Author Archives: olyclimate

About olyclimate

We seek a safe, prosperous, sustainable future for residents of the North Olympic Peninsula by addressing climate change.

Hot Off the Wire — 7/31/2020

Position Announcement:

Washington State Climate Assembly
Program Assistant

The Climate Assembly Washington Initiating Team is looking for excellent candidates to serve as Program Assistant for the first-ever “Citizens’ Climate Assembly”
in the United States!

Flu Virus Resources

Understanding the Disconnect Between Consumers and the Stock Market
— Visual Capitalist

Trump’s October Surprise:
A Vaccine for Covid-19?
What do we have to lose by rushing a vaccine into production? A longer pandemic, a colossal waste of money—and the risk of undermining public confidence in all vaccines.

Democracy

Opinion

Prisons Are An Environmental Justice Issue
By Brad L. Blackburn III, Advocacy and Community Outreach Intern | July 23, 2020

Letter: We need PUD’s help in saving our salmon
Norman Ritchie of Rockaway Beach | July 24, 2020
— The Tillamook Headlight Herald

Solutions

Join the National Academies for a series of virtual workshops on Enhancing Federal Clean Energy Innovation from July 27 – August 7
— Eventbrite

REI’s Opt to Act Weekly Calendar / Checklist

Week 36: Shop in person,
locally and seasonally
Take part: Aug. 2–8, 2020

**EV Batteries: An Overview of the Impacts and Solutions**

Plug In America Webinar
Tuesday, August 18, 2020
9:00–10:15 am PDT – FREE

Climate Justice Now! How? | Jill MacIntyre Witt | TEDxVail

What One Person Can Do About Climate Change | Ella Lagé | TEDxHamburg

Environmental Activism Tips with Jared Mead
Time: July 31, 2020 06:00 PM
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84437982269?pwd=RFN0ZWhwekVOdmJBZkF6LzJWVHAzQT09
Meeting ID: 844 3798 2269 |Passcode: 646828

Regional Actions

Help ensure bold climate policy is passed
this next legislative session in Washington
350 WA Civic Action Team is hosting a meeting for state-wide volunteers
interested in climate policy and citizen advocacy!
When: Friday, August 7, 2020, 9:00 AM PDT | Register in advance

Too many Washington communities face high levels of pollution, lack economic opportunity, and are overlooked in decisions that affect their lives
The stakes in 2020 could not be higher

Our Climate Leaders Live! series is back next month with a look at the future of the built environment

Building Electrification
August 13th at 10am PDT

National Actions

Conservation cannot be done
with chainsaws

Add your voice to #SaveEboForest

After receiving an “F” in sustainability (for the 2nd year in a row),
Procter & Gamble (P&G) made a flashy announcement last week — Stand.earth
Help expose Procter & Gamble’s greenwashing

Send a message to Facebook: Climate disinformation is hazardous to our health!
— Climate Solutions

Local/Regional News

Inslee puts Chehalis dam on hold, calls for non-dam fixes for river’s woes
— KUOW npr

Weekly Announcements

Community Solar Basics
Links to the recorded sessions:
Consumers (Episode 1)
Programs/Policy (Episode 2)
Project Development (Episode 3)

National/International News

Record-Breaking Lightning Bolts Spark Excitement — Smithsonian Magazine

Voices on the Forefront:
Youth climate activists and the fight to protect the Arctic
Wednesday, August 5, 2020 4:00 PM – 5:00 PM ET

Join Us on August 3rd to Celebrate a Decade of Our Children’s Trust

August 3rd, at 12pm Pacific

New Mexico PRC embraces 100% renewable future for Four Corners
Coal-fired power plant to be replaced with 100% renewable energy
— Western Environmental Law Center

How to Bring About Catastrophic Climate Success — Yes Magazine

What’s Up with Banking and Climate

An Election Report

Sierra magazine’s July/August

It’s Summer. Let’s Talk About Hockey.

Also this week, health benefits from cutting emissions

Climate in Politics

Tell the DNC: Tackling the Climate Crisis Means Tackling Toxic Fossil Fuels
Target: Democratic National Committee — 350 Action

Thanks to you, the DNC platform is being improved!

Inspiration

Category:
Burning Worlds

*Nan Bray is an oceanographer and climate scientist*
*who has farmed superfine merinos near Oatlands since 2000*

This is a series I’m writing on climate change for our local monthly newspaper.
I wanted to go back to the basics of the science behind climate change. Nan

Climate Emergency Movement

The global tally for Climate Emergency declarations is up to 1,755, within 30 countries. In California, the Sacramento Municipal Utilities District (SMUD) Board of Directors adopted a Climate Emergency resolution and committed to achieving net zero emissions electricity by 2030, becoming the first utility company to commit to a timeline that is in line with what is necessary to address the emergency. SMUD has a legacy of leadership in the energy sector and with this declaration, demonstrates that they are committed to serving the 1.5 million people in their service territory, which includes the California State Capitol. Special shout out to our California ally Chris Brown who has been an invaluable champion for Climate Emergency Declarations in California and around the U.S.

Menlo Park, CA has adopted a plan to become carbon-neutral by 2030, building on their Climate Emergency Declaration from 2019, and instituting one of the most ambitious plans in the United States. Their resolution makes explicit connection between the Climate Emergency and the demands of the Movement for Black Lives that investments be made to support communities that have historically borne the brunt of environmental injustice and racism:

The City’s current Climate Action Plan (CAP) includes a 27 percent greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction goal by 2020. In 2019, the City Council declared a climate emergency (Resolution 6525) and committed to addressing climate change by adopting a new CAP that provides significant actions to reach carbon neutrality (Resolution No. 6493.) Recently, the City Council also proclaimed in a Black Lives Matter resolution (Resolution No. 6563) an action to prioritize climate action and empower the City’s environmental leadership, recognizing that the City’s most vulnerable residents are the most affected by this global issue.

These two policy actions demonstrate the ongoing impact of the decentralized Climate Emergency Campaign and the continued leadership from the people of California.

Biden Climate Plan

Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden has published his new climate platform which focuses on environmental justice, clean energy, jobs, and sustainable infrastructure. While we commend Biden’s prioritization of climate and environmental justice, his 2050 deadline for eliminating greenhouse gas emissions is disastrously insufficient.

We cannot afford another disastrous emergency response that prioritizes profits over human life, as we have tragically seen with the failed response to COVID-19. Biden must commit to a 2030 zero-emissions timeline and a full-scale emergency mobilization to restore a safe climate in order to prevent runaway global heating and to build a better future.

Online Events

Next Monday, July 27 at 5pm Pacific, 8pm Eastern, please join TCM’s Strategy Director Cris Lagunas, along with folks from the Institute for Policy Studies, Mexican Network of Mining-Affected People, and others for No Warming No War: Connecting Militarism with the Climate Crisis. Click here to register.

Join System Change Not Climate Change, the Ecosocialist Network, Labor Network For Sustainability and 10 others for Strike! Using our Power to Stop Climate Disaster and Create a Just World with Jeremy Brecher — this Sunday, July 26 at 10am Pacific, 1pm Eastern. Click here to register.

Thank you for being a part of this movement.

Onward!
The Climate Mobilization Team

The Climate Mobilization
275 9th Street, Suite 150387
Brooklyn, NY 11215
United States

The DNC platform is being improved!

Thanks to you, the DNC platform is being improved! At the end of a long day of amendments, hearings, and markups, we’re pleased to report that most of the amendments supported by Climate Hawks Vote folk like you have been approved!

Here’s a sampling of the amendments where your public support made a difference:

— We won a commitment to 1.5 degrees! Perhaps the single most important amendment, where we collaborated closely with the DNC Climate Council, this language reflects science, the Paris Agreement, and equity among nations. The language: “Democrats will immediately rejoin the Paris Climate Agreement, commit the United States to doing its fair share and leading the world in the effort to keep global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, and convene a world summit aimed at new and more ambitious global targets to reduce greenhouse gas pollution.”

— We’ve added climate finance language, building upon bills proposed by Congressional climate hawks Elizabeth Warren and Sean Casten. The platform now includes this language: “Democrats recognize that climate change poses serious risks to the economy and the financial system. We will require public companies to disclose climate risks and greenhouse gas emissions in their operations and supply chains.”

— We added #ExxonKnew language: “We will hold polluters and corporate executives accountable for intentionally hiding or distorting material information and for affecting the health and safety of workers and communities.”

— We’ve succeeded in adding in fossil fuel language and a pledge to end their subsidies! Although an early draft of the platform only mentioned “fossil fuels” once, the new platform adds, twice: “Democrats support eliminating tax breaks and subsidies for fossil fuels, and will fight to defend and extend tax incentives for energy efficiency and clean energy.”

— And we’ve won a small victory on electric cars. The Biden campaign rejected our main request for a sunset on gasoline-powered car sales. However, the campaign acknowledged a point we’ve hammered on social and earned media: the increased domestic manufacturing base envisioned by the platform must be in service of electric vehicles.

Thanks again to the thousands of Climate Hawks Vote folk who’ve signed last week’s petition and engaged with the important work of the DNC Climate Council. Your voices made a huge difference in negotiations.

Anything that you can chip in fuels the next phase of this critical work. And yes, there will be a next phase.

Your fellow climate hawk (and DNC member-elect),

RL Miller

P.S. The final platform hasn’t been compiled yet, but here’s the original draft, the “manager mark” of agreed-upon amendments, and a separate package of 18 amendments getting votes (not all passed).

Climate Hawks Vote
PO Box 141
Agoura Hills, CA 91376-0141
United States

On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century

Timothy Snyder | March 2017

An idiot’s guide to tyranny: Some thoughts about Timothy’s Snyder’s ‘On Tyranny’
— The Berkshire Edge

The Original article from Mr. Snyder’s Facebook Page

20 Lessons from the 20th Century on How to Survive in Trump’s America
A history professor looks to the past to remind us to do what we can in the face of the unthinkable.

BY Timothy Snyder – This article first appeared as a post on the author’s Facebook page.
His most recent book is “On Tyranny — Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century”
(Please note the numbered order is different in the book.)

“Believe in truth. To abandon facts is to abandon freedom. If nothing is true, then no one can criticize power because there is no basis upon which to do so. If nothing is true, then all is spectacle.”

Americans are no wiser than the Europeans who saw democracy yield to fascism, Nazism or communism. Our one advantage is that we might learn from their experience. Now is a good time to do so. Here are 20 lessons from across the fearful 20th century, adapted to the circumstances of today.

1. Do not obey in advance. Much of the power of authoritarianism is freely given. In times like these, individuals think ahead about what a more repressive government will want, and then start to do it without being asked. You’ve already done this, haven’t you? Stop. Anticipatory obedience teaches authorities what is possible and accelerates unfreedom.

Continue reading →

Hot Off the Wire — 7/24/2020

Position Announcement:

Washington State Climate Assembly
Program Assistant

The Climate Assembly Washington Initiating Team is looking for excellent candidates to serve as Program Assistant for the first-ever “Citizens’ Climate Assembly”
in the United States!

Flu Virus Resources

A Walk to Remember
This is Us
The Princess Bride’s “inconceivable” remake

— A Grist Series

Baseball’s Stadium Workers Are Getting Peanuts From the Billionaire Owners
When baseball shut down, 39,000 stadium workers lost their jobs, and the MLB has done little to help them out. — The Nation

Democracy

A message from Sierra Club President, Ramon Cruz, announcing a forum on systemic racism in the history of the Sierra Club.

