Last week I attended both the Columbia River Fish Commission meeting and the divestment rally. I never truly realized how many people actually cared about these problems. Not only were there many students at these events but also active community members. And not only did these community members sit in on these of events but also participated such as asking questions or protesting.

Currently the salmon of Oregon are being affected greatly by global warming. These fish are cold water fish and the river waters are starting to warm rapidly. Since the climate is also warming there will be more flooding in the fall rather than the spring or summer. This also means that there will be decreased river flow in the summer and spring. The population of Portland is also expected to increase by half a million in the next few years thus, causing an increase in water demand. At this meeting people were also able to voice their opinions on possible solutions to this problem. One presented idea was to breed salmon and a release them into the rivers of Oregon. However this idea was quickly shot down since these fish would not be native to Oregon and would most likely be treated with possible chemicals that could affect the rivers. These salmon would most likely die off quickly anyways cause they wouldn’t be use to the warmed conditions. Also, not only are these salmon being affected but the tribes with possession of this land would lose their identity once a large population of salmon is lost.

Personally I have never been a fan of rallies and protests because they are out of my comfort zone but recently I was able to stand in on one. Before this rally I had no idea what divestment even was. A basic synopsis of divestment is that currently the University of Oregon invests in stocks such as fossil fuel companies and other companies that overall affect our environment in a negative way. These protesters want the University to divest in these companies and instead invest in greener companies. I think this is a really good idea because it would promote green across the whole University. It was a shock to me to see the amount of diversity among this the group of people. The age range seemed to be anywhere in between four to seventy-five! More people should be aware of where their tuition money is going so more people are able to participate in these rallies. Although I didn’t participate in the actual protest the amount of speakers at this event really impacted me. Even the mayor of Eugene spoke. Hopefully in the future I am able to participate in more of these events.