We are participating in the Mazaska Talks Global Day of Action on Oct 23 with actions opposing banks funding pipelines with branches in Port Townsend, Port Angeles, and Sequim. Join our planning group!
Category Archives: Events
Pull Together Event in Port Angeles
A reminder to join us at 6PM this evening for the Pull Together event of a lifetime.
for more info:
Pull Together: Keep Tar Sands Oil out of Our Water, Aug. 22-23
Local Groups Fight Pipeline with “Pull Together” Events August 22 in Chimacum ♦ August 23 in Port Angeles ♦ August 24 in Port Townsend
DONATE TO PULL TOGETHER HERE
DONATE TO STAND WITH KWANTLEN HERE
Olympic Climate Action (OCA) joins with the Sierra Club, the Native Connections group of the Unitarian-Universalist Church in Port Townsend, Pull Together, and Stand with Kwantlen to present three nights of entertainment, food and speakers to educate the community about the hazards of the proposed Kinder Morgan pipeline expansion in British Columbia.
The pipeline, which would deliver tar sands oil from Alberta, Canada to port in British Columbia, could increase oil tanker traffic in the region by 700% and would triple the amount of oil currently transorted. At 890,000 barrels a day, it would be bigger than both Keystone XL and the Dakota Access Pipeline.
Tar sands oil sinks rather than floats when spilled and would be virtually impossible to clean up. The spill threat and noise alone could devastate marine life, and the carbon released from burning this oil would compound the already dire consequences of climate change, which have brought this peninsula drought, burning rain forests and receding glaciers.
To fight this pipeline, a cross-border coalition of environmental, indigenous, and social-justice groups has formed under the name Pull Together. This name evokes the traditional canoes that generations of first peoples have used to transit the Salish Sea — the region that encompasses the Strait of Juan de Fuca, Puget Sound, and the Strait of Georgia in Canada. Recognizing that the Salish Sea is a single ecosystem, groups on both sides of the border are recognizing their common interests in protecting this special place. Pull Together is raising funds for a lawsuit against Kinder Morgan based on indigenous rights to clean water, air, and land.
To help this effort, a coalition of local groups are hosting free entertainment / education / fundraising / activism events:
- August 22, 6-9 pm, Finnriver Farm & Cidery, 124 Center Rd., Chimacum. A veggie/fruit tray will be provided: food and drinks will be available for purchase.
- August 23, 6-9 pm, Elwha Klallam Heritage Center, 401 E First St in Port Angeles. The event will feature Indian tacos, entertainment, and door prizes including:
- A wine basket from Harbinger Winery.
- A Storm-Tech winter jacket with the Pull Together logo.
- A framed 16 x 20 photo of the Salish Sea, printed on canvas, by art photographer Lindsey Aspelund.
- August 24, 6-9 pm, Quimper Grange in Port Townsend. Donations will go to Stand with Kwantlen, a native rights group working to build a healing lodge in the path of the pipeline.
Keynote speaker at the August 22-23 events will be Eric de Place, Policy Director with the Sightline Institute, the leading expert on fossil-fuel export proposals and the threats they pose to our region and the planet.
The program for the August 23 Port Angeles event also features:
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- A special performance by the North Olympic Orca Pod.
- Vanessa Castle, Water Protector, activist and member of the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe, will address threats to indigenous rights and sovereignty.
- Michael Foster, member of the “Valve Turners” who shut down all major tar sands pipelines on October 11, 2016, will discuss the movements individuals can join to protect the local community and counter the interventions of Big Oil, Gas, and Coal.
- Victoria Leistman, Sierra Club regional organizer who is working to stop proposed oil terminals across the region, will show the Pull Together video:
Pull Together Campaign from Made You Look Media on Vimeo.
Poster for the Chimacum event
Poster for the Port Angeles event
Vigil for the Paris Accord
Friends and neighbors gathered Friday evening in front of the old Federal Building in Port Angeles to reinforce each other’s resolve in the aftermath of the current administration’s ill advised decision to pull out of the Paris Accord.
Vigil for Paris Accord
Olympic Climate Action will hold a vigil for the Paris Accord on Friday, June 2, from 5 – 6:30 pm in front of the Federal Bldg. at First and Oak Streets in downtown Port Angeles.
We will be there to witness this tragic development and express our profound sadness and disappointment in the President’s decision.
Wear black and bring a drum and candle if you have one–we’ll have some there.
Without the federal government to protect us, it’s up to us make progress.
How Trump’s Paris Decision Hurts America, in 5 Graphics
We’re Already Moving Past Trump–NYT
Bringing Standing Rock Back Home
Come the Elwha Klallam Heritage Center this Friday, May 19, at 6 PM to join in a discussion of the Legacy of Standing Rock. Speakers:
Vanessa Castle resided at Standing Rock for five months, until the camp closed. She will discuss her reasons for going, the authorities’ brutal treatment of the water protectors, and how we can take the message of Standing Rock home.
Matt Krogh, of Stand.Earth, protects the West Coast from oil, gas, and coal terminals. He will discuss the Kinder-Morgan pipeline and other fossil-fuel initiatives, and sustainable energy alternatives.
Mike Doherty served as Clallam County Commissioner for 20 years. He will discuss local efforts to protect our communities and what you can do to participate.
The moderator will be Mary Lovell of Pull Together, a coalition leading the fight against the Kinder Morgan pipeline.
Donations are encouraged for Pull Together and the Elwha Heritage Center.
US Bank Updates its Environmental Responsibility Policy!
Remember those cold days in February when people in Port Angeles and Sequim were protesting US Bank’s support of DAPL pipeline ? Well, good news. US Bank has revised its environmental responsibility policy to state that it will no longer directly fund any oil or gas pipelines! And any relationships with companies/people in the oil or gas industry will be subject to additional checks on the “potential impact on dependent communities and indigenous people.” Activism works!
This Saturday, May 20, from 11am-12 people will be going out to the PA and Sequim branches of US Bank, where we protested, this time to bring flowers and wave signs thanking them for listening to the people. Facebook event here: https://www.facebook.com/events/1348163088552428/
Here is an article: http://www.ecowatch.com/us-bank-divest-pipelines-2408440397.html
and their new Policy: https://www.usbank.com/pdf/community/Environmental-Responsibility-Policy-Web-Final-April2017.pdf