An idiot’s guide to tyranny: Some thoughts about Timothy’s Snyder’s ‘On Tyranny’ — The Berkshire Edge

“Americans today are no wiser than the Europeans who saw democracy yield to fascism, Nazism, or communism in the twentieth century. Our one advantage is that we might learn from their experience. Now is a good time to do so.”
“6. Watch out for the paramilitaries. When the pro-Leader paramilitary and the official police and military intermingle, the game is over.”
— Timothy Snyder, from ‘On Tyranny’ | 2017

The Original article from Mr. Snyder’s Facebook Page

Trump’s Occupation of American Cities
Has Begun
Protesters are being snatched from the streets without warrants. Can we call it fascism yet?
— The New York Times | Opinion or Portside.org

Portland officials decry
aggressive tactics of federal agents in their city

By Emily Gillespie, Devlin Barrett, Katie Shepherd and Mark Berman
–The Washington Post

Trump’s agents are sweeping peaceful citizens off the streets.
This is not America.
By Ruth Marcus — The Washington Post

Portland mayor tear gassed
after speaking with protesters

We must take action for the
people of Portland right now
Message your Member of Congress!
–Greenpeace

Healthcare vs. Military Spending, by Country

Isreal has the highest rate of military spending per capita, and has the distinction of being the only country on this list to invest more in defense than in healthcare.

6 Badass Acts of Resistance
Erased From History
There are entire generations of social justice activists and environmental protectors that we don’t learn about in school.
Yes Magazine —

Opinion

The Next Election Is About
the Next 10,000 Years

By Bill McKibben | July 20, 2020
— Yes Magazine

A Brief (and Frustrating) History of the
Carbon Footprint

“Minimum Viable Planet” is a weeklyish commentary about climateish stuff, and how to keep it together in a world gone mad. This week, on blame-shifting.

Solutions

Why the Planet Needs You to Repair Your Broken Stuff
–Yes Magazine

REI’s Opt to Act Weekly Calendar / Checklist

Week 35: Find a moment this week to be awed by nature
Take part: July 26–Aug. 1, 2020

“Eat to Live” Blog by Dr.Furhman
Save C02, save money, save your lives

Oats cost:
$0.89/pound as thick rolled oats at Sunny Farms;
$5.00/pound in the form of Cheerios at Safeway.

Government advice on diets
ignores climate change

“If we fail to rein in emissions, the catastrophic climate change that will follow will undermine attempts to tackle the other (food systems) dimensions we care about.” — Food Weekly

Regional Actions

Webinars on Demonstration Safely

Keeping yourself healthy and safe at a protest
Thursday, July 29th, 7-9pm

De-escalation/Peacekeeper training
Sunday, August 2nd, 11am-1pm

Community Solar Basics:
Consumers (Episode 1)
Project Development (Episode 3)
July 29 at 4:00 PDT

New nationwide case to protect public health and clean water rights

Join the Virtual Rally to Stop the Trans Mountain Pipeline
Thursday, July 23rd at 2pm PDT– Rainforest Action Network

Tell insurers to drop Trans Mountain — Stand.earth
Trans Mountain must secure insurance by August 31st

Tell Liberty Mutual, No Trans Mountain Pipeline!
— Rainforest Action Network

Tracking the Growing Wave of Oil & Gas Bankruptcies in 2020
— Visual Capitalist

National Actions

Zurich is now the third insurer to drop the Trans Mountain pipeline
since we stepped up our pressure just a couple months ago
Add your voice Now! — Stand.earth

Monday, 27 July 2020
5:00 – 6:30 pm PDT

Stop Fossil Fuel Development On Public Lands! — NRDC

We must take action for the
people of Portland right now
Message your Member of Congress!
–Greenpeace

EVERY GIFT DOUBLED: Protect Public Lands from Fossil Fuel Development!

The Amazon is in crisis

Local/Regional News

The City of Portland, Oregon, recently passed The Portland Clean Energy Fund (PCEF), the nation’s first successful climate justice ballot initiative

City of Port Angeles Climate Change Resilience Plan
Request for Proposals

Voters Candidates Forum of July 16
Patti Morris & Rick Paschall

Weekly Announcements

National/International News

Stories from the Youth Climate Movement in the Global South — Yes Magazine

Where Will Everyone Go?
ProPublica and The New York Times Magazine, with support from the Pulitzer Center, have for the first time modeled how climate refugees might move across international borders. This is what we found.

Beyond the Bag Challenge — OPENIDEO

How might we transport goods from retailer to destination in a way that is compatible with diverse retail systems, delivers ease and convenience for customers, and reduces environmental impact?

How China’s Plastics Ban Threw Global Recycling into Disarray
— Visual Capitalist

The Amazon and its peoples
are in crisis

Huge win for clean air,
our climate, and communities

BNP Paribas close to adopting
global coal exit policy

What’s Up with Banking and Climate

The Latest News

Gas Flaring and Preterm Births

Also this week, a corruption case in Ohio that’s all about energy

Climate in Politics

Climate Action Voters – July Conversation
Winning an Environmental Majority in the Senate
Featuring Senate Candidate Cal Cunningham
Tuesday, July 28 at 1 pm PT

The DNC has released its draft platform, and it needs work on science,
clean energy jobs, fossil fuel finance, and cars.
Let’s tell them to make the platform stronger on climate.
— Climate Hawks Vote

Upcoming Washington State Energy Strategy Advisory Committee Group Discussion Sessions

Weekly Clean Energy Transformation Act Bulletin

2020 Census: Everyone Counts
Learn more about what you can do to promote participation where you live.

Inspiration

Baby Beluga
for Climate Mobilization
Last week Raffi released a 40th anniversary rendition of the song with music legend Yo-Yo Ma in a new video and soon to be released song whose proceeds will benefit The Climate Mobilization!

Category: Burning Worlds

INTERVIEW with
author and scholar
Matthew Schneider-Mayerson

This is a series I’m writing on climate change for our local monthly newspaper.
I wanted to go back to the basics of the science behind climate change. Nan

A Platform for Creative Exchange

Creative Summit & Fundraiser Replays
available through July 26!

Accurate Weather and Climate Reporting on KNKX Jazz Blues & NPR News

Thanks for signing our petition, “Accurate Weather and Climate Reporting on KNKX Jazz Blues & NPR News”. We were successful in modestly moving KNKX with respect to Cliff Mass’s minimization of the climate crisis. Station managers arranged for a scientific review (conducted pro bono by Dr. Tad Anderson, a former colleague of Mass and a member of 350 Seattle) and a journalistic integrity review (conducted by former NPR Public Editor Elizabeth Jensen). Both reviews were too narrow in scope, but KNKX has agreed to taking three steps:

Removing mentions of Cliff Mass’ blog on the KNKX website and on the air during Weather With Cliff Mass. “A commentary slot should not be a platform for self-promotion,” the journalistic ethics reviewer wrote, “[and] Mass’ blog increasingly covers far more than weather.” This is an understatement, given one of Mass’ blog posts about I-1631, in which he compared the underserved, overburdened communities who would have benefited from some of the fees raised to pigs at a trough; the disrespect he shows Greta Thunberg, Jamie Margolin, and 350.org in another post; or the critique he makes of Washington state’s response to the pandemic.
Requiring KNKX’s regular commentators to disclose if they plan to take a public political position; if they do, KNKX will disclaim it online or on-air. The public editor writes that “if Mass, or any other regular commentator, gets actively involved in a political campaign, KNKX should be transparent about that and make clear that such activism has no effect on its reporting.”
Possibly creating additional programming dedicated to climate change.The journalistic integrity evaluation included a recommendation that “KNKX could consider making a place for dedicated reporting on local environmental issues, and give it as much prominence as it does its weather commentary.”

This third recommendation may be the most impactful for KNKX’s 350,000 weekly listeners throughout Washington and beyond. It would be terrific to hear a new feature on the station — “Climate with Kate Marvel” (or Elizabeth Kolbert or Jennifer Francis!) in which the climate minimalism of “Weather With Cliff Mass” would be counterbalanced by the perspective of one of the women in the field of climate science and climate journalism! If you support the idea of a new “Climate Science” feature centering the voice of a woman scientist or someone from the BIPOC scientific community, please let KNKX know by emailing Content Editor Matt Martinez. If you are a donor of KNKX, please also let the station managers know how important it is for them to develop additional climate reporting — distinct from weather or environmentalism reporting — ASAP!

Many thanks.
Mary Paterson with 350 Seattle, 350 Tacoma, 350 Eastside, and 350 Everett

The Washington State Climate Assembly needs your help!

Position announcement:
17 July 2020

Washington State Climate Assembly Program Assistant

The Climate Assembly Washington Initiating Team is looking for excellent candidates to serve as Program Assistant for the first-ever “Citizens’ Climate Assembly” in the United States!

Continue reading →

Hot Off the Wire — 7/17/2020

Flu Virus Resources

It’s Time to Tell a New Story About Coronavirus—
Our Lives Depend on It

**Dr. Beak:** During the plague years, doctors wore iconic get-ups that included masks filled with scented herbs to protect them from dangerous miasmas.

The way we talk about contagion matters.
It shapes how societies respond—and whether many of us will survive.
By Sonia Shah | July 14, 2020
— The Nation | History

DemocracyNow! Interview
The Nation Weekly

How a coronavirus vaccine
will get to market
— PBS News Hour

U.K. summit calls for
freely available virus vaccine
— PBS News Hour

“The Pandemic Could Get Much, Much Worse”
if we don’t take bolder action now
This interview with John Barry contains a brief history of the
1918 “Spanish” Flu. Fascinating!
— DemocracyNow! interview

The Pandemic Could Get Much, Much Worse.
We Must Act Now. — The New York Times

It’s time to get serious about the causes of pandemics: UN report

How to Stop the Next Pandemic: U.N. Report Links Outbreaks to Climate Crisis & Industrial Farming — DemocracyNow! interview

Opinion

Water Column: Resetting the rules

by Ann Soule | Wednesday, July 8, 2020
— Sequim Gazzette

“Defund the police” and “cancel rent” aren’t reforms,
but paths to revolution.

The Left Is Remaking the World
By Amna A. Akbar | July 11, 2020
— The New York Times

Ms. Akbar is a law professor who studies leftist social movements.

DemocracyNow! Interview

10 ways social change organizations can support the
Black Lives Matter movement
The difference between being an anti-racist and not being a racist
has never been more stark — By Todd Paglia, Executive Director, Stand.earth

The Climate Emergency Won’t Wait for the Press to Play Catch-Up — Moyers on Democracy

Mayabel Rents waits for a bus next to a flooded street on Sept. 29, 2015 in Miami Beach, Florida

What Do the Racial Wealth Gap, Police Brutality, and the Climate Crisis Have in Common? Wall Street
By Alec Connon — Common Dreams

The biggest banks, it turns out, are every bit as complicit in the climate crisis as they were in the slave trade.

Philadelphia Delays Unhoused Encampment Eviction as
CDC Says “Let Them Remain” & Stop COVID Spread — DemocracyNow! interview

Solutions

Fix Our Planet: Electrify Everything!
Let’s enable our Makers to Make a Better Now

REI’s Opt to Act Weekly Calendar / Checklist

Week 34: Use your windows and shades to heat and cool your home.
Take part: July 19–25, 2020

Political Climate – Vote For Your Future

Regional Actions

OCA joins the 350.org Washington Network!
The Network will help our group speak with a strong statewide voice but still leave us the flexibility to voice our own opinion.

On July 20th, US Climate Strike is mobilizing with the
Service Employees International Union and the
Movement for Black Lives to present a united front against injustice a month out from the Democratic National Convention

Join Washington Conservation Voters and State Senate Candidates T’wina Nobles, Ingrid Anderson, and Helen Price Johnson for a virtual Town Hall next week,
July 21 from 5 to 6 p.m

Puget Sound Energy (PSE) Is a Bad Actor
Right now, PSE is targeting children with coloring pages for a “gas town” and a racist mascot called Don Fuego.

When you care about Walrus,
tell ConocoPhillips to leave them alone in the Arctic
— Alaska Wilderness League

National Actions

Don’t bail out plastic recycling! — Greenpeace
Support real solutions, like the Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act!

