Wednesday, May 27, 2015 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
Students take on climate change
By Jim Cornelius
News Editor
Sisters High School sci-
ence students got a quick shot
of engagement with the issues
surrounding climate change
and citizenship in a visit last
week by Mary Christina Wood,
author, law professor and envi-
ronmental law expert.
Professor Wood — a Philip
H. Knight professor of law
and faculty director of the
Environmental and Natural
Resources Law Center at
the University of Oregon —
was in Central Oregon for
a presentation for Central
Oregon Community College
Foundation and the Nancy R.
Chandler Visiting Scholar pro-
gram on what the latest science
says about the stresses in the
global environment and the
effect on Oregon’s climate and
ecosystem.
“I teach people to engage
government to make laws to
help society. That’s what I do,”
she explained.
She sought to inspire stu-
dents to “hold society account-
able for what you will inherit.”
The mechanism to do that, she
says, is public trust doctrine,
a legal doctrine that holds
that government at all levels
is responsible for preserving
and restoring the environment
for the benefit of present and
future generations.
Students identified sig-
nificant impacts from climate
change: rising sea levels; habi-
tat destruction; drought due to
diminished snow pack; disrup-
tion of food supplies.
There were no challenges
to the assertion that climate
change is underway and that
mankind is a primary contribu-
tor. Student Betsy Ausman did
question the (very) long-term
impacts — if climate change
forced humans into extinction,
there would be no more carbon
emission and the earth would
regenerate.
Professor Wood jumped on
that assertion, agreeing with
Ausman’s assessment.
“Nobody is worried about
the planet and that’s a good
point,” she said.
It’s human life and the qual-
ity of life that’s at stake, Wood
asserted.
The professor queried stu-
dents on how much time they
believe they have to affect
change. One student believes
that we’re already past the tip-
ping point.
“I think you’re out of time,”
he said.
Professor Wood did not
shoot that assertion down
entirely.
“Nobody can really say what
the tipping point is,” she said.
However, she argued that
the scientists that she is in
communication with believe
there is still time to reduce and
reverse harm — if action is
taken now. She estimates that a
seven percent reduction in car-
bon emissions is a “path down-
ward to restoration.” However,
the required amount of reduc-
tion increases with inaction
over time, requiring a 15 per-
cent reduction to have the same
effect in 2020.
Wood urged students to get
engaged now and put pressure
on legislators to pay attention.
Those legislators, she said,
are focused on “pot, guns, and
ethics.”
“They’re not thinking
about your climate,” she said.
“They’re consumed with these
issues.”
She urged the students to
get in front of their legislators
and demand a plan to reduce
CO2 emissions.
“You are the first generation
to understand the problem,”
she said. “Assert your citizen-
ship at this critical moment in
time.”
19
Learn about drying
foods at workshop
Getting ready for a sea-
son of hiking and backpack-
ing? Maybe you need some
quick snacks to grab-and-
go. You’ll need lightweight
foods that don’t need refrig-
eration. Save some money
and preparation time by
making your own dried
foods and herbs.
Learn the principles of
drying food and how to
enjoy some of your favorite
foods year-round by prac-
ticing safe preparation of
foods at a hands-on work-
shop led by OSU Extension
Master Food Preservers
Mary Lowe, Jenny Cliff,
Gayle Hoagland and Ann
Juttelstad.
Participants will see
demonstrations to preserve
high-quality dried fruits,
vegetables, and herbs, and
then help prepare and taste
a variety of these food sam-
ples. The workshop will be
on Thursday, June 4, at the
Oregon State University
Extension-Deschutes
County office at the
Fairgrounds in Redmond,
9 a.m. to noon. Cost for
the workshop is $15. The
registration fee includes
products made in the lab,
recipes, and “how-to” book-
lets. Class size is limited.
The deadline for registra-
tion is June 2. Call to reg-
ister at the OSU Deschutes
County Extension office at
541-548-6088.
Not all food preserva-
tion recipes are safe. OSU
Extension recommends
only using up-to-date,
tested recipes from reli-
able resources for canning.
Food preservation book-
lets with tested recipes can
be purchased at your local
county Extension office, or
ordered or downloaded for
free online at http://exten
sion.oregonstate.edu/fch/
food-preservation.
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