FAITH-BASED CLIMATE ACTION
CAT 2023-2024
Active projects include:
- Climate Lens: This effort has two goals. First, to empower UUFC teams with tools to help keep climate impacts in mind during decision making. Second, to help UUFC teams inspire each other to make commitments around climate impacts and climate justice. Jed Irvine, <jedirv@gmail.com>.
- Legislative Action: Often in collaboration with other UUFC Justice teams, we work to influence climate-related policy and legislation at the state and national level. Deborah Clark, <deborah.clark@lifetime.oregonstate.edu>.
- Net Zero: The top priority of this project is to reduce UUFC’s carbon emissions, both as an institution and in the personal lives of members and friends. We then help facilitate taking responsibility for residual emissions by UUFC and its members and friends. Michael Hughes, <michael.a.hughes1951@gmail.com>.
- Trees: UUFC members and friends plant and care for trees on our campus and, in collaboration with the Corvallis Urban Forestry program, across our broader community. John Bailey, <bailey61@comcast.net>. Also, members and friends purchase Willamette Valley Ponderosa Pine holiday trees, which we will plant after the holidays. Scott Bruslind <sbruslind@gmail.com>
- Interfaith Collaboration: We work with the Corvallis Interfaith Climate Justice Committee to encourage faith-based climate action in the Corvallis and surrounding communities. Nick Houtman <houtman58@gmail.com>
- Build Back Better Beyond Net Zero: However many trees wind up coming down as a result of the building expansion, the web of life, ongoing carbon uptake, and carbon release will each be negatively impacted. But with commitment, work, and time (with time measured in years, even decades) we can more than make up for those negative impacts.
- The web of life: With new planting, our campus can become a more vibrant host to that web without the felled trees than it is now with them.
- Carbon uptake: Through off-campus tree planting, more carbon can be sequestered each year than is currently accomplished by the felled trees.
- Carbon release: By investment in the UUFC <Carbon Reduction and Responsibility Fund>, more carbon can be prevented from being added to the atmosphere than will be added by the felled trees.