Urge the Senate to pass this amendment to cut the Pentagon budget by 10 percent — Win Without War

Tell your Senators: Vote yes on Amendment 1788 to cut military spending by 10%

Urgent Federal Climate Bills and Strategy Webinar | July 2 — 1:45

Local/Regional News

Weekly Announcements

National/International News

Bill McKibben transitioning off the 350.org board
at the end of the year

A parting message from Bill McKibben

Center for Biological Diversity

Celebrate 3 Key Victories Over Oil and Gas Pipelines

MARCHWOOD, PENNSYLVANIA – OCTOBER 5: Private homes surround Sunoco’s 20 inch gas liquids pipeline along a right-of-way October 5, 2017 in Marchwood, Pennsylvania. Many nearby residents are aware of the possible well water contamination they could experience from the horizontal drilling with Sunoco Pipeline’s $3 billion Mariner East 2 expansion project. (Photo by Robert Nickelsberg/Getty Images)

Understanding Trump’s Harmful Attack on NEPA
The National Environmental Policy Act gives us all a voice. The Trump administration is trying to silence it. — NRDC

The Trump Administration Is Reversing 100
Environmental Rules. Here’s the Full List.
— The New York Times

How to Travel at Home: Finding New Routes Through Our Daily Lives

Fool’s Gold: Financial institutions waste billions undermining climate action
Financial institutions risking our renewable energy future by supporting the European coal sector

How Facebook Handles Climate Disinformation
Critics say a company policy that exempts opinion articles from fact-checking amounts to a huge loophole for climate change deniers. — The New York Times

**COVID-19 cases continue to explode from the U.S. to the Amazon**

What’s Up with Banking and Climate

The Latest News

‘The city I love’ and climate change:
A Miami story
also
What oil and gas bankruptcies leave behind

The fallout from last week’s epic pipeline defeats continues.

Phoenix is trying to combat Climate Change — The Washington Post

Climate in Politics

3 unexpected ways Joe Biden plans to
tackle climate change — Grist

Biden Announces $2 Trillion Climate Plan
Joe Biden’s plan connects tackling climate change with the economic recovery from the coronavirus crisis, while also addressing racism. The proposal drew praise from his onetime critics. — NYT

Joe Biden unveils aggressive $2tn
climate and jobs plan
Proposal outlines $2tn for clean energy infrastructure and climate solutions, to be spent as quickly as possible in next four years
— The Guardian

Pipelines, Politics and the Power of Indigenous Protest
By Amy Goodman and Denis Moynihan

Inspiration

THE NEW GROUP

NRDC is joining forces with The New Group, a New York-based theater company, to host FACING THE RISING TIDE — a digital series of readings and conversations about the climate crisis, environmental racism, and hope.

And we’d love for you to join us for these special online events
the week of July 20-24.
Get more information and register to attend this online series for free.

Facing the Climate Emergency
A Radical Self-Help Guide to Become the Hero Humanity Needs
By Margaret Klein Salamon,Clinical Psychologist & Founder of The Climate Mobilization

Category:
Burning Worlds

This is a series I’m writing on climate change for our local monthly newspaper.
I wanted to go back to the basics of the science behind climate change. Nan

Bill McKibben Steps-down from 350.org Board

First of all, enormous thanks for being part of 350.org’s family over the years. We’ve all depended on you, and I think together we’ve done useful work.

As 2020 ends I will transition from active to emeritus status in my work at 350.org, both in my role as ‘senior advisor’ and as a member of the board. Please read my full letter about this transition.

Second of all, I’m still going to be doing what I can to help 350.org, and to back up the climate fight. I’ve known from the very start that one of my jobs was to train the next generations of climate fighters, because this is going to be a struggle that takes place over decades. I’m proud of the people running 350.org these days, and know that with the proper support they will make enormous progress. It’s especially clear in their decisive embrace of the idea that we need to think about a just world even as we think about a safe and working one; the fusion of these ideas will produce enormous changes.

I won’t tell you we’re winning this battle: it now looks like 2020 will turn out to be the hottest year in the earth’s history. But I will say that, with your great help, we’ve accomplished at least a little of what I set out to do. The fossil fuel industry is no longer the colossus it was a decade ago, capable of blocking change. Increasingly we have it on the defensive, which means there may finally be room to start making the changes we should have embarked on three decades ago. The young people now leading 350.org will help make those changes happen!

The main thing I’d like to say is: thanks. These have not always been easy years for me—though it’s nothing compared to the violence experienced by environmentalists elsewhere. At times, the counter-attack by the fossil fuel industry has felt almost unbearably fierce, especially since they also went after my family. I’m truly grateful for the support of my wife and my daughter. And I’m truly grateful for the friends that I have made these past decades in this fight—they are so many in number, and spread so widely across the earth, that I can’t begin to list them. But they know who they are, the companions in this fight who have done so much, against such great odds. I look forward to supporting them, and those who will emerge, in every way possible in the years ahead.

Onward,
Bill McKibben

P.S. Please read more about 350.org’s new board members here.

Climate justice is racial justice.

A message from The US Climate Strike Coalition

On July 20th, we are mobilizing in solidarity with the S.E.I.U and the Movement for Black Lives in order to present a united front against injustice a month out from the Democratic National Convention. As environmental organizers, it is our responsibility to put action behind the phrase “Climate justice is racial justice.” Climate strikes in the past have done a fantastic job of worldwide attention. We must show the world that movements for justice are in unanimous agreement: Black Lives Matter and we will not stop until both our leadership, policy, legal systems, workplaces, and schools reflect this truth. On July 20th, we strike for these four demands:

Justice for Black communities, with an unequivocal declaration that Black Lives Matter.
Elected officials and candidates at every level must use their executive, legislative, and regulatory authority to ensure the safety of voters and workers given the pandemic.
Corporations must take immediate action to dismantle racism, white supremacy, and economic exploitation wherever it exists, including in our workplaces.
Every worker must have the opportunity to form a union, no matter where they work.

Find or host an event here

We’ve compiled resources for you to take action on Monday, linked below.
Kickoff call deck, recording.

How you can get involved on July 20th:

Take the 8:46 Pledge.
Host an event (in-person or digital). Events can include strikes, walk-offs, protests, digital events such as teach-ins, workshops and webinars and make sure to encourage attendees to register to vote in November!
Apply for funding from the Youth Direct Action Fund to support your event.
Attend an event in your area.
Help promote the event on social media and through your email lists.
Read the Black Leadership Toolkit to make sure your allyship is authentic and representative of the US Climate Strike Coalition’s theory of change.
Attend office hours for more support.
1. Tue, July 14th @ 7pm EST
2. Wed, July 15th @ 9pm EST
3. Thurs, July 16th @ 7pm EST

In solidarity,

The US Climate Strike Coalition

OCA joins the 350 Washington Network!

OCA members Ed Bowlby, Ed Chadd, and John Cambalik attended the virtual Retreat at which this Network was formally created.
The Network will help our group speak with a strong statewide voice but still leave us the flexibility to voice our own opinion.

Kudos to Grace Hope, our 350 PNW Organizer, and to Alec Connon,
who facilitated in stunning fashion!

You can be involved too! From 350 Washington

Join the 350 Washington Network listserv! This is our broadest communication platform, open to all active volunteers in the 350 Washington Network (email me pnworganizer@350.org to be added)

Join the conversation! Our weekly 350 Washington Conversation series is open to all active volunteers in the 350 Washington Network and is where we build the relationships and connections that sustain our community. Weekly on Monday nights from 6pm-7:30pm PST. You can register here for this call, and attend the ones you’re available for.

Washington’s Environmental Justice Task Force

Dear Friends:

Thank you for your ongoing interest and engagement in the mission of Washington’s Environmental Justice Task Force. Its body of work will provide a policy blueprint for how Washington State can provide the highest standard of environmental health protection to every resident.

Since September 2019, the Task Force has been collecting public input through regional meetings and drafting policies to fulfill the Legislature’s request to produce recommendations on how State Agencies can incorporate environmental justice principles into their work. These recommendations are due to Governor Inslee and the Legislature by October 2020.

I’m pleased to share a draft of the recommendations on this Google Word document. Please identify yourself in your comments and provide them by July 27 so they can be considered before the Task Force’s last scheduled meeting on August 7. We encourage each of you to review these recommendations and leave any thoughts, concerns or suggestions for improvements in the document. These comments will be shared with Task Force members and guide the discussion the Task Force will have before finalizing them.

We also invite you to a public listening session the Task Force will be hosting via Zoom on Thursday, July 16, from 9 a.m. – 12 p.m. to get your feedback on them.

Meeting Details

Continue reading →

Water Column: Resetting the rules

by Ann Soule | Wednesday, July 8, 2020 — Sequim Gazzette

If you’re into games of intricate strategy and tales of suspense and mystery, you’d probably enjoy water law. You just have to be extraordinarily patient for the solution.

I attended an online workshop about the future of water banking and water trusts in our state last week, and witnessed many clever minds honing sophisticated arguments pro and con for each proposed policy, dissecting the strengths and weaknesses of this angle or that tack.

Water law evolves via serial legal challenges these days, so it makes sense that a state agency would get multiple bright legal minds to weigh in before its policies get quashed in court battles. It appeared to be a very productive workshop.

Water law came about in our state originally a century ago to settle conflicts of demand for a resource whose supply varies by season and year. It was written in Olympia by politicians without nearly enough data or input from stakeholders – but try inserting new information now and you’ve got an instant court case.

Water is a political hot potato, so most rules are made in court.

Continue reading →

A Demand sent to Trans Mountain Insurers from OCA

To the CEOs of AIG, Chubb, Energy Insurance Limited, Liberty Mutual, Lloyd’s, Munich Re, Starr, Stewart Specialty Risk Underwriting, W.R. Berkley, Zurich, Amlin, ANV, Arch, Argo, Ironstarr, Lancashire, and QBE:

The 2019-2020 certificate of insurance for the Trans Mountain pipeline names your company as a provider of insurance coverage from August 2019 through August 2020.¹

We, the undersigned organizations, demand that you publicly rule out insuring Trans Mountain immediately. With the policy expiring at the end of August, now is the time to decisively say no to this destructive project.

Continue reading →

Whipped by the ‘Long Tail’ of the Coronavirus

“When the E.R. nurse asked if I’d been short of breath that day,
I replied that I’d been short of breath for 65 days.“

By Jodie Noel Vinson | July 13, 2020 — The New York Times

On day 45 of our illness, my husband, Marc, and I woke up and looked at each other. Our symptoms had always been eerily in sync. Now the constriction in our chests was unmistakable. It was back. It was worse.

Read the article for free at The New York Times . . .

Hot Off the Wire — 7/10/2020

The Climate Impacts Group (CIG) at the University of Washington is hiring an
entry-level Research Scientist.
You can learn more about the position here . . .

Flu Virus Resources

Why kids should be in the classroom this fall
— and how to keep them safe there
How should schools reopen?
Pediatricians offer these guidelines
To save American jobs, we must bring virus to ‘screeching halt’
How doctors are innovating to treat COVID-19
What doctors know about lingering symptoms from coronavirus
Scuba gear, coffee makers inspire inventors in design challenge for a cheaper ventilator

How to Stop the Next Pandemic: U.N. Report
— DemocracyNow!

Opinion

Letter — Supports Jim Waddell’s position on lower Snake River dams
— Peninsula Daily News

Anti-Racist Tools for your consideration

Diversify the all-white Port Angeles
Public Safety Advisory Board
Take the next step! Sign the Petition

The Port Angeles Racial Justice Collective on Facebook

Life, Liberty, and The Pursuit of Happiness;
A Short List of People in America Who Were Not Freed in 1776
By Arleen Jenson

Racism Is Killing the Planet
The ideology of white supremacy leads the way toward disposable people
and a disposable natural world
By Hop Hopkins | Jun 8 2020 — Sierra Club Magazine

White people own 98% of rural land. Young Black farmers want to reclaim their share. — Grist

Across America, Activists Work at the Confluence of LGBTQ Rights and Climate Justice — Inside Climate News

Making Sure ‘Normal’ Is Never the Same Again
By Claire Elise Thompson | June 30, 2020 — Moyers on Democracy
5 environmental justice leaders from across the country share their thoughts on how to address racial injustice, climate change and COVID-19

8 Must-Reads by Women Who Take on White Supremacy and Patriarchal Power
These authors pull no punches in tackling head-on the topics of race, gender, and justice — Yes Magazine

Oprah Winfrey leads a conversation
speaking directly about systematic racism

Part 1

Part 2

Solutions

REI’s Opt to Act Weekly Calendar / Checklist

Week 33: Repair an item instead of purchasing a new one
Take part: July 12–18, 2020

Climate Leaders Live! series

Clean and Safe Buildings through Electrification on Aug 13, 2020 @ 10 AM PDT Register here
The Big Issue: Transforming Transportation on Sept 10, 2020 @ 10 AM PDT Register here

How do you deal with 9 million tons of suffocating seaweed? — The Guardian

Regional Actions

You are invited to the
Washington
Clean Air & Climate Caucus!
— Climate Solutions

Language access program registration for your group — 350.org

National Actions

Thursday, July 16, 2020 | 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM PDT

Youth4Climate Summer Camp (Virtual)

Session II: July 27 – August 21, 2020

Send a message to P&G top executives. Charmin gets an “F” for sustainability.

