Sheila Therese Jack Babauta (born 1989 or 1990)[1] is a Northern Mariana Islands politician and is a member of the Northern Mariana Islands House of Representatives, representing District 4 for the Democratic Party. [2][3][4]

Early life

Babauta was born and grew up on the island of Saipan, on the edge of the Mariana Trench. The island measures 14 miles (23 km) by 7 miles (11 km).[5] In 2005 she travelled to the Washington, D.C., on a scholarship from the Close Up Foundation.[5]

Career

Babauta was elected to the Northern Mariana Islands House of Representatives, representing District 4 for the Democratic Party, in 2019. She was re-elected for a term to 2023, in the 2020 general election.[2]

In November 2021, she described her plans to attend the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 26) in Glasgow, Scotland, although the journey would be "no easy feat. Crossing the Pacific Ocean, the entire North American continent, and the Atlantic Ocean, brings me a long way from our warm island home". She said that "my brothers and sisters across the Pacific hold the keys to solve the problem of militarization, climate change, and climate colonialism. We are not passive victims. We hold solutions that are grounded in our millennia of living as kin to the land and ocean."[6] At the conference she introduced former United States President Barack Obama when he addressed the conference, saying that he was a "son of the Asia Pacific" who "recognizes that communities impacted by climate change must have a seat at the table to ensure accountability and action from all parties who contribute major carbon emissions".[7]

Babauta is chair of the Friends of the Mariana Trench Marine National Monument, a body which works to protect the Marianas Trench Marine National Monument centred on the Mariana Trench.[8][9]

References

  1. ↑ "Sheila Babauta". Friends of the Mariana Trench. Retrieved 3 January 2022.
  2. 1 2 "Sheila Jack Babauta". Ballotpedia. Retrieved 3 January 2022.
  3. ↑ "Representing an Island's Future: Sheila Babauta". Obama Foundation. Retrieved 3 January 2022.
  4. ↑ "Sheila Therese Jack Babauta". CAWP Data. Rutgers University: Center for American Women and Politics. Retrieved 3 January 2022.
  5. 1 2 "Sheila Babauta: Student, 2005". Alumni Spotlight. Close Up Foundation. Retrieved 3 January 2022.
  6. ↑ Babauta, Sheila (5 November 2021). "Why I am going to Glasgow, Scotland". Marianas Variety News & Views. Retrieved 3 January 2022.
  7. ↑ Maurin, Iva (9 November 2021). "Babauta introduces Obama at COP26". Saipan Tribune. Retrieved 3 January 2022.
  8. ↑ "Meet our team". Friends of the Mariana Trench. Retrieved 3 January 2022.
  9. ↑ "Mariana Trench Marine National Monument". www.fws.gov. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Retrieved 3 January 2022.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.