Rising Tide North America is a grassroots network of groups and individuals in North America who take action against the root causes of climate change and work towards a just transition to a non-carbon society. Rising Tide North America is part of an international network dedicated to building a movement for climate justice. Rising Tide generally takes a strongly "no compromise" stance on the environment and a vehement opposition to solutions proposed by corporations who they say are responsible for creating environmental problems in the first place.[1][2]
| Part of a series of articles on |
| Global warming |
|---|
| Causes |
|
Attribution of recent climate change |
| Effects |
| Reactions |
|
Adaptation to global warming |
| Related |
|
Paleoclimatology |
| Global Warming portal |
Contents |
Rising Tide was formed by groups and individuals who came together to organize protests and events at the United Nations Climate Conference of Parties (COP6) in The Hague, in November 2000. These groups shared a unique approach to climate change based around the issues of social justice and a critique of business-led solutions, which were captured in the Rising Tide Political Statement.[3]
In 2000, Rising Tide UK was formed. In mid 2004, a Rising Tide group formed in Newcastle, Australia, the world's largest coal export port. A smaller group has also started in Sydney.
Rising Tide North America was formed mainly by Earth First! and other experienced activists in a desire to be less insular and focus more on coalition building and linking environmental issues to other causes.
Rising Tide describes itself as "a grassroots network of independent groups and individuals committed to taking action and building a movement against climate change. We do not have a formal membership structure - anyone who supports the political statement on our website can become a part of the network."
Rising Tide North America has active local groups in Asheville, North Carolina, the northwest Cascadia region, Baltimore, Maryland, Boston, San Francisco Bay Area and Washington, DC. Rising Tide operates through decentralized, autonomous local groups and consensus decision-making.
Rising Tide's first direct action was closing down a coal fired power plant near Carbo, Virginia.[4] Rising Tide would later be instrumental in defeating a proposal by Progress Energy to build an oil fired power plant in Woodfin, North Carolina.[5]
Rising Tide North America has hosted Convergences for Climate Action since the summer of 2007, in multiple locations around the United States.[6]
Contingents have also worked in Mexico.[7] Brad Will, the Indymedia journalist who was assassinated in Oaxaca, Mexico, was a member of Rising Tide and Earth First!.
A network of protesters within the Rising Tide, named the 'Greenwash Guerillas' have attacked a number of public speakers in recent times. Thomas Friedman and others have been notably targeted by this organization, having had cream filled pies thrown at them during their speeches.
Rising Tide strongly criticizes Kyoto protocol, since they claim the protocol is severely compromised by corporations that want to profit from carbon trading and that it won't help the environment substantially since it doesn't cover chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) or SO2-like gases.[8]
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||