We’re a Nerdy Movement Study Group – 12-week online program

Local/Regional News

Weekly Announcements

National/International News

Learn about the Citizen’s Assembly in detail in upcoming webinars
Learn about the CITIZEN’s ASSEMBLY ON CLIMATE – what Washington can accomplish through deliberative democracy
MONDAY, JULY 13^th – 10-11 AM | https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89272139818

Press Release from Reclaim Finance
BNP Paribas commits to no longer finance companies with no strategy to exit the coal power sector
— BankTrack

What’s Up with Banking and Climate

The Latest News

Another Reason to Cut Down on Plastics

Also this week:
Face masks for the environmentally conscious

How Wildfires Make Covid More Dangerous

The fracked gas Atlantic Coast Pipeline project is dead — Sierra Club

Supreme Court Won’t Block Ruling to Halt Work on Keystone XL Pipeline
— The New York Times

Standing Rock Elder Hails Order to Shut Down DAPL
— DemocracyNow! interview

Supreme Court reinstates fast-track pipeline permitting except for Keystone XL — The Hill

Some new climate models are projecting extreme warming.
Are they correct?
— Yale Climate Connections

Why Is the South Pole Warming So Quickly? It’s Complicated
Much of the warming is linked to natural climate cycles happening thousands of miles away in the tropics — E&E News

How COVID-19 Creates Food Waste Mountains That Threaten the Environment — EcoWatch

Pipelines are becoming a pipe dream — Grist

Climate in Politics

League of Women Voters
Clallam PUD District 2 Candidate Forum – July 16 at 6:00pm
Zoom link to Forum

2020 Election Strategy Survey — 350 Action Team

Inspiration

Category:
Burning Worlds

This is a series I’m writing on climate change for our local monthly newspaper. I wanted to go back to the basics of the science behind climate change.

Life, Liberty, and The Pursuit of Happiness;

A Short List of People in America Who Were Not Freed in 1776

By Arleen Jenson
(“Jenson,” They/Them)
Farm Manager and Co-Owner, SisterLand Farms

Independence Day celebrates the signing of the Declaration of Independence in particular, but has become a holiday celebrating American freedom in general; complete with patriotic merchandise, eating outdoors, the wearing of nationalist symbols, and fireworks displays.

What often goes unmentioned during the holiday is: Very few Americans were free on July 4th, 1776. Many more are—even now—still fighting for the most basic freedoms we claim to cherish: The freedom to vote, to live healthy lives, and to pursue happiness.

The Indigenous American: Referred to as “savages” in our Declaration, native inhabitants of America (and their families) were denied their autonomy, voices, lands, resources, and prosperity. Fifty years after July 4th, 1776, the Indian Removal Act forcibly pushed eastern tribes into unknown federal territory; robbing them of ancestral lands, farms, and wealth—all so that their collective land could be resettled by white land owners. It has not been returned. Tens of thousands died during what is now considered a completely American act of genocide. Moreover, the racist treatment of the Indigenous American continues today; with many living without access to the wealth, legal freedoms, or reparations they are owed.

Black Americans: Frederick Douglass was once asked to speak on the 4th of July, and chose to speak on exactly this—that the celebration was not inclusive of Black America; that the struggle for independence was one being fought against the same sort of person who authored and signed the Declaration itself. It would take nearly 100 years for slavery to be abolished, and over 200 years for every state to ratify the 13th Amendment. Black communities have the least access to voting stations in the US, and 1 out of 13 Black adults are denied the right to vote due to disenfranchisement. Today, a Black adult is five times more likely to be incarcerated than a white adult—and incarcerated peoples have almost no independence at all; often working in the American textile and agriculture industry while captive—for around $.33/hour. This begs the question: Did slavery end, or just adapt?

The Incarcerated and Formerly Incarcerated: Despite the fact that federal and state laws can change and evolve (not to mention cultural and moral shifts,) the imprisoned population serving time for non-violent crimes is staggering; with America having the highest rate of incarcerated citizens in the world. Over 6 million Americans are not allowed to vote because of a felony on their record; robbing us of valuable insight into our own system of criminal justice. Moreover, the American prison system radically impacts the health and wellness of even liberated prisoners; with the likelihood of death-after-release spiking just weeks after leaving prison.

Minority Americans: America maintained racist immigration laws long after the Declaration, limiting the number of incoming migrant families if they were non-white; an idea that has recently resurfaced. After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, America built and filled concentration camps to intern Japanese American families against their will. After the September 11th attacks, Sikh Americans bore the brunt of a wave of domestic terrorism by white citizens. During the COVID-19 epidemic, Asian Americans are—again—the subject of harassment and abuse. Despite changes made to abhorrent naturalization laws in the 1960s, subtler laws exist today that cap the influx of migrants from countries like Mexico. Once legally within the US, minority citizens are still often the victims of hate crimes, assault, discriminatory policing, and racist hiring practices.

Women: No woman in America was allowed to vote until 1890—over 100 years after the signing of the Declaration of Independence—and voting was not a federally granted right to women until 1920. Women received the right to equal pay in 1963, and to education access in 1972. In 2020, women earn about 82% of what a man earns doing the same work. 90% of adult rape victims are women, with 94% of those reporting detrimental PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder).

And more: Because who is truly free when so many of our peers, our coworkers, and our loved ones are not? How limited is our view and vision of America if so many Americans are kept forcibly on the outskirts of freedom?

If we’re not fighting for the independence we claim to love, what are we celebrating?

Greta Thunberg: Humanity has not yet failed

Sommar & Vinter i P1 | Jun 20 – 75 min.

Spotify URL – https://open.spotify.com/episode/7E2Wz3C5XwtEw3Pi96tLQA?si=gOHyk4gOSMGxKcgdaoc4lg

Episode Description

Climate activist Greta Thunberg urges world leaders to do more. Doing our best is no longer good enough. We must now do the seemingly impossible, Thunberg says in the Swedish Radio show Summer on P1 where she takes us along her trip to the front lines of the climate crisis.

We don’t accept these odds. That was Greta Thunberg’s principal message while speaking before the General Assembly of the United Nations last year. It referred to the remaining CO2-budget of humanity.

Continue reading →

Hot Off the Wire — 7/3/2020

The Climate Impacts Group (CIG) at the University of Washington is hiring an
entry-level Research Scientist.
You can learn more about the position here . . .

Flu Virus Resources

Quarantine bubbles – when done right – limit coronavirus risk and help fight loneliness — PBS News Hour

Opinion

Making a Planet Worth Saving | By Bill McKibben | June 9, 2020 — New Yorker

Anti-Racist Tools for your consideration

You Want a Confederate Monument?
My Body Is a Confederate Monument
By Caroline Randall Williams | June 26, 2020
Ms. Williams is a poet

white supremacy culture — Dismantling Racism

DemocracyNow! Examines Our National Reckoning

“What to the Slave Is the 4th of July?”: James Earl Jones Reads Frederick Douglass’s Historic Speech

Angela Davis on Abolition, Calls to Defund Police, Toppled Racist Statues & Voting in 2020 Election

“America’s Moment of Reckoning”: Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor & Cornel West on Uprising Against Racism

The Untold History of Mount Rushmore: A KKK Sympathizer Built Monument on Sacred Lakota Land

What are gender pronouns?
Let’s talk gender: A guide for using pronouns
Justice Ameer Gaines | Daily Kos Staff

Solutions

REI’s Opt to Act Weekly Calendar / Checklist

Save money and energy.
Switch to LED light bulbs in one room
Take part: July 5–11, 2020

Climate Leaders Live! series

Carbon Pricing 101 on July 9, 2020 @ 10 AM PDT Register here
Clean and Safe Buildings through Electrification on Aug 13, 2020 @ 10 AM PDT Register here
The Big Issue: Transforming Transportation on Sept 10, 2020 @ 10 AM PDT Register here

The Hopeful Work of Turning Appalachia’s Mountaintop Coal Mines Into Farms
–Yes Magazine

What to Say When People Say “It’s Impossible”
10 smart conversation starters to address some standard defenses of the status quo.
— Yes Magazine

West Coast Gears Up For Electric Big Rigs — OPB
Electric semis are starting to hit the highways along Interstate 5

What Kelp Forests Can Do for the Climate
Cultivating algae empowers coastal communities while storing CO2 deep underwater.

Regional Actions

A vision toward an equitable, just, and healthy future for all

You are invited to the Washington Clean Air & Climate Caucus! — Climate Solutions

New Blog: Caring for Washington’s Agricultural Workers
— Washington Environmental Council

Organize a FridaysforFuture shoe strike in your community

OCA Signs Letter to Big Oil:
Protect the Arctic Refuge

National Actions

The AfrikaVuka Caravan Webinars
join us live online every two weeks as we connect with frontline groups exposing the fossil fuel and finance industry’s role in accelerating the climate crisis

2nd annual Climate Policy Summer Camp
From July 23 to 26, Our Climate will host virtual workshops, networking events, creative actions, state based breakout groups, and even a dance party in support of the Movement for Black Lives.

Youth4Climate Summer Camp (Virtual)

Session I: June 29 – July 24, 2020
Session II: July 27 – August 21, 2020

Stop the Money Pipeline Webinars — 350.org

Communities are sounding the alarm that some of the oldest and biggest trees in Canada are slated to be logged this summer — Stand.earth

Are fashion companies keeping their renewable energy promises? — Stand.earth

Thank AG Ellison for his leadership on holding Big Polluters liable
— Corporate Accountablilty

SIERRA CLUB PRESENTS HD SCREENING AND DISCUSSION
THE CONDOR & THE EAGLE – GROUND ZERO FOR CLIMATE JUSTICE
Tuesday, July 7th – 4 pm PT | SLIDING-SCALE TICKETS HERE

Local/Regional News

Justice for Black, Brown and Indigenous Lives: A message of solidarity from RAVEN

Weekly Announcements

In case you missed it –
Sightline Online: What coronavirus means for Northwest fossil fuel projects
— 53 minutes on YouTube

National/International News

The Supreme Court of Canada has declined to hear the Tsleil-Waututh, Squamish and Coldwater case against Trans Mountain — Sierra Club

#CancelCanadaDay

Rally and March at Vancouver Art Gallery July First
We will not celebrate the ongoing genocide within Canada
against Indigenous people.

Drawdown 2020 – (in case you missed it)
Urgent Federal Climate Bills and Strategy Webinar — Watch on YouTube
Register now for the follow-up call: July 15th, Noon

Learn about the Citizen’s Assembly in detail in upcoming webinars
Learn about the CITIZEN’s ASSEMBLY ON CLIMATE – what Washington can accomplish through deliberative democracy
THURSDAY, JULY 9th – 10-11 AM | https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85911537594
and
MONDAY, JULY 13^th – 10-11 AM | https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89272139818

What’s Up with Banking and Climate

The Latest News

Greta Thunberg: Humanity has not yet failed
Summer on P1 Sweden — Spotify

Climate activist Greta Thunberg urges world leaders to do more. Doing our best is no longer good enough.

Another Reason to Cut Down on Plastics

Also this week:
Face masks for the environmentally conscious

Climate in Politics

The time for climate action is now
Join the fight against the greatest threat to our future — climate change.
— NRDC Action Fund

League of Women Voters
Clallam PUD District 2 Candidate Forum – July 16 at 6:00pm
Zoom link to Forum

2020 Election Strategy Survey — 350 Action Team

Inspiration

This is a series I’m writing on climate change for our local monthly newspaper. I wanted to go back to the basics of the science behind climate change.

Category:
Burning Worlds

OCA Signs Letter to Big Oil: Protect the Arctic Refuge

OCA joins other groups to encourage the big oil companies of Chevron, ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil, Hilcorp, and BP to not pursue fossil fuel development in one of our most majestic public lands in the nation – the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

Read the letter here . . .

Drilling in the Arctic Refuge is risky and unnecessary – it violates the human rights of Indigenous peoples, will exacerbate climate change in an area that’s already ground-zero for climate impacts and will cause irreversible destruction to a precious landscape. 70 percent of voters in the United States oppose drilling in the Arctic Refuge. The case for protecting the Arctic Refuge is so clear that five of the six largest US domestic banks have announced they will not fund any efforts to drill in the coastal plain of the Arctic Refuge, which is sacred to the Gwich’in people.

Despite the COVID-19 crisis, which is endangering our health and economy, the administration continues to push forward with destroying majestic places. Drilling in a place as remote and pristine as the Arctic Refuge isn’t cheap, and by joining this letter, you have an opportunity to encourage oil and gas companies to publicly affirm that they will not drill in the coastal plain of the Arctic Refuge.

Hot Off the Wire — 6/26/2020

Flu Virus Resources

It Doesn’t Look Like the Protests Are Causing a COVID-19 Spike
What does that mean for other outdoor activities?

Opinion

Justice Denied — Grist
Opinion: If you care about the planet, you must dismantle white supremacy
By Tamara Toles O’Laughlin on Jun 15, 2020

The Myth of Economic Sacrifice
We can afford to act on climate now.
By Sarah Lazarovic — Yes Magazine

Solutions

REI’s Opt to Act Weekly Calendar / Checklist

Week 31: Become water wise in your home through mindful showering and dishwashing.
Take part: June 28–July 4, 2020

Vegetarianism:
Tapping Into the Meatless Revolution
— Visual Capitalist

Regional Actions

Take action now: Demand that the Trump administration protects people and public health — Washington Environmental Council

Send a public comment to the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission and ask for rules that protect low-income folks in Washington? — Sierra Club

National Actions

The Senate Democrats’ Special Committee on the Climate Crisis is asking for your input **by this Friday**

The East Africa Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) is set to be the longest heated crude oil pipeline in the world — BankTrack

Do not finance the East Africa Crude Oil Pipeline! — 350.org

Make DC the 51st state, and deliver climate justice for all — 198 Methods

Tell Congress: No polluter handouts during the pandemic – support the ReWIND Act! — NRDC

Indigenous communities across the Ecuadorian Amazon are sheltering in place to avoid the spread of COVID-19, while also facing the largest oil spill in the last 15 years. They are now witnessing their homes, drinking water, and food sources being destroyed.

Local/Regional News

Join Meaningful Movies Port Townsend and our special guest filmmaker Shane Anderson

Online via Zoom
Monday, July 13, at 6:30 PM

If you missed the webinar, you can watch the video here

Weekly Announcements

National/International News

After declaring a Climate Emergency in November, Ann Arbor, Michigan has drafted a $1 billion groundbreaking climate plan to get to carbon neutrality by 2030
— Michigan Live

How to Get Off Fossil Fuels Quickly—and Fairly — Yes Magazine

Arctic records its hottest temperature ever, 100.4° F.
As ‘Godzilla’ Sahara Dust Plumes Expected to Impact Areas Hit Hard by COVID-19 — CBS News

Historic Saharan dust plume that could turn skies milky will move into the US — CNN Weather

Scientists Alarmed About Siberia’s Record Breaking Winter and Spring Temperatures — Time Magazine

An aerial view of the city of Norilsk in Russia’s arctic region on June 6, 2020.
Kirill Kukhmar/TASS—Getty Images

What’s Up with Banking and Climate

The Latest News

How a Ruling on Gay and Transgender Rights
May Help the Climate

Also this week, how to help reinvent your workplace

Inspiration

This is a series I’m writing on climate change for our local monthly newspaper. I wanted to go back to the basics of the science behind climate change.

Category:
Burning Worlds

INTERVIEW WITH POET SUSAN BARBA

In Solidarity with All Our Relations

The senseless, violent deaths of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and many other Black, Brown, and Indigenous people of this country are merely the most recent, visible examples of systemic inequality and racial injustice in our country. These deaths and the depth of inequality they represent work against our mission to seek a safe, prosperous, sustainable future for us all. Organizations, including our own, working against climate change have an obligation to unequivocally condemn racism in all its forms and to work towards an equitable, livable future for all.

We need real, lasting change to stop acts of racism and violence against communities of color, as well as the unjust burden of climate change on poor and front-line communities. We stand in solidarity with all marginalized and oppressed members of our community in calling for accountability and justice for all, and we commit to engaging in critical self-reflection and active listening and dialogue with marginalized communities to learn how we can be part of the solution.

OCA Stands Opposed to the Keystone XL Pipeline

In solidarity with Indigenous communities, farmers and ranchers along the route, OCA is sending our protest banner to the Governors of Montana, South Dakota and Nebraska demanding they stop all pre-construction activity.

Background:

The movement against the Keystone XL Pipeline has successfully stopped the Trump Administration and TC Energy, aka TransCanada, from building this climate-destroying tar sands pipeline for years. But right now, amidst COVID-19, TC Energy is moving forward with plans to break ground on construction. While so many of us are sacrificing so much to protect our communities, TC Energy is planning to bring thousands of workers near Indigenous communities and rural towns that are already vulnerable to the spread of the coronavirus with little access to healthcare facilities. Such blatant disregard for public health and safety is sadly to be expected from a company who would build such a life-destroying pipeline in the first place. We must act now and come together to demand TC Energy halt any construction.

‘Cancel KXL’ petition

Promise to Protect

Hot Off the Wire — 6/19/2020

Flu Virus Resources

When Will Life Return to Normal?

–Visual Capitalist

The Growth of COVID-19 in the U.S., Organized by State Peak Date

How U.S. Consumers are Spending Differently During COVID-19

Visualizing the Occupations with the Highest COVID-19 Risk

Opinion

There Is No Climate Justice Without Racial Justice — Yes! Magazine

Can India chart a low-carbon future? The world might depend on it. — Yes!

It’s Time for a Black New Deal — Yes! Magazine

Solutions

REI’s Opt to Act Weekly Calendar / Checklist

Week 30: Check your tire pressure to ensure optimal gas mileage
Take part: June 21–27, 2020

**Run on Less** 2017 & 2019 Report — Rocky Mt. Institute

“What Wales is doing today, the world will do tomorrow.”—Nikhil Seth, UN Assistant Secretary General

The story of how one small nation responded to global climate issues by radically rethinking public policy for future generations

See a digital review copy of this new book at NetGalley

How can we achieve climate justice today? — Climate Alliance

Regional Actions

Washington Conservation Voters

Join Sightline for an online Q&A:
What coronavirus means for Northwest fossil fuel projects
Wednesday, June 24th, 2020Time | 10:00 – 11:00 am PT

National Actions

Climate Reality Leadership Corps: Global Training,
taking place over nine days from July 18-26, 2020
Register here for the training

Join the Poor People’s Campaign for the Mass Poor People’s Assembly and Moral March on Washington Digital Justice Gathering
Broadcast on June 20, 2020 at 7 AM PT & 3 PM PT and on
June 21 at 3 PM PT — 350.org

Click here to find an action near you this Juneteenth weekend. There are both in person and virtual actions you can join.
— Stop the Money Pipeline

We are at a crucial point in history for racial justice. There are no neutral actors here: Silence itself is a dangerous act.

Help protect the uncontacted peoples of the Amazon from COVID! — Stand.earth

Sign the petition: Tell Congress to stop Bill Barr and the Trump administration from spying on our internet browser and search history without a warrant!

Hold Big Polluters liable and make them pay

Local/Regional News

*Unceded Territories*, a painting by artist Lawrence Paul Yuxweluptun. Image from Museum of Anthropology in University of British Columbia in British Columbia, Canada.

Indigenous Artists Use Technology to Tell Stories About Their Ancestral Lands

These five art projects explore the impacts of climate change using VR and other mediums — Yes! Magazine

Weekly Announcements

National/International News

Climate Change Tied to Pregnancy Risks,
Affecting Black Mothers Most

Women exposed to high temperatures or air pollution are more likely to have premature, underweight or stillborn babies, a look at 32 million U.S. births found.
–The New York Times

Celebrating Juneteenth
Museum’s Founding Director Lonnie Bunch III leads a tour through the Slavery and Freedom exhibition, Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture:
Freedom Calling: Interactive Tour with Founding Director Lonnie Bunch III

Chevron Is a Champion of Environmental Racism
— Amazon Watch

Can India chart a low-carbon future? The world might depend on it.
— The Washington Post

What’s Up with Banking and Climate

The Latest News

The environmental justice wake-up call
Also
So. Much. Cardboard.

Inspiration

This is a series I’m writing on climate change for our local monthly newspaper. I wanted to go back to the basics of the science behind climate change.

Category:
Burning Worlds

How can we achieve climate justice today?

From urban cities to rural towns, people are coming together in outrage to demonstrate that #BlackLivesMatter and call for the end of white supremacy culture and systematic racism. This is not a new struggle or fight. This is a response to centuries of oppression that has torn apart Black communities through slavery, police brutality, incarceration, economic disenfranchisement, redlining, wage theft, and environmental racism.

As an intersectional climate coalition, we know that we cannot achieve climate justice without racial and economic justice. We also recognize that we cannot fight the climate crisis without being anti-racist. Our society’s solutions must actively work to replace the current racist system with one that is just, equitable, and explicitly repairs past injustice.

Ways to take anti-racist action:

Over the last week, our coalition has found these articles helpful to understand the intersections of race and the climate crisis. We hope you will too:
- We Need You to Fight for Us to Breathe . By April Sims in The Stand
- I’m a Black Climate Expert. Racism Derails our Efforts to Save the Planet . By Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson in The Washington Post
- Black Environmentalists Talk About Climate and Anti-Racism . By Somini Sengupta, featuring Sam Grant, Robert D. Bullard, and Heather McGhee, in the The New York Times.
- Why Racial Justice is Climate Justice. By Claire Elise Thompson, featuring Adrien Salazar, Kerene Tayloe, Julian Brave NoiseCat, Mariah Gladstone, and Alvaro S. Sanchez, in Grist
- The climate crisis is racist. The answer is anti-racism. By Erik Holthaus, in The Correspondent

Learn about and support Black-led organizations at the forefront of this work

Donate what you can to the following bailout funds and organizations that are leading this work
- Black Visions Collective – A Black, trans and queer-led organization committed to dismantling systems of oppression and violence, and shifting public narrative to create transformative, long-term change
- Reclaim the Block – Minnesota coalition that advocates for and invests in community-led safety initatives in Minneapolis neighborhoods.
- Black Lives Matter Seattle Freedom Fund – The funds collected will go to the immediate release of people protesting the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Manuel Ellis in Seattle/King County.

We uplift the lifelong work of Black, Brown and Indigenous-led organizations calling for racial justice and the transformation of our neighborhoods into places where everyone can be safe, healthy, and can thrive. We remain committed to confronting and undoing structural racism, uplifting the voices and decision-making power of communities of color, black, and indigenous communities, and pushing for solutions that invest our communities most impacted by structural racism, pollution, and the climate crisis.

In Solidarity,

Lauren Breynaert

Coalition Director, Climate Alliance for Jobs and Clean Energy

Hot Off the Wire — 6/12/2020

Opinion

A Novel Approach to Climate Action at the State Level
By Cindy Jayne

An Expose of the Environmental Movement

It’s Time For a Black New Deal
Chris Winters | June 8, 2020

Solutions

REI’s Opt to Act Weekly Calendar / Checklist

Week 29: Add a book about an environmental issue to your summer reading list
Take part: June 14–20, 2020

Regional Actions

Statewide action called by Black Lives Matter Seattle-King County
— Climate Solutions

OCA Endorses The Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty
An initiative to phase-out fossil fuels and fast-track solutions

Climate change, like nuclear weapons, is a major global threat.
Bold and immediate action is needed to address the climate emergency.

The Planet Project podcast
Climate 2020 Podcasts

National Actions

Please join us on Wednesday, June 17 for a forum hosted by Chris Novaton of Sierra Club, in conversation with Sierra Club staff and partners about the intersectionality between the environmental and racial justice movements, and the mutual aid work happening to support Black communities. Join us and learn how you can help.

Today is World Oceans Day – Stand.earth

Local/Regional News

350 PNW Conversations call Last Monday — 350.org
What are our next steps?

Weekly Announcements

National/International News

The U’wa Community’s Nonviolent Resistance to COVID-19 and Attacks in Colombia — Amazon Watch

Launched:
Lawsuit Against Trump for Endangered Species

Beaver Lake Cree stand strong as Canada and Alberta attempt to derail tarsands legal challenge — briarpatch Magazine

Updates on Climate and Racial Justice

How Greta Thunberg Transformed Existential Dread Into a Movement — The New Yorker
By Emily Witt April 6, 2020

After a time, Greta Thunberg and her family decided that freaking out was the only rational response, not only to climate change but to modern life.

Stop the Money Pipeline supports the demand to defund the police

How to Avoid Mediocre Leadership in Trying Times — Visual Capitalist

On Spotify

On Blubrry

What’s Up with Banking and Climate

The Latest News

Mountains of medical waste

Masks found on a beach in Hong Kong in May. Environmentalists say they’ve been washing up in increasing quantities. Anthony Wallace/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

What’s Wrong with Financial Equity?

The Wealth Inequality Problem in One Chart

The Global Inequality Gap, and How It’s Changed Over 200 Years

The Racial Wealth Gap in America: Asset Types Held by Race

Inspiration

This is a series I’m writing on climate change for our local monthly newspaper. I wanted to go back to the basics of the science behind climate change.

Category:
Burning Worlds

Stop the Money Pipeline supports the demand to defund the police

For years, the Movement for Black Lives has demanded investments in the education, health and safety of Black communities, instead of in institutions that criminalize, cage and harm Black people.

Stop the Money Pipeline supports the demand to defund the police, and invest instead in Black communities.

Cities across the United States spend a mind-boggling portion of their budgets on policing. In many cities one in three tax-payer dollars is spent on policing. Minneapolis policing accounts for 35.8% of the city budget; in Oakland it’s over 40%. In some cities, like LA, police account for half of the city budget.

When we talk about defunding the police, the question isn’t just if we should be funding the police at the current levels. The question is also about what we as a city, county, state and nation should be spending our money on.

Few documents say more about who we are than our budgets. Budgets are a concrete expression of our values and our priorities. Every dollar we spend funding the police is a dollar not spent on mental health programs, social workers, rehabilitation programs, community empowerment programs, education, the arts, and local Green New Deal programs.

These are the same types of questions that calls for divesting from fossil fuels are concerned with — it’s not only what shouldn’t we do, it’s also what we could do instead. That’s why Stop the Money Pipeline strongly supports the call to defund the police. Here are 3 things you can do right now to support the call to defund police: Sign this Black Lives Matter petition demanding the defunding of police Sign up for updates at Defending Black Lives Donate to the Movement for Black Lives. If you’ve been inspired by the wave of uprisings sweeping the world and want to keep the momentum for defunding the police moving, the next step is signing up to join Six Nineteen, a series of actions across the country starting June 19th and continuing throughout Juneteenth weekend.

Want to learn more about defunding the police? You can read more at the Movement for Black Lives and Black Lives Matter, as well as in these pieces in Newsweek, The New York Times, The Nation, The Atlantic, and Rolling Stone.

Want to learn more about the connection between defunding the police and climate justice? Mary Annaïse Heglar published a piece this morning about why “We Don’t Have To Halt Climate Action To Fight Racism.” Ayana Elizabeth Johnson explains how racism derails our efforts to save the planet. Here is a piece in Common Dreams that Stop the Money Pipeline ran on why climate activists should support the demand to defund the police. Finally, here is a great resource from one of our partners, 350.org: What we must do to dismantle white supremacy.

There are already a string of initial wins during the uprisings: The Minneapolis school board is terminating contracts with the police. LA is cutting up to $150 million from the LAPD budget and investing that money in communities of color instead. A majority of the Minneapolis City Council has pledged to disband the Minneapolis Police Department and replace it with a new model of public safety. In Atlanta, county commissioners have denied a proposal for a $23 million expansion of Fulton County jail in Atlanta. Confederate statues have come down in at least 7 cities, and as the antiracist uprising goes global, statues of slave traders in the UK are going the same way.

Climate justice is about far more than reducing emissions. It is about building a fairer and more just world. It’s about following the leadership of those that are most impacted by injustice. At Stop the Money Pipeline, we believe that can start by getting behind the demand to defund the police.

Climate justice is also about accountability ― and we need to take some accountability. In our last email, we perpetuated a behavior that upholds white supremacy and harms people of color: We misspelled Ahmaud Arbery’s name. We apologize and deeply regret this mistake. We recognize that misspellings and mispronunciations are common microaggressions, often perpetuated by white people, that harm Black people, Indigenous people, and People of Color. As we all continue to learn the hard work of dismantling white supremacy in ourselves and in our broader society, we would like to share this article about how misspelling and mispronouncing the names of People of Color is a harmful act that upholds white supremacy.

We’ll have more soon — especially about next weekend’s Juneteenth actions.

Stop the Money Pipeline

OCA Endorses the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty

THE FOSSIL FUEL
NON-PROLIFERATION TREATY

An initiative to phase-out fossil fuels and fast-track solutions

Climate change, like nuclear weapons, is a major global threat.

Bold and immediate action is needed to address the climate emergency.

The main cause of the climate emergency is fossil fuels.
Coal, oil and gas are responsible for almost 80% of all carbon dioxide emissions
since the industrial revolution.

Phasing-out fossil fuel production,
and fast-tracking progress towards safer and more cost-effective solutions,
will require unprecedented international cooperation in three main areas.

What are our next steps toward BLM?

How about that amazing special edition 350 PNW Conversations call on Monday?!

We had 22 folks from 12 local groups across our region gather together to reflect, listen, and engage in conversation around the powerful recent message “In Defense of Black Lives” from Black leadership at 350.org to all of us organizing for climate justice at local groups in the US. Thank you to everyone who showed up to share in this conversation together with empathy, insight, and care.

I encourage each of you to watch the webinar message so that you, too, can engage in this ongoing conversation about what it looks like at the local group level to respond in a good way to Black leadership within our organization.

Meeting Notes + Slides w/Resources

Three key reflections are worth sharing here:

The importance of following Black leadership at this moment in our support of the movement for Black lives, including at the local, regional, and national levels.
Our key role as local group organizers in educating our groups and our bases to help our communities make strong connections between climate justice and racial justice, and to provide ongoing support and education around topics that may feel challenging to some, such as defunding the police or conversations around “looting”.
We have broad regional alignment and shared values around showing up as climate organizers right now in support of Black lives in a good way.

You can find fantastic notes from the call above, (thank you to Emily from 350 Spokane for stepping in as note taker while I have limited hand function!!) and I’m also going to pull all of our resources together right here for folks to make it that much easier to engage with this ongoing conversation.

Resources for Next Steps

“What we must do to dismantle white supremacy” (article) – Rell Brown and Natalia Cardona of 350.org
- This article contains many powerful resources for each of us as we engage in this work, including how to respond to the phrase “riots never solve anything”, and resources for deepening your anti-racist work for white people and parents
Defending Black Lives (new short video) featuring Dominique Thomas, 350.org Mid-Atlantic Regional Organizer
- A video share pack to help you share it as widely as possible with your own members and broader community.
In Defense of Black Lives (video)
- Toolkit for Amplifying asks from “In Defense of Black Lives” to your membership and base
- Ally Pledge “In Defense of Black Lives” to sign and share with others at your local group and in your community.
- Bail Funds: https://bit.ly/350bailfunds (all donations go directly to bail funds)
- Here’s a piece by Bill McKibben in the New Yorker that links to the webinar and provides additional context.
Racial Justice – Climate Justice Arts Toolkit from David Solnit
The Movement for Black Lives (350.org has aligned with this org)
- M4bl week of Action (ideas + options for organizers to engage)
- Making Meaning of This Moment webinar (essential for understanding this movement)
Why caring about the climate crisis means supporting the demand to defund the police. (article) – Alec Connon, 350 Seattle, Stop The Money Pipeline
A FAQ on Building a Police-Free Future from the Black Visions Collective that can be useful to share with friends/ family new to thinking about defunding and abolishing police.

Updates on Climate and Racial Justice

Crowds of protestors have taken to the streets in major cities and towns of all sizes in the United States and around the world, decrying the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, Tony McDade and many others, and to demand an end to police violence against black people. Last week the Movement for Black Lives held a week of action demanding defunding the police, investing in community-led efforts to reclaim the future, additional COVID-19 relief, an end to the war against Black people, and protection for protestors. Read an explanation of those demands here and here.

As you are able, consider showing up to support publicly announced demonstrations in your community, or support the cause using resources like this one from Sunrise Movement, or this “Beyond the Streets” guide.

More than 230 climate and environment groups, including The Climate Mobilization, signed on to a letter of support for the week of action from the Movement for Black Lives.

This month’s protests have shined a light on the failures of many environmental organizations to support racial justice, as well as the connections between racism and environmental injustice.

We are keenly aware that the emergency-speed Climate Mobilization we need in order to restore a safe climate and end the sixth mass extinction of species cannot happen unless systemic racism and racialized violence are stopped. Here is a climate scientist’s take on the connection between racial justice and the Climate Emergency, and an explanation of why reallocating police funding to community programs is good climate policy.

Climate Emergency Movement
Congratulations to Elgin, IL, which passed a declaration of Climate Emergency on May 24. Total worldwide declarations have reached 1508 within 29 countries. There are 96 declarations of Climate Emergency in the United States, across 24 states.

May of 2020 was the hottest May on record, with 2020 on track to be one of the top 10 hottest years in history.

COVID-19 and stimulus funding propping up fossil fuel
According to new research by Bloomberg Energy Finance, $509 billion worth of stimulus funding worldwide is going to prop up the fossil fuel economy with no climate-related conditions. $18.5 billion is going directly to high-carbon industries with decarbonization requirements attached, while only $12.3 billion worldwide is going to supporting low-carbon industries like renewable energy.

In an article in The Guardian, Diplomat and climate leader Christiana Figueras recently discussed the potential to use the COVID-19 bailouts to spur the transition to a low carbon future.

In solidarity,
The Climate Mobilization team

An Expose of the Environmental Movement

It is empowering to see how many people in Washington state are taking time in this moment to stand up for racial justice. Many of you have reached out to ask how the environmental community can show up right now and what our role is in the fight against institutional racism. At WCV, we believe showing up requires accountability to ourselves and each other. And that starts with knowing the history of the environmental movement, and how it often ignored and was outright harmful to Black, Brown, and Indigenous communities.

The largest environmental organizations in the US, including WCV, have historically been, and largely continue to be, led and funded by white environmentalists. White-led organizations advocated for issues in white communities, where environmental benefits were felt by and centered on them. The environmental movement has and often continues to perpetuate ideas of white dominant culture and institutional racism, leading to a mainstream movement that has sought to preserve the natural world exclusively with white communities in mind. But that does not need to be our future. To be clear, Black, Brown, and Indigenous communities have always cared about and celebrated our environment. But these same communities also bear the largest burden of toxic pollution and environmental degradation.

Census data and science tell us that, more than income or geography, race is still the number one indicator of whether a person will live near contaminated air, water, and soil. Washington is no stranger to these disparities. People living in South Seattle’s much more racially diverse neighborhoods of South Park, Georgetown, and Beacon Hill have a life expectancy that is eight years less than their whiter and wealthier neighbors in North Seattle. That is significantly linked to these neighborhoods’ proximity to large industrial polluters and highways that contaminate the air and water [1].

