We have the chance to put environmental justice and the Green New Deal in front of 100,000 people in one afternoon! Can you help? It will be hella fun!

SUMMER SOLSTICE PARADE ENSEMBLE

Join us for our Green New Deal ensemble in the Solstice Parade on Saturday June 22nd from 11 am to 5 pm! All are welcome. Can’t be there for the parade itself? No worries, there is tons to create and there are easy, fun roles to fill! Join us at art builds to make giant scales and giant green hand props, costumes and detailed murals. Come learn a new song and dance, and participate in our crowd-pleasing batik workshops. To get involved, contact Shemona.

Art build dates
Wednesday, June 12th, 6 pm to 10 pm, Prop Build at Lucca Statuary
Thursday June 13th, 5 to 8 pm, Batik workshop at the Powerhouse
Friday June 14th, 11 am to 5 pm, Mural painting & Batik at the Powerhouse
Friday June 14th, 6 to 9 pm, Batik workshop at the Powerhouse
Saturday June 15th, 11 am to 9 pm, Painting and Prop build at Lucca Statuary and/or Powerhouse
Sunday June 16th, 11 am to 9 pm, Painting and Prop build at Lucca Statuary and/or Powerhouse

As indicated above, this year’s solstice float building is split between two places:
Powerhouse, 3940 Fremont Ave N., Seattle 98103
Lucca Statuary, 3623 Leary Way, Seattle 98107

Be in the parade, or, if that’s not your thing, be a signature gatherer for the Seattle’s Green New Deal sign-on letter in the crowd! Or do both by collecting signatures before and after the parade!

Wait a minute, signature gathering for what?

SEATTLE’S GREEN NEW DEