Slashdot Mirror
Seeking the Right Environmental Cause to Support?
Bakajin asks: "I have always been a passive environmentalist. I think that any intelligent person must have concern about our planet and the future of our species upon it and that the Slashdot crowd has many such people. I have increasingly become more concerned about global warming as more and more signs seem to point to its likely effects. I try to make changes in my personal habits but, like many Slashdotters, don't have much time to try and effect larger changes to policy and science. I do however have money. I want to know what organizations Slashdot members think are most worthy of contribution and will give me the most effect for my money, politically or scientifically. This question fits well within Slashdot because it seems to have many members who think critically about the world and their role within it. There also seems to be a willingness to openly express mistrust of the same large corporations that either ignore environmental issues or outright cause them. Please don't turn this into a debate about whether global warming is an actual threat or how bad other environmental issues actually are, but rather about which organizations are the most effective and trustworthy for me to give my hard earned cash."
For years, many have been trying to erode the Constitution by removing or severly limiting our basic right to bear arms. The geeks' constant fight for free speech and free computing is a relatively recent advance. You can bet that a bunch of gun toting NRA members would stand by your side if any of the constitution rights were watered down. Their cause is of a great concern to them and they already have a large lobby and many voters.
Don't confuse privacy issues with the constitution, however. Nowhere in the Constitution does it gaurantee a right to privacy. If privacy is your cause, then the NRA might not be a good choice.
From what I know, these guys were a minor issue-party, but have evolved into a serious, well-rounded party fighting corporate control of the government and the political process. They even had a good candidate for president in 2000, who bothered to answer (some) questions from Slashdot.
Their Action Center is pretty cool. Makes it _very_ easy to shoot out a comment to government and corporate people.
-beme
1971
Example: A $10 25W compact florescent will give you the same illumination as a 100W incadescent bulb. That's a savings of 75W. If you were to keep the incadescent and go to a solar system, that one light bulb will contribute $40 to the total price if the system (panels, batteries, inverters, etc.).
Multiply that by every light bulb and appliance in your house. It adds up very fast.
Method of processing duck feet
While many of the above comments are interesting the query was for favorable charitable organizations.
The Sierra Club is the most effective Conservation Group politically. This is the first group I joined when W became President. Note that they will call you every month to squeeze more $$$ out of you. You can ask to be taken off their call list and still contribute annually which is what I do.
The Nature Conservancy is another particularly effective outfit whose tact is to purchase land outright ensuring that it is permanently set aside for conservation.
The World Wildlife Fund is another conservation group worthy of your time and money.
Finally for balance I support the Blue Ribbon Coalition as they keep trails open that might be closed by my other contributions.
Another poster made a great point that Green Peace's brand of violent activism is not worthy of support.
Cheers,
Bill
bamph