In the lower Yakima Valley, farm workers and local communities have been exposed to inordinately high risks from pesticides and chemical groundwater contamination [2]. This area, home to Washington’s largest Latino population, has experienced grave health impacts from overexposure to chemicals and has even seen anomalies like “blue baby syndrome” [3] that are linked to nitrates in drinking water.

Because Black, Brown, and Indigenous communities have been excluded or marginalized from the conversation and by failing to help dismantle the racist systems around us, today’s historically and currently white-led organizations will continue upholding these systems, perpetuating environmental injustices. We can, and must, do better.

The exploitative mindset that underlies white supremacy and continues to harm Black, Brown, and Indigenous communities, is the same one driving depletion for profit, reckless drilling for fossil fuels, and irresponsible pollution of our waters. White supremacy champions dominion over nature, positions people as apart from the ecosystems we live in, divides us into groups with competing priorities, and leads to the disproportionate harm and death of Black, Brown, and Indigenous people and people of color.

As we work to address our biggest environmental crises, our solutions must confront white supremacy and institutional racism. This means the policies we advocate must:

Work toward dismantling structural inequities,
Raise and act in solidarity with partners that represent communities of color in policy and decision-making,
And work with those communities most impacted to find solutions that provide an alternative to an economy built on extractive and unsustainable activities.

Without these principles, we cannot achieve our mission of protecting, restoring, and sustaining Washington’s environment for all. We are so proud to have you with us in this work. And we will continue to grow together to be better partners and allies in the fight for racial justice.

Over the last week our staff found these stories helpful to understand the intersections of race and the environment. We hope you’ll read these pieces with us:

I’m a Black Climate Expert. Racism Derails our Efforts to Save the Planet. By Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson in The Washington Post.
Black Environmentalists Talk About Climate and Anti-Racism. By Somini Sengupta, featuring Sam Grant, Robert D. Bullard, and Heather McGhee, in the The New York Times.
Why Racial Justice is Climate Justice. By Claire Elise Thompson, featuring Adrien Salazar, Kerene Tayloe, Julian Brave NoiseCat, Mariah Gladstone, and Alvaro S. Sanchez, in Grist.
We Need You to Fight for Us to Breathe. By April Sims in The Stand.

Thank you for all you do,

Washington Conservation Voters

Sources
[1] KOMO “Study: Duwamish residents have short life expectancy”
[2] Farmworker Justice “Exposed and Ignored: How pesticides are endangering our nation’s farmworkers”
[3] Yakima Herald “Crusade for clean water in the Lower Valley”

Large-size Cardboard Resource

I have two boxes once used to ship aluminum fencing.

Four or more large pieces, as large as 4 feet x 6 feet are available for:

Signs
Posters
Table-top backgrounds
Score them to accordion-fold

Paint them for impact,
cut them into shapes.

Use your imagination

Thursday, June 11, 2020

I will update availability as the cardboard is dispensed.

Arrange to get as much as you need:

Michael Clemens
iMichael14@Yahoo.com

A Novel Approach to Climate Action at the State Level

By Cindy Jayne

An effort is afoot to bring an ancient Athenian democratic process to Washington State – a Citizen’s Assembly, where a representative group of randomly chosen Washington State residents would come together to make recommendations on how the state could address climate change.

Citizen Assemblies have been happening all across the world to address a variety of issues, and they have been successful in making progress on challenging issues such as climate change. For example, they were used by our British Columbia neighbors to craft a new electoral process.

In Washington State, a “Climate Assembly” would be an independently run, non-partisan direct democracy process that would bring together roughly 100 residents of Washington, selected by lottery, who demographically mirror the state in age, race, education, and other demographic indicators. Over the course of several weekends, the Assembly members would come together online to develop connections, learn from science and policy experts, deliberate on paths forward, and most importantly recommend policies to lawmakers. The recommendations would be provided to our State Legislators to inform climate law and policy.

Because of the inclusive nature of Citizen’s Assemblies, the participants would reflect all Washington residents as well as elevate the voices of under-heard constituents, bringing together the diversity of viewpoints on climate in the state.

A group of volunteers from Climate Assembly Washington have begun talking with Washington State legislators about this, and support is building. State Representatives Jake Fey (D-27), Joe Fitzgibbon (D-34), Zack Hudgins (D-11), Steve Kirby (D-29), and Cindy Ryu Nam (D-32) have called for a Citizen’s Assembly on Climate to be held online over the summer in Washington State.

This could be the first Climate Assembly to be held in the USA (discussions are also under way in New York State). Similar Assemblies are concluding online now in France and the UK, and reflect a long history of deliberative democracy methods used to raise the level of discourse on divisive and challenging issues. The Legislators are eager for any method that supplements their work and raises the voices of under heard constituents. Representative Steve Kirby says, “The Washington Climate Assembly is a great idea for bringing a diverse group of people safely together, to learn, collaborate, and make a difference for all of us in the midst of a crisis. I look forward to seeing their recommendations.”

Want to learn more? Go to https://www.climateassembly.us to learn more about Citizen’s Assemblies on Climate, and consider sharing your views on this deliberative democracy method with your legislators.

Cindy Jayne leads the Local 20/20 Climate Preparedness Action Group and is a member of the Local 20/20 Steering Council.

Hot Off the Wire — 6/05/2020

On Social Justice

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the N.B.A.’s all-time leading scorer, is the author of 16 books.

“Yes, protests often are used as an excuse for some to take advantage, just as when fans celebrating a hometown sports team championship burn cars and destroy storefronts. I don’t want to see stores looted or even buildings burn. But African Americans have been living in a burning building for many years, choking on the smoke as the flames burn closer and closer. Racism in America is like dust in the air. It seems invisible — even if you’re choking on it — until you let the sun in. Then you see it’s everywhere. As long as we keep shining that light, we have a chance of cleaning it wherever it lands. But we have to stay vigilant, because it’s always still in the air.

“So, maybe the black community’s main concern right now isn’t whether protesters are standing three or six feet apart or whether a few desperate souls steal some T-shirts or even set a police station on fire, but whether their sons, husbands, brothers and fathers will be murdered by cops or wannabe cops just for going on a walk, a jog, a drive. Or whether being black means sheltering at home for the rest of their lives because the racism virus infecting the country is more deadly than COVID-19.”

Los Angeles Times and the Bleacher Report

To my fellow elderly protestors — DemocracyNow! video
Watch from minute 7:21

Welcome to Buffalo, NY

Prosecutor: 2 Buffalo police charged with assault in shoving — PBS

Will you join us this Thursday to learn what actions you can take individually and collectively to defend the lives of Black people and work to dismantle systemic racism? — 350.org

Contact Congress TODAY to stop police departments from buying weapons of war

Flu Virus Resources

Experiment shows human speech generates droplets that linger in the air for more than 8 minutes — Washington Post

What’s the Risk of Catching Coronavirus From a Surface?
Touching contaminated objects and then infecting ourselves with the germs is not typically how the virus spreads. But it can happen. — New York Times

Trump Death Clock: Creator Eugene Jarecki Says “Reckless Mishandling” of COVID-19 Must Be Quantified — DemocracyNow! interview

The essential coronavirus FAQ — PBS

Opinion

The climate crisis is racist.
The answer is anti-racism
–The Correspondent.com

Commentary: Citizens assembly would seek consensus on climate — HeraldNet
State legislators want to call on residents to gather,
learn and craft solutions to climate change.

Stacey Abrams:
I Know Voting Feels Inadequate Right Now
Just hear me out
— New York Times

What a difference nine days make

Solutions

REI’s Opt to Act Weekly Calendar / Checklist

Week 28: Find a way to do without one item on your shopping list.
Take part: June 7–13, 2020

How to Feed Ourselves in a Time of Climate Crisis
Here are 13 of the best ideas for a just and sustainable food system,
from saving seeds to curbing food waste. — Yes! Magazine

How Fast is Your Broadband? Take the test & see…
Clallam County is in the midst of a Broadband Feasibility Study along with our Team Partners – the Cities of Forks, Port Angeles and Sequim, the Port of Port Angeles, the Clallam County Public Utility District and the North Olympic Development Council. In order to succeed, we need to be able to document current internet speeds from every part the county.
We are focusing on ways to enhance and expand broadband access to the Internet throughout Clallam County. An important part of this study is use of the State Broadband Speed Test. You can help shape the future of broadband in Clallam County by participating. The documented results will be a vital component of the planning and feasibility study.
Please encourage others to participate. The more residents and businesses that participate in the speed test, the more accurate the results. Please take the speed test today!
Link to Speed Test: wabroadband.speedtestcustom.com

Regional Actions

Election 2020 Webinar:
Evergreen Future Grassroots Action
June 10 6:00 PM – 7:15 PM

Public · Hosted by Washington Conservation Voters
Evergreen Future Platform website

In Defense of Black Lives:
Solidarity and Amplification Toolkit for 350.org Local Groups

Raven Trust needs our help with the Trans Mountain Pipeline suit

Clean Tech in a COVID World and

What we must do to dismantle white supremacy
There is no just recovery for climate, without addressing the systemic extraction, harm and violence towards Black communities.

Jordan Cove LNG Terminal
Our legal team has what it takes to stop this project–we have defeated it twice before!

Contact the UTC today and tell them to strengthen the 100% clean electricity law
— Washington Conservation Voters

Interfaith Earth Care Coalition Meeting | Tues. June 9, 4-5 pm
Join Zoom Meeting – https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88462550106
Meeting ID: 884 6255 0106
One tap mobile
+12532158782,,88462550106# US (Tacoma)
+13462487799,,88462550106# US (Houston)

National Actions

Take Action: Stop Amazon from helping cops spy on protesters
— Fight for the Future

Organizer Bill McKibben, leader, activist, scientist will speak online | June 6
A Crisis Inside a Crisis:
What Covid Might Teach Us About Dealing With Climate

Tell Liberty Mutual CEO David Long that the time to dump Fox is NOW
— Greenpeace

Local/Regional News

For more information contact the North Olympic Peninsula Broadband Leader, Krestine Reed, at PNBVoices@gmail.com

Dana Lyons Concert | Sunday, June 14, 2020 at 4:00 PM – 4:30 PM PDT

Weekly Announcements

National/International News

Proceeding of the National Academy of Sciences
of the United States of America

Research Article
Vertebrates on the brink as indicators of biological annihilation
and the sixth mass extinction
—————-
Mass Extinctions Are Accelerating, Scientists Report — Seattle Times
The Extinction Crisis Is Accelerating — HuffPost
Earth’s carbon dioxide levels hit record high,
despite coronavirus-related emissions drop — Washington Post

Racism is an inescapable reality in the United States
Science is not immune

World health leaders urge green recovery from coronavirus crisis
Open letter to G20 leaders says addressing climate breakdown key to global revival — The Guardian

Growing Climate Solutions Act set to be introduced in U.S. Senate
— Indiana U.S. Senator Mike Braun

Humans Are Only As Bad As The Systems We Build — NY Public Radio
This is a segment from our June 5, 2020 program, No Justice, No Peace

Stop the Money Pipeline fully supports the demands from the Movement for Black Lives and #BlackLivesMatter

What’s Up with Banking and Climate

The Latest News

Black Environmentalists Talk About Climate
and Anti-Racism
It’s impossible to live sustainably
without tackling inequality, activists say.

Monday June 8th – World Oceans Day – we’re organizing the first-ever international online rally to demand an end to cruise ship pollution
— Stand.earth

Inspiration

How I’m Trying to Not Be Miserable About the Planet
A weeklyish commentary about climateish stuff, and how to keep it together in a world gone mad.

David Frum Rethinks Conservatism
by Joe Klein | New York Times
TRUMPOCALYPSE
Restoring American Democracy
By David Frum

This is a series I’m writing on climate change for our local monthly newspaper. I wanted to go back to the basics of the science behind climate change.

Category:
Burning Worlds

Stop the Money Pipeline supports minority protests

June 5, 2020 medical worker Breonna Taylor should have been celebrating her twenty-seventh birthday. But on March 13th, police used a battering ram to enter her apartment and murdered her in her bed, shooting her eight times.

