April Fools Day Action to Target Portland’s Climate Trust 

March 31, 2008

Press Advisory
**For Immediate Release**

Contact:
Brian Sloan, Rising Tide North America
503-608-4988 / falsesolutions@risingtidenorthamerica.org

Online: www.fossilfoolsday.org

APRIL FOOLS DAY ACTION TO TARGET PORTLAND’S CLIMATE TRUST

Globally, over 100 actions planned to confront Dirty Energy, demand a Just, Green Energy Future

Who: Cascadia Rising Tide, joining actions called for by the international Rising Tide network, youth and students with the Energy Action Coalition, and Rainforest Action Network.

What: Proclaiming April 1st “Fossil Fools Day,” activists with Cascadia Rising Tide will be targeting The Climate Trust for its part in promoting runaway carbon dioxide emissions. In a playful mockery of The Climate Trust’s carbon offset program, Cascadia Rising Tide will be attempting to sell “infidelity offsets” to downtown Portlanders, encouraging cheaters to pay faithful couples.

It is believed this will be the first protest at a carbon offset company in the United States.

Elsewhere around the world, actions being planned include Critical Mass bike rides, green job rallies, protests and direct actions at power plants, energy companies, urban sprawl developers, Bank of America mass account closures, car dealer “adoptions,” no coal photo petitions, alternative energy expos, and more.

When: April Fools Day, April 1st, 2008, 11am – 1pm.

Where: SW 1st Ave & SW Yamhill St, near the offices of The Climate Trust in downtown Portland. Protests are also planned in over 100 other locations throughout the US, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand.

Why: The Climate Trust was chosen at as a target because their carbon offset programs – which, for a fee, allegedly “neutralize” businesses’ and individuals’ global warming impact – are similar to the selling of Catholic indulgences of old. Carbon offset companies make money by keeping consumers’ consciences clear, even as they continue disrupting the climate. Leading climate scientists warn that dramatic reductions in greenhouse gas emissions must begin immediately to avoid catastrophic climatic shifts; carbon offsets distract from more serious action.

Around the world, Fossil Fools Day will bring about creative, and often confrontational, actions reflecting this urgency. Activists will be demanding a rapid transition away from fossil fuels and toward the localization of energy, food, and economic systems for a just, sustainable future.

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