Candidate Forum videos are going up on Peninsula Area Public Access’s YouTube channel as they become available. If you have not had a chance to see the candidates speak in person, check these out! Here is a link where you can check periodically to see when one a new comes online:
Peninsula Area Public Access – YouTube
Primary ballots went into the mail today!
by volunteer Don Steinke, with the Washington State Sierra Club:
We’ve waited thirty years for Congress to act on global warming. We’ve waited enough. Some scholars are saying it is too late to save civilization as we know it, but I believe for the sake of our children we are obligated to do everything possible to save what we can. There is probably nothing more important you can do right now than to pass Initiative 1631.
Initiative 1631 will place a fee on large corporate polluters, such as refineries and power plants, and use the funds to invest in clean energy projects such as wind and solar while mitigating the impacts to low income households. We currently send billions of dollars out of Washington State each year for natural gas, coal, and oil produced in other states as well as Canada. Initiative 1631 will keep some of that money here to invest in local clean energy production.
Let’s get this initiative passed for jobs and clean energy!
With primary election season coming around, it’s time to exercise your democratic muscles and get involved! One way is to inform yourself (and others) about the candidates’ views on climate change and what to do about it. As has been noted elsewhere on this site, individual acts of conscience will simply not be sufficient to avert a catastrophic climate crisis in the coming decades; therefore we must muster the political will to take collective action, and that is what politics is supposed to be about.
Questions to ask local candidates about climate
League of Women Voters candidate forums: July 16 in Port Angeles; July 18 in Forks
League of Women Voters candidate forum in Port Ludlow: Wednesday, July 18, 6-8 p.m. will bring together candidates for Jefferson County Commissioner, District 3: Greg Brotherton, Jon Cooke, Ryan McAllister and Craig Durgan at the Beach Club at Port Ludlow, 121 Marina View Drive .
Many civic groups, such as Norwester Rotary, the Port Angeles Business Association, and the American Association of University Women, also sponsor candidate forums–check their social media for schedules.
A new coalition of tribal leaders, The First American Project, has come together to promote policies that protect the environment and human rights, and their first order of business is to pass I-1631, which would put a price on carbon in the effort to slow global warming.
Theresa Sheldon, a member of the coalition and former councilwoman with the Tulalip Tribes, says the people of Washington State “can show the country how we can make that difference for Mother Earth – and for all of our children who have yet to come – to ensure that they actually have rivers they can swim in, that they can fish in; air they can breathe in.”
On the board of the First American Project is chairwoman Frances Charles of the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe.
Olympic Climate Action has endorsed I-1631, the Protect Washington Act initiative. OCA joins Sierra Club, The Nature Conservancy, Washington Audubon, a coalition of Native American tribes and 200 other statewide organizations in our endorsement.
We cannot continue to treat our atmosphere as a sewer without incurring a deadly cost, one much greater than the cost of an emissions fee.
Links for more information:
http://www.peninsuladailynews.com/news/port-angeles-aims-for-climate-plan-in-2019/
In a 6-0 vote, the Port Angeles City Council at its meeting on 6/19/18 committed to devising a climate action plan in 2019 with help from a citizens’ committee.
Council member Lindsey Schromen-Wawrin noted that Port Angeles has heard from citizens [including OCA members] for many years on this issue, with little response, and has missed out on funding opportunities because of its lack of a climate action plan.
Port Angeles Community and Economic Development Director Nathan West committed City staff to full engagement in this process in 2019, noting a full plate of commitments already in place for 2018.
Schromen-Wawrin suggested that “we do this collaboratively with community stakeholders taking the lead with support from city staff and council.”
Once again, local communities are stepping in where the federal government has failed to act.
At their June 19th meeting, the Clallam County Board of Commissioners unanimously adopted a resolution to reinvigorate planning and action on climate, shepherded by Commissioner Mark Ozias.
In this resolution, the Commissioners note local impacts of climate change including “increased likelihood of storm surge and coastal flooding…low snowpack resulting in drought and water shortages…major fires…advance of invasive species, and ocean acidification.”
Clallam County had previously passed a Climate Action Plan in 2009, calling for an 80% reduction in greenhouse-gas emissions from County government operations by 2050, and a climate-preparedness resolution in 2016, but neither has led to significant action in recent years. This resolution puts life back into County action on climate by:
OCA member Bob Sextro spoke in favor, saying, “The past 30 years have been very kind to us on climate change; the next 30 years probably won’t be. This resolution will help the County continue the dialogue, continue the action, and move forward.”
Thanks to Commissioner Ozias, the other Commissioners, and the OCA members who helped shape this resolution and move it forward. We look forward to working with the Commissioners and the community on these issues.
