Federal clean-energy incentives end soon; state & local go on

Here's an explainer In a time when our federal government seems determined to go the way of the dinosaur, the bright truth of the sun continues to shine, and renewable energy is outstripping fossil fuels in virtually every undistorted market. Here's an explainer of the incentives available right now; federal incentives are going away thanks …

Protect the Roadless Rule which protects our forests

OCA takes action; you can too, till Sept. 19 Image by Pexels from Pixabay OCA joined thisย sign-on letterย opposing the Trump administration's proposed rescission of the Roadless Rule, which has protected some 60 million acres of forests, and thereby protected communities from water shortages, wildfire, and climate change. We also signed an earlier letter calling for stronger Roadless Rule …

“Timber Emergency!” ??? Hardly!

Trump tariffs present far more danger to the USA Pexels -- Pixabay OCA just signed onto this NGO sign-on letter. There is currently an open public comment period in response to Trump's pro-logging Executive Order on the connection between timber production and national security. The deadline to sign on is March 28th. 

Attack on NEPA; sign-on due March 25

We need your help and hope your organization willย sign on to this letter! Apologies for cross-posting, but as many of you have seen, the Trump administrationย issued an Interim Final Ruleย revoking the White House Council on Environmental Qualityโ€™s regulations implementing the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). Those regulations apply to over 80 agencies in the federal …

Legislators: continue investment in climate-friendly forests

Letter to our legislators in Olympia Image by Joe Plenio -- Pixabay Dear District 24 legislators: Olympic Climate Action represents 800 members on the Olympic Peninsula dedicated to taking action on climate change. As its forests chair, and based on positions taken by OCA's board, I urge you to continue conserving mature forests and buying replacement …

OCA Signs onto Farm Bill Anti-Environmental Riders Letter

EarthJustice has prepared a letter to send to Congress to encourage the Farm Bill pass without anti-environmental riders. OCA has signed on and you can, too. Deadline is November 13, 2024. To sign on click here. Earthjustice Farm Bill Anti-Environmental Riders Letter - Google DocsDownload

BNR: Take these special lands off the chopping block

A Coalition of Forestry Conservation groups sent a letter to the Board of Natural Resources identifying eleven timber sales with some portions of structurally complex older forests in them. The rush to clear-cut these stands before the new administration an opportunity to develop solutions for long-term ecological health is short sighted. Read the entire letter. …

OCA Election Endorsements 2024

The OCA Endorsement Committee has come up with a list of endorsements for the November election. Per our endorsement policy, our Endorsement Committee has recommended, and our Board has unanimously approved, endorsements of the following candidates in the 2024 election. (We did not make endorsements specific to Jefferson County because of inadequate familiarity with the races; Jefferson …

OCA primary election 2024 endorsements

Per our endorsement policy, our Endorsement Committee has recommended, and our Board has unanimously approved, endorsements of the following candidates in the 2024 Primary election. (We did not make endorsements specific to Jefferson County because of inadequate familiarity with the races; Jefferson County residents are encouraged to join our Endorsement Committee for future elections.) OCA …

OCA opposes the “Fix (Is In on) Our Forests” Act

OCA has signed on to a letter opposing the proposed federal "Fix Our Forests" Act. This bill contains extreme cuts to NEPA and ESA, and harmful judicial review language. Under the guise of wildfire mitigation, this bill serves to cut science and the public out of the process, to the benefit of industry.

Support Sen. Booker’s biomass-reform bill

From Tyler Gilmore <tyler@350pdx.org>: 350 Portland has been getting involved in resisting industrial biomass as corporate bad-actor Drax plans to expand to the Pacific NW, proposing a plant in Longview, WA. We have learned much about industrial-scale energy production via biomass, and every part of the industrial biomass process has adverse climate and community impacts. To …

Help Clallam County Reduce Risk and Plan for the Future

Clallam County has a survey running through May 10 regarding hazard planning, which will guide the County's future hazard-mitigation efforts: https://survey123.arcgis.com/share/2310b0f0d7b042b39f0f2ef624d7500c?portalUrl=https://websrv31.clallamcountywa.gov/portal Consider answering this 10-15 minute survey and asking for greater preparation for climate risks such as flooding, drought, sea-level rise, ocean acidification, wildfire, smoke, and extreme heat events. To help you, you might want …