Anyone who has read about the cold-blooded murder of Breonna Taylor or watched the footage of a white police officer murdering George Floyd or Ahmaud Arbaury being hunted by white supremacisists should understand the fury that is erupting across this country at the systemic devaluation of Black lives. But we need to do much more than simply understand it. We need to figure out what we can actually do to help dismantle white supremacy.

This starts by following the leadership of the Black community, and supporting their demands for change. That is why Stop the Money Pipeline fully supports the demands from the Movement for Black Lives and #BlackLivesMatter.

Climate justice is about far more than reducing emissions. It is about building a fairer and more just world. It’s about following the leadership of those that are most impacted by injustice. And right now, those of us in the climate movement have an opportunity to do just that by showing up in every way we can for Black Lives. That’s why we are getting fully behind the demands coming from the Movement for Black Lives.

We support the demand to defund the police. Just as we need to stop the flow of money from Wall Street to the fossil fuel industry, we need to stop the flow of money from governments to heavily militarized police forces that kill over 1,000 people a year, and are guilty of systemic racism and the terrorizing of Black communities. Please join #BlackLivesMatter in supporting the demand to defund the police by signing this petition. You can learn more about why we need to defund the police here and here and here and here.

We support investments in Black communities. Black communities have been systemically underfunded, redlined, and cut off from so many of the advantages afforded white communities. We need to support reinvestment in Black communities and in Black-led community groups. We can do that by demanding investment in Black communities, and by donating our own money to Black-led community groups and organizations:

We support an end to the war on Black people. The Movement for Black Lives demands for an end to the mass incarceration, killing and criminalization of Black people. Young Black men are twenty-one times more likely to be killed by police than their white counterparts. Black people are five times more likely to be incarcerated than white people. This must end.

We support the demand for reparations. We support the demand for reparations to Black communities and we support reparations and land repatriation to Indigenous Nations. The government and corporations responsible for centuries of harm inflicted on Black communities and Native nations must seek to atone for the harm they have done. That means reparations. That means land repatriation.

We support the demand for economic justice. We must radically rework our economy, our tax system and support the right for all workers to organize. We support the reinstatement of the Glass-Steagall Act to break-up the big banks power, and we support the development of community banks and credit unions.

We support the demand for Black community control. We support participatory budgeting at the local, state and national level. We support an end to the privatization of education, and giving political power to local communities.

We support the demand for Black political power and Black self-determination. We need to end corporate money in politics, and publicly finance elections. We must end the criminalization of Black political activity, and free all political prisoners. We need to protect and increase investments in those institutions that support Black political power and self-determination, such as Historically Black Colleges and Universities, and Black media, cultural, political and social institutions.

These are the demands that are coming from the Movement for Black Lives and from Black Lives Matter. Stop the Money Pipeline, as a coalition committed to challenging the power of the fossil fuel industry and Wall Street, fully supports these demands. Right now, we are discussing internally about how we can do more to amplify and support the leadership of Black-led organizations to turn these demands in reality. We hope that you will do all that you can in service to Black leadership too.

We also hope that you will commit to following, amplifying and supporting the Movement for Black Lives on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

And we hope that you will commit to doing all you can to follow Black leadership in your local communities, supporting their demands in ways that are welcomed, collaborative and respectful.

Stop the Money Pipeline

Science is Not Immune to to Racism

The protests that are sweeping the country are a direct response to the fact that racism is an inescapable reality in the United States. That these protests are happening right now, in the midst of a pandemic that places the protesters at risk from congregating, speaks to how deep the injustice is, and how urgent the need for change. The legacy of white supremacy continues to harm those of us who are Black, Indigenous, Latinx, or members of other racially marginalized groups.

And despite having a veneer of objectivity and impartiality, science is not immune.

Science is a powerful tool for solving problems and making people’s lives better. But it has been used to do harm and obstruct progress as well.

Most people have heard of the infamous example of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study. In this 40-year study, Black men with syphilis were left untreated, without their informed consent and despite the availability of effective therapies, so that researchers could study the progress of the disease. This is but one example of how science has been used to justify white, European conquest for centuries and continues to this day.

Today’s protests aren’t just about the nine minutes that ex-Officer Chauvin had his knee on George Floyd’s neck ultimately leading to his death. They are about the thousands of other unarmed Black men, women, and children who have been needlessly killed by police or others with impunity. They’re about the 40 years of treating hundreds of Black men as guinea pigs in the name of science. And they’re about the 400-year old legacy of slavery and inequality in this country, which manifests itself in institutional and systemic racism in all aspects of modern life from access to housing, health care, food, economic opportunity, and beyond.

As an organization that works for a healthy planet and a safer world, we must address the reality that health and safety are enjoyed unequally across racial lines in our country. Ending these inequities must be an integral part of our mission and our daily work. And a commitment to facing facts means we must be willing to talk about racism explicitly, listen to those who’ve been hurt by it, take counsel from and show up as allies for those who are leading the fight against it, and confront it both in the world we seek to change and in our own institution, assumptions, and actions.

We stand in solidarity with the protesters and urge our supporters to do the same. We also recognize the additional risks protesters are incurring in the midst of a pandemic, and we strongly encourage all to protect their own health and the health of their loved ones at home by maintaining a safe distance from one another and wearing masks and gloves at all times, so that this important act of protest does not result in more sickness and death from the virus.

If you haven’t already, seek out and support local organizers and organizations in your community who are doing critical work on racial equity, environmental justice, voting access, and more. Not sure where to start? Here are some groups that can be a launching point:

As an organization, we are also continuously working to advance our own internal racial equity as an integral part of working to achieve our mission. We acknowledge that our progress is slow and that we have more work to do, even within our own organization. Below are some resources that some of our staff have found useful.

You can also explore how bias plays out in your own life, as it does with all of us, by taking this test on implicit bias designed by a cross-disciplinary group of researchers.

If you identify as white and haven’t yet explored issues of privilege, we suggest the podcast series Seeing White from the Center on Documentary Studies at Duke University, or watch this video series on systemic racism from our colleagues at Race Forward.

Sincerely,

Katy Love
Online Engagement Manager
Union of Concerned Scientists

Hot Off the Wire — 5/28/2020

Breaking News!

$170K grant will facilitate climate planning
on the North Olympic Peninsula

Flu Virus Resources

HURRICANE SEASON IN A PANDEMIC

For many regions facing an active 2020 hurricane season, COVID-19 has created the potential for a double disaster. As state and local governments draft emergency plans, uncertainty lingers.
— The Atlantic

Solutions

REI’s Opt to Act Weekly Calendar / Checklist

Week 27: Volunteer for a trail cleanup to celebrate National Trails Day.
Take part: May 31–June 6, 2020

Redox flow batteries store renewable energy in liquid solutions when it’s abundant and release electricity when needed. (USC Graphic/K Selnick)

New flow battery could help unleash renewable energy

USC scientists may have solved the storage problem that has long slowed the spread of renewables. — USC News

Join me on Thursday, May 28, for our next Saving Life on Earth discussion about our work to shift the way we eat toward Earth-friendly diets

Tierra Curry
Senior Scientist
Center for Biological Diversity

Regional Actions

National Actions

Will you join us in starting a global conversation about the relationship between COVID-19 and the climate crisis?
Take the Pledge

YOU’RE INVITED: Join us on June 8th – World Oceans Day – for the first-ever international online rally against cruise ship pollution — Stand.earth

On Thursday, May 28th at 4 pm PDT, join a lively and deep discussion about the Tar Sands Trial. Learn about the pending appeal hearing — June 4, 2020

Tell the Senate to pass the Heroes Act — 350Action

Local/Regional News

Four area Tribes are “still in” for climate action

High wildfire severity risk seen in young plantation forests — Oregon State University

Weekly Announcements

National/International News

“Stay Alive, Stay at Home, Organize”: Rev. Barber Sets June 20 for Poor People’s Digital March on DC — DemocracyNow! interview
June 2020 – Mass Poor People’s Assembly & Moral March on Washington
The Poor People’s Campaign – A National Call for Moral Revival

U.S. Representatives push for millions of restoration and resilience jobs — ConservationNWAdmin / May 20, 2020 / Legislation
Washington’s seven Democratic U.S. Representatives were among 79 Members of Congress who submitted a letter today to House leadership in support of funding for conservation projects that also provide good jobs.

What’s Up with Banking and Climate

The Latest News

Vandana Shiva: Everything I Need to Know I Learned in the Forest

We need to value nature’s biodiversity, clean water, and seeds. For this, nature is the best teacher. — Yes! Magazine

Climate Change burns its way up the pop charts

Both conservatives and liberals want a green energy future, but for different reasons — The Conversation

Inspiration

This is a series I’m writing on climate change for our local monthly newspaper. I wanted to go back to the basics of the science behind climate change.

Category:
Burning Worlds

INTERVIEW WITH ARTIST
COLIN FOORD
with
Amy Brady
of Burning Worlds

4 area Tribes are “still in” for climate action

The Jamestown, Hoh, Quinault, and Suquamish Tribes are among 12 Tribes nationwide that have signed on to the We Are Still In declaration, a coalition of cities, states, tribes, businesses, universities, healthcare organizations, and faith groups who strongly oppose the US withdrawal from Paris and are not going to take a retreat from the global response to the climate crisis lying down. Kudos! (But where are the Cities and Counties and businesses?)

The Affiliated Tribes of the Pacific Northwest (ATNI) have had a Climate Change Project since 2014 and will host a virtual National Tribal Climate Leadership Summit in October.

About olyclimate

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The Original article from Mr. Snyder’s Facebook Page

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Webinars on Demonstration Safely

Zurich is now the third insurer to drop the Trans Mountain pipeline since we stepped up our pressure just a couple months agoAdd your voice Now! — Stand.earth

The City of Portland, Oregon, recently passed The Portland Clean Energy Fund (PCEF), the nation’s first successful climate justice ballot initiative

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Position announcement: 17 July 2020

Washington State Climate Assembly Program Assistant

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It’s Time to Tell a New Story About Coronavirus—Our Lives Depend on It

THE NEW GROUP

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A message from The US Climate Strike Coalition

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You can be involved too! From 350 Washington

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Oprah Winfrey leads a conversation speaking directly about systematic racism

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A Short List of People in America Who Were Not Freed in 1776

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Episode Description

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DemocracyNow! Examines Our National Reckoning

#CancelCanadaDay

Rally and March at Vancouver Art Gallery July FirstWe will not celebrate the ongoing genocide within Canada against Indigenous people.

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In solidarity with Indigenous communities, farmers and ranchers along the route, OCA is sending our protest banner to the Governors of Montana, South Dakota and Nebraska demanding they stop all pre-construction activity.

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Climate Change Tied to Pregnancy Risks, Affecting Black Mothers Most

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Today is World Oceans Day – Stand.earth

What’s Wrong with Financial Equity?

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THE FOSSIL FUELNON-PROLIFERATION TREATY

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On Social Justice

The essential coronavirus FAQ — PBS

Election 2020 Webinar: Evergreen Future Grassroots ActionJune 10 6:00 PM – 7:15 PM

Proceeding of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

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$170K grant will facilitate climate planning on the North Olympic Peninsula

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Zurich is now the third insurer to drop the Trans Mountain pipeline
since we stepped up our pressure just a couple months ago
Add your voice Now! — Stand.earth

Position announcement:
17 July 2020

It’s Time to Tell a New Story About Coronavirus—
Our Lives Depend on It

Oprah Winfrey leads a conversation
speaking directly about systematic racism

Rally and March at Vancouver Art Gallery July First
We will not celebrate the ongoing genocide within Canada
against Indigenous people.

Climate Change Tied to Pregnancy Risks,
Affecting Black Mothers Most

THE FOSSIL FUEL
NON-PROLIFERATION TREATY

Election 2020 Webinar:
Evergreen Future Grassroots Action
June 10 6:00 PM – 7:15 PM

Proceeding of the National Academy of Sciences
of the United States of America

$170K grant will facilitate climate planning
on the North Olympic Peninsula