Organization against climate change comes to Revelstoke

A new nonprofit organization advocating on behalf of winter is setting up camp in Revelstoke.

Protect Our Winters (POW) was founded by professional U.S. snowboarder Jeremy Jones in 2007 to mobilize the outdoor community against climate change.

According to the organization’s website, Jones founds many of the resorts in the U.S. that he had always counted on for good riding were closing due to lack of snow. The website continues that there was a lack of groups that focused on mobilizing the snow sports community on climate.

Soon after, other pro athletes, individuals, resorts and winter sport companies joined. The organization says they have more than 130,000 supporters.

“We All Need Winter,” states the website.

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Our #GetCraftyForClimate Campaign started last week and we are loving the responses!! We would still love to hear from you so we can get you and your local outdoor store THE GOODS. Free Beer + Pizza = A Good Time. Plus, this is a great way to meet members of our community and prepare for the next Global Climate Strike on September 27th. DM us for details! #ClimateMarch #POWPizzaParty

A post shared by Protect Our Winters Canada (@protectourwinterscanada) on Sep 10, 2019 at 5:02pm PDT

Within the last year, the organization expanded into Canada. Within the last month, they opened nine new chapters across Canada, one of which is in Revelstoke.

“Climate change is a huge issue. It’s a scary path,” said Izzy Lynch, professional skier and Revelstoke resident. She is also the program director for POW Canada.

“The goal is to create a social movement against climate change,” Lynch said.

She continued that it’s important to inspire and force government change.

The organization has created a climate policy report card, “grading” each of the four major parties on their platforms addressing climate change.

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It SUCKS to read and try to make sense of each party’s climate platform (believe us…..we did it), so we went old school and created a clear and concise Report Card! Don’t let the simplicity fool you; we referenced and synthesized platform evaluations by notable sources to develop our rankings and have backed it up with information about values vs strategic voting, the latest polling numbers etc. Hit the link in our bio for the full analysis (for you policy works), voting tools and lots of helpful information. While you're there join our #VoteForClimateCanada campaign to pick an athlete ambassador to be your voting buddy – they’ll send you emails with lots of important info leading up-to the October 21 election. Report Design by @dmaxyoung #VoteForClimateCanada #PassionIntoPurpose #POWerInNumbers

A post shared by Protect Our Winters Canada (@protectourwinterscanada) on Oct 8, 2019 at 8:16am PDT

“Vote for climate,” said Lynch. She continued they are not promoting a particular party, but would like people to know how their vote will impact climate change.

The organization is having a meet-up tonight in Revelstoke at DOSE from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m.

POW also held a climate rally last month in front of city hall. Lynch said roughly 70 people attended.

There will be another event Nov. 22 at the Performing Arts Centre with a panel discussion on climate change in Revelstoke and a viewing of Greg Hill’s film called Electric Greg. It’s on his attempt to climb, ski and run 100 different summits, without the use of fossil fuels.

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