OCA signs letter with hundreds of green groups urging Biden to expand LNG freeze

from foodandwaterwatch.org Aย letter delivered todayย to President Biden from more than 560 environmental, climate, health, and advocacy organizations around the world applauded the administrationโ€™s decision to halt pending liquefied natural gas (LNG) export approvals to non-free trade countries and called on the administration to expand the pause to halt the permitting of new LNG infrastructure and …

OCA supports the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribeโ€™s development of a Climate Change Adaptation Plan.

October 12, 2023Re: Lower Elwha Klallam Proposal for BIA Climate Change Planning FundingDear BIA Climate Change Resiliency Program reviewers,Olympic Climate Action is in full support of the efforts made by the Lower Elwha KlallamTribeโ€™s climate change planning team to prepare for the effects of climate change in the LowerElwha Klallam (LEKT) community through the development …

STATEWIDE RALLY FOR LEGACY FORESTS–BELLINGHAM, AUG. 22, 5:30-6:30

Art by Shelly Gould On August 22-23, the Board of Natural Resources (BNR) will be holding its annual retreat in Whatcom County. This is an important opportunity to deliver our simple message: "Commissioner Franz and BNR, become the climate champions we need you to be: enact a mature forest conservation policy NOW!" We willย rally on …

Contact the Clallam Commissioners and DNRย to ask for a pause on upcoming timber auctions of older forests

At the May 16 Clallam County Commissioners meeting, 22 people called for a pause on DNR timber sales on older forests (such as โ€œTCB23โ€ and โ€œPower Plantโ€ in the Elwha watershed), until newly-enacted tools for older forest protection are implemented and understood. Despite this massive input, Commissioners French and Johnson decided they do not support …

OCA comments on older federal forests…you should too!!!

Comments due June 20 OCA just sent letters to the US Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management asking them to begin rule-making to protect the nation's climate-critical older forests from their #1 threat: logging. Older forests on federal lands capture and store vast amounts of carbon pollution and should be a cornerstone of U.S. …

One Final Meeting for City of Port Angeles’ Climate Resiliency Plan

Three years in the making, the Port Angeles Climate Resiliency Plan is finally ready for prime time! OCA Steering Committee member Bob Vreeland wrote a compelling letter to the PDN about the proposed Climate Resiliency Plan for the City of Port Angeles. Bob was also quoted in a comprehensive article by PDN's Ken Park in …

OCA comments on the proposed Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF):

The Biden Administration is currently developing an initiative to address economic strategy in the Indo-Pacific region. Olympic Climate Action submitted a letter to the Office of the United States Trade Representative requesting the inclusion of a Climate Peace Clause, and permanently ending Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS), as well as for the development process to be …

OCA signs open letter to the Nature Conservancy: stop greenwashing logging!

Aย new exposรฉ, "The Nature Conspiracy, America's Richest Green Group is Betraying Forests" reveals that TNC works with the logging & wood products industries to falsely promote chopping down our forests as a โ€˜natural climate solution,โ€™ harming the climate, biodiversity, and communities of color in the process.

Mitigation Ideas for Regional Climate Planning

The North Olympic Development Council (NODC) received a $170,000 grant to coordinate climate action planning with local governments, building on the 2015 Climate Change Preparedness Plan for the North Olympic Peninsula. OCA has representatives on the steering committee for this process. In preparation for the first regional planning workshop in February 2022, OCA compiled a …

โ€œKeep Washington Greenwashingโ€?

