Happy New Year!
Welcome to our January edition of Evergreen.
We hope you all had a relaxing and renewing holiday season, and are ready to jump right into the new year! This edition we have an update on the Seattle Green New Deal, some new ways we can protect our orca and salmon, and how we're tackling the Overpopulation Myth. We also hope to see you at the Environmental Lobby Day on January 30th!
Thanks for all that you do,
Jesse Piedfort
P.S. Thank you to everyone who submitted an entry to our Picture of the Month contest! We had many wonderful submissions--keep 'em coming! |
Mt Rainier in the Clouds
By Jerry Coupe
Location: Bonney Lake, WA
Occupied Coast Salish, Puyallup, and Puget Sound Salish lands
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If your new year resolution was to get more involved in protecting our orca and salmon, you’re in luck. As we ring in the new year, we also welcome two new opportunities to effectively protect our endangered salmon, and the Resident Southern orca that depend on them for survival.
By Bill Arthur, Vice Chair Conservation Committee • 583 words / 5 min
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Seattle Mayor Durkan committed all new city buildings and retrofits of city buildings to fossil-free energy. We know fracked gas is a huge remaining hurdle in our climate challenge, so this move was a needed first step that Sierra Club is excited to support. However, Mayor Durkan released the EO before a labor impact study concluded and our allied partners had some qualms.
By Kelsey Hamlin, Volunteer Outreach and Development Coordinator • 419 words / 3 min
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The Sierra Club National Board approved the largest political program we have ever attempted. It's called Battleground States. By leveraging the power of our four million members and supporters, we can and will ensure everyone who cares about our issues votes. Our program will mobilize where pivotal races will be in 2020. Voices for climate justice and a clean environment will be heard loud and clear!
By Ross Macfarlane, National Board of Directors • 583 words / 5 min
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The mainstream environmental movement has an uncomfortable history regarding race and equity. While Sierra Club and other organizations are actively working to improve in this arena, some problematic narratives persist. One of these is the claim that drastic population-reduction measures are necessary to reach our climate goals. We as environmentalists must flatly reject this. It is both factually incorrect and deeply racist.
By Brittney Bush Bollay, Seattle Group Chair • 571 words / 4 mins
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Against all odds, 2019 was a banner year for protecting the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge from destructive oil and gas exploration and drilling. Despite the Trump administration's efforts, no leasing or exploration has happened in the Arctic Refuge this year, and we’ve laid critical groundwork to achieve permanent protections to ensure that this special place remains unspoiled.
By Chris Hill, Associate Director of the Sierra Club's Lands, Water, Wildlife Campaign • 756 words / 5 mins
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The Port Angeles Harbor was once lined with plywood, pulp and paper mills for many decades. These left a legacy of contaminants in the Harbor sediments and town soils. Toxic air emissions reached back to the Olympic National Park harming trees and soils. Now, all but one of the mills are gone.
By Darlene Schanfald, Sierra Club North Olympic Group • 535 words / 4 mins
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| Looking to get involved in the 2020 Legislative Session? Click the button below to learn about our Legislative Priorities and how you can help protect Washington's environment for future generations. |
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Environmental Lobby Day 2020
Join the Environmental Priorities Coalition and hundreds of activists to push for key environmental legislation in Olympia on January 30th!
You'll have the opportunity to attend issue briefings, learn how to lobby, hear from environmental champions, attend breakout sessions, and meet face-to-face with your elected officials to advance the Environmental Priorities Coalition's 2020 priorities
Thursday, January 30, 2020
8:30 AM – 5 PM
Temple Beth Hatfiloh
201 8th Ave SE
Olympia, Washington 98501
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Our Reading List:
Washington and Oregon natural-gas companies, rattled by local proposals that could shift more buildings to electricity, will spend $1 million on a public-relations campaign to promote their fuel as part of the region’s clean-energy future.
This vast swing in approval of King today isn’t rooted in his radical legacy. Rather, it is the product of generations of appropriation of his liberatory work and a whitening of his effort to ensure more freedom for those least likely to attain it in the United States.
The Urbanist: It’s Well Past Time We Ditch Fossil Fuels
On January 8th, Mayor Jenny Durkan announced executive action ending the use of fracked gas infrastructure in City buildings. It represents a small step toward decoupling our government from fossil fuels and achieving the vision of the Seattle Green New Deal, but an important one.
In this passionate, lyrical talk, disaster recovery lawyer and Louisiana native Colette Pichon Battle urges us to radically restructure the economic and social systems that are driving climate migration -- and caused it in the first place -- and shares how we can cultivate collective resilience, better prepare before disaster strikes and advance human rights for all.
The New York Times: How to Stop Freaking Out and Tackle Climate Change
As an environmental writer, I’m often asked for guidance on coping with climate change. I have thoughts. Even better, I have a five-point plan to manage the psychological toll of living with climate change and to become part of the solution.
In an analysis of heat and income in 97 of the most populous U.S. cities, we found low-income areas in the vast majority of those cities were more likely to be hotter than their wealthier counterparts. Those poorer areas were also disproportionately communities of color.
NPR: 'You Need To Act Now': Meet 4 Girls Working To Save The Warming World
NPR talked to four teenage climate activists, all girls, from the U.S. and Australia, alongside their mothers. These teenagers are juggling activism with schoolwork and personal time. And their families are working hard to support them as they grapple with the heavy emotions that come with fighting for the future.
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