit off the carbon neutrality battle.
"Market-based 'solutions' like carbon offset schemes - whereby corporations are allowed to profit from their 'sale' of greenhouse gas pollution - create social and ecological problems of their own, and serve to reinforce the same unsustainable system that got us into this mess," according to the Web site.
Vaughan said the U.S. is stealing resources from other countries through colonization, and we aren't recognizing the negative effects of our actions. The benefits are imported and the damages are exported, she said.
"I think that often at times it's easy to feel really small when dealing with this issue," Vaughan said. "When individuals can see themselves as a community they can realize they have a great effect."
Rising Tide North America is asking people to form local groups or become a contact for the organization, emphasizing the benefit of community-based work Vaughan speaks of.
"Activism can exist in a group and on an individual level and I just want people to think about what they're contributing to," she said.
Since March 22, the group has made presentations in Portland, Seattle, Olympia, Wash., Vancouver, British Columbia and Victoria, British Columbia, working to "debunk some of the misconceptions about global warming," Vaughan said.
For more information on Rising Tide North America go to www.risingtidenorthamerica.org. To get involved send an e-mail to contact@risingtidenorthamerica.org.
Contact the people, culture and faith reporter at tmcbride@dailyemerald.com
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