The State Department of Natural Resources has introduced legislation under the name โ€œKeep Washington Evergreen (KWE),โ€ claiming โ€œbold actionโ€ to promote โ€œnecessary resilience in our forests and communities to mitigate and adapt to our changing climate.โ€ But looking under the hood, we see a disconnect between such a lofty title and what the bill would …

The Earth Bill Update

GREETINGS ALL -ย Next Up:ย  Final Push for the BBBA!Manchin is the main focus.See all the actions below.Then it's time for THE EARTH BILL!ENJOY OUR WORK TOGETHER?Pleaseย Support CCP 2022.ย $10 monthlyย is a bigย help!MEETING NOTE: No December Meetings.BBBA MOVEMENT DEC. PUSH & ACTIONย a. SENATORS RALLY for BBBAย (starts @5:20 mins).LCV &ย  Climate Action Nowb. SENATE WEEK OF ACTIONย Climate Action …

Grave concerns from scientists about Infrastructure Bills

A letter is circulating the Hill from well over 100 scientists urging them not to pass the BBB or BIF legislative packages unless the climate-harming logging provisions are removed from both. These two bills are the ones climate activists have been counting on to help promote climate solutions; the Reconciliation Bill (Biden's Build Back Better 3.5 Trillion) andthe Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill …

The Build Back Better Act

This is our opportunity to create millions of new jobs, invest billions in a clean energy economy, and take concrete steps to break down systemic inequalities and address the threats that the environmental justice movement has been fighting for years โ€” but only if we keep making noise. ACT NOW: Text "CLIMATEBILL" to 877-777 to …

OCA Endorses a Washington Transportation Bill of Rights

The OCA Executive Committee signed this Transportation Bill of Rights. It describes an equitable approach to advancing transportation access, and an opportunity to shape Washingtonโ€™s transportation system to decrease our climate pollution (45% of our emissions come from transportation) and increase mobility for all by 2037. The 16-Year Transportation Package debated in the legislature last …

Contact Sen. Cantwell & Rep. Kilmer on LSRDs

2 bad congressional maneuvers relating to the LSRDs need immediate constituent action to oppose them. Rep. McMorris-Rodgers has proposed amendments to appropriations bills that would prevent further federal funds from being spent to study LSRD breaching.  Derek Kilmer is on the key committee considering them.  Action needed:  Contact Kilmerโ€™s Natural Resources staffer, Katie Allen, katie.allen@mail.house.gov.  …

Congressional District Three and Six Redistricting Meeting

Put Yourself on the Map July 26, 2021, 7:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. The once-a-decade redistricting process is underway in Washington State.  Every 10 years, after the federal census, we redraw the boundaries of our congressional and legislative electoral districts to ensure that each district represents an equal number of residents. To ensure that our …

We need to talk about cruise ships

These massive ships are toxic, and so are their business practices--from the smokestacks harming our health;ย to the massive fossil fuel footprint;ย toย garbage,ย human waste,ย and engine oil dumped straight into waterways;ย to noise pollution disrupting our underwater relatives;ย to onboardย workers often underpaid and exploited;ย to tax avoidance while stressing local infrastructure;ย to bully tactics used on destination communities that push back against …

Fossil Banks No Thanks

Dear all, Thank you very much for your support for the Global Call on Banks and Fossil Banks No Thanks! Weโ€™re really excited to have you on board.  Now that the Fossil Banks No Thanks (FBNT) website is up and running, we would like to highlight some platform-related activities and news. We intend to update …

Earth Bill Network

Hi all - We have six weeks to get a great Clean Renewable Energy Standard in the U.S. House American Jobs Act.ย  This can change history if we unite and focus.ย Please see the list below of TWO important committees below.ย  Please reply if you want to help organize in any of these or fill out …

Clean Energy & Sustainability Accelerator (Green Bank)

Fund the Clean Energy and Sustainability Accelerator (โ€œAcceleratorโ€) to rapidly scale up investment needed to meet US climate goals and create millions of jobs The Accelerator will serve as the national green bank. A green bank uses public funding to invest in decarbonization, jobs, and economic growth. It also reduces risk to help scale up …

OCA expresses Qualified Support for the Climate Commitment Act

OCA has expressed qualified support for E2SSB 5126, the Climate Commitment Act with a letter to our state legislators Rep. Steve Tharinger and Rep. Mike Chapman, and U.S. Senator Kevin Van de Wege Update late Friday night: Rep. Steve Tharinger and Rep. Mike Chapman voted yea to pass the measure. This historic bill would guarantee …

THE EARTH BILL

Climate Crisis Policy A 2030 MOONSHOT FOR EARTH 100% BY 2030 1. Renewable Electricity 2. Electric Vehicles 3. Regenerative Agriculture With Enforcement Tied To Corporate Tax Deductions.(This makes it fit in the budget!)Definitions matter!  HERE they are with draft language.Your support now can get these in the infrastructure bill!Take action with The Earth Bill Pledge below. JOIN OUR NETWORK …

Nine Steps to Kick Yourโ€”and Ourโ€”Carbon Addiction

Adapted from the Columbia Gorge Climate Action Network, Drawdown.org, and Local 20/20 By Peter Kuper -- TodayClick to enlarge -- Back to Return 1. Recognize that your individual actions to conserve will have little impact on climate change and the most important changes need to be at the systemic level, because our laws, politics, and markets …

A Letter to Representative Derek Kilmer about the LSRDs

Click to enlarge -- Back to Return March 10, 2021 To: Hon. Derek KilmerRe: Rep. Simpsonโ€™s โ€œColumbia Basin Fundโ€ Plan Dear Rep. Kilmer: Olympic Climate Action is a grassroots organization based on the Olympic Peninsula with more than 1000 followers dedicated to research, education, and action on climate. We engage in consensus decision-making and only …

Allan Brothers Workers Strike to Unionize

The Climate Alliance recognizes that the simultaneous crises we face today are deeply intertwined: a public health emergency, an economic catastrophe, and a climate crisis. And, that these crises have day lighted the inequities in our society, underscored our nationโ€™s dependence on essential, frontline workers, and highlighted the importance of unions in the fight for …

To Sequester or Not to Sequester, That Is the Question!

Petitioners tell DNR:Words are good, but a real climate policy would be better! On Oct 7th, the Washington Environmental Council, Washington Conservation Voters and Washington Forest Law Center sent this further request to the July 7, 2020 response from the WA State Department of Natural Resources. The original twenty-six page petition sent a year ago, …

OCA Signs letter to DNC for a ban on fossil fuel executives, lobbyists in campaign and administration

You can Tell Joe Biden: Keep Fossil Fuel Influence Out Dear Vice President Biden, Congratulations on your nomination as the presidential candidate for the Democratic Party. As you have said, this is a historic time for our nation. Over 175,000 Americans have lost their lives to the COVID-19 pandemic that continues to ravage the nation. …

OCA Signs Letter to Gov. Inslee for Whales

41 Organizations Ask Governor Inslee to Oppose Roberts Bank Terminal 2 near Vancouver, BC Read the letter to Governor Inslee | August 20, 2020 RBT2_41_orgs_ask_Gov_Inslee_to_oppose_8-20-2020Download E-MAIL language and links to include in your own letter rbt2-action-email-language-8-20-1Download Ask Governor Inslee to say YES to Southern Resident orcas & NO to a new terminal less than a …

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 …

A Demand sent to Trans Mountain Insurers from OCA

To the CEOs of AIG, Chubb, Energy Insurance Limited, Liberty Mutual, Lloydโ€™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   …

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 - theย Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.ย  Read the letter here . . . Drilling in the Arctic Refuge is risky and unnecessary - it violates …

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 …

OCA Endorses the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty

THE FOSSIL FUELNON-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 …

$170K grant will facilitate climate planning on the NOP

Once again, partnerships pay off: The Puget Sound Partnership, along with its local stakeholdersโ€™ group known as the Strait Ecosystem Recovery Network, have awarded $170,000 to the North Olympic Development Council (a local coalition of governments, businesses, NGOs, and citizens) to develop multi-benefit local climate action plans that integrate with local governmental comprehensive and shoreline …

LSRD Breach Now! Rally — January 23rd

Facebook Event at Orca Oracle Bus Carpool -- https://www.groupcarpool.com/t/a3uj90 Join advocates for salmon, orcas, tribal rights and fiscal responsibility to rally on the Washington Capitol steps, Jan. 23, 2020 at 11 am in support of breaching the 4 Lower Snake River Dams (LSRDs) now.  Gov Inslee is taking written comments on his โ€œLSRD Stakeholder Studyโ€ …

OCA Joins 450 Organizations Calling for Action

Top 10 Climate Actions for the Next Presidentโ€™s First 10 Days in Officeย ย How Presidential Action Must Address the Climate Emergency In a letter from Ben Goloff: About the Plan: The Plan unpacks the top 10 executive actionsโ€”that do not require action by Congressโ€”that the next President must take to tackle the climate emergency in her/his …

Comment on Lower Snake River Dams

Stakeholder process throughGovernor Inslee's questionnaire Thanks to NOOP (North Olympic Orca Pod) for this info! LSRD Online Engagement Questionnaire Please respond to Governor Insleeโ€™s โ€œLSRD Stakeholder Surveyโ€ this week if possible. Lower Snake River Dams Stakeholder Process Background info, including the link to the survey are here Because Insleeโ€™s consultants have made this process complicated, …

Leviathans in the Harbor

More and bigger cruise ships are crowding coastal destinations. When is enough, enough? Who gets to decide? by Brian Paytonย ,ย August 27, 2019, Hakai Magazineย 'Knoll Lowney, the lawyer representing the three plaintiffs who claimed they were victims of Carnivalโ€™s environmental violations, said, โ€œTime and time again, Carnival has shown its contempt of environmental laws and the …

Are You in the Blast-Zone?

From Kevin JonesNW Climate and Clean Energy Coalition co-lead Background:ย  The Puget Sound Clean Air Agency (PSCAA) has provided preliminary approval for the Puget Sound Energy (PSE) Tacoma Liquid Natural Gas (LNG) facility.ย  A public disclosure request has revealed that NW Pierce county, portions of SW King county and most of Vashon Island is in …

U.S. Oil Refinery, Tacoma Water Quality Permit Renewal

Tell Ecology: No oil terminal expansion in Tacoma! Fact Sheet for this Permit Renewal Frequently Asked Questions about Effective public commenting Comment Online Use the online comment form Comment by mail Greg Gould Industrial Section P.O. Box 47600 Tacoma, WA 98504 Attend a related event Aug. 7, 2019, 6:30 p.m. - U.S. Oil Refinery, Tacoma …

Climate Strikes in September 2019

On May 24 the message from young people on #climatestrike in 133 countries got both louder and clearer: โ€œThe planet's still burning. We're not going anywhere. Who's actually with us?โ€ Join in this September 20 - 27 Pledge to join the climate strikes this September

The Three Causes of the Worldโ€™s Four Big Problems

Deep Transformation, or What Londonโ€™s Climate Change Protests Teach Us About the Future umair haqueApr 22 - from Medium.com It was a perfect spring day. I was trying to get home to Camden Lock from Oxford Circus, after meeting a few friends for coffee downtown. A sirenโ€™s blare cut through the noisy crowds. Soon enough, police …

Students strike for climate on the Olympic Peninsula

Joining a round-the-world movement started by Greta Thunberg, students on the Olympic Peninsula walked out of classes to call attention to the greatest challenge to their future. http://www.peninsuladailynews.com/news/port-angeles-students-take-part-in-climate-protest/ http://www.peninsuladailynews.com/news/port-townsend-students-strike-for-change/ https://wqtcq1f34a8kduuv3sc0e76o-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/15987799_web1_190317-pdn-climate-protest-pa-dlogan-tsr-1200x800.jpg Students at Port Angeles High School https://wqtcq1f34a8kduuv3sc0e76o-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/15987724_web1_190317-pdn-climate-protest-pt-tsr-1200x800.jpg Students from Port Townsend High School

Sunrise OP update

From Mike Ferguson, Sunrise Olympic Peninsula Hub coordinator: Whew!  February was a very busy month for Sunrise and the Green New Deal!  Please take a moment to read our updates and commit to the simple actions we are asking of the community.  Here is a summary of what has happened locally and across the country …