OCA founding board member dies at 88
Engineer, entrepreneur, social activist, visionary, and environmental hero Bob Lynette died on September 30 in the company of his loved ones. On top of a jet-propelled career in aerospace and wind energy, Bob combined a love of the outdoors–he could still outhike most folks into his 80s–with a determined and strategic environmentalism, which saw him help to keep oilports out of the Salish Sea, to limit tanker sizes here, and to help Sen. Warren Magnuson pass the Marine Mammal Protection Act.
Bob joined OCA near its beginning and soon served in a strategic advisory role, making sure that OCA sought 501(c)(4) status so we could get involved in electoral politics (for example, by endorsing candidates and ballot issues). He also steered OCA to a more formal decision-making process and its first Executive Committee, on which he served.
Bob combined idealism with a realistic view of human nature and the political landscape. The engineer in him knew of all the structural and psychological factors working against us; the visionary in him always sought ways to touch our better angels. He took on the role of OCA’s climate ambassador, going to community groups with a slide show he’d prepared himself, which was well received wherever he went, gaining our movement new members and ideas.
Things at the moment are looking bleak for our climate, but like Bob, we need to keep searching for levers big enough in society and deep enough in the human heart to turn things around. Bob showed us how to be happy warriors in this campaign ❤️.
Olympic Climate Action 