October 9, 2019 I The Clarion
Campus News
Page 3
2019 homecoming kick-off
BCpep rally exhibits school spirit
Friday Night of Homecoming Weekend was a
fun, spirit-filled event that got the school pumped
for the big game.
A pep rally needs to start with some cheer
and who better to lead than the Brevard College
Tornados Cheerleading Team. After instilling the
students with school spirit, the team captains
and seniors stepped forward and introduced
themselves.
Afterward came the first of the traditional pep
rally games, the oreo challenge, followed by
another cheer to bring in the Brevard College
Tornados Football Team. The football team
charged in to stand before their fellow Brevard
College students. As with the cheerleading
team, the football team’s captains and seniors
introduced themselves and spoke about their
confidence for winning the big game.
More pep rally games followed including
a race to empty a tissue box, a race to eat a
fruit roll-up and a race to knock down plastic
cups, both without the help of hands. The final
challenge was a race where an audience member
and a player on the football team had to race
across the gym floor by pulling themselves
forward with toilet plungers.
After the games, the students in attendance
were invited to take a free BC Homecoming
t-shirt and join the teams in the quad to
enjoy s’mores by the firepit. Certainly a
successful evening to prepare our students for
the homecoming game.
— Sam Hipp
BC football players participate in game at pep rally.
Citizens Climate Lobby at BC
By Katherin Collins, Payten Maness
and Nicole Rusden
Contributors
Jim Tolbert, the Conservative Outreach
Director for The Citizens Climate Education
& Citizens Climate Lobby, spoke to Brevard
College students last Thursday about climate
change, what causes it, what the government’s
role is and the projected future of climate
change. The Citizens Climate Lobby (CCL)
is a non-profit, bipartisan, grassroots advocacy
organization focusing on national policies to
address climate change.
As the Conservative Outreach Director,
Tolber described his job as neutral and says
that he “keeps balance between left and right
wing.”
Tolber’s talk was mainly focused on
answering questions submitted by Brevard
College professor Robert Cabin’s climate
change class. He began with explaining the
main sources of carbon dioxide.
Most of the carbon dioxide that gets
emitted into our atmosphere comes from
transportation, industry and electricity. He
then went on to talk about what actions
the government could take to reduce C02
emission, one such way being carbon pricing.
Carbon pricing is simply putting a tax on things
depending on how much C02 they emit.
This system of carbon taxing would incentivise
people to use more sustainable products and
energy sources since the tax would make them
cheaper than their carbon heavy alternatives.
The plan the CCL is pushing for also calls for
a border adjustment fee (tariff) on incoming
fuels so that energy companies do not simply
go overseas to produce their energy, they would
also give companies who are exporting fuel or
energy credit to keep the US competitive in the
world market.
So how could these taxes be used? The
government could use the tax dollars for many
purposes such as: general revenue, paying
employees, funding for special programs
and a reduction in other taxes or money
could be returned to people in the form of a
reimbursement.
The Citizens Climate Lobby is pushing for
it to be returned as a reimbursement. With
a reimbursement, everyone in the country
will get back the same amount, regardless of
socioeconomic class. This means that people
who buy sustainable products could be given
more money from the reimbursement than
they paid into it. Studies have shown that
with the extra money, over 2.1 million jobs
could be created in various sectors of society.
This reimbursement would push people
toward buying more sustainable products by
increasing the price of carbon heavy goods.
With the combination of the reimbursement,
people would be rewarded for buying those
products as you could potentially earn more
with the reimbursement than you lost in the
tax.
Tolber then talked about the science behind
climate change, why it is important and
how America has one of the largest carbon
footprints in the world. He talked about how
students can make a difference by contacting
our congressmen and representatives to have
their voices heard. Creating a local chapter of
the Citizens Climate Lobby here on campus
is another great way to raise awareness on
this topic that Cabin’s class is exploring.
Stay tuned for more information on how to
get involved with the CCL here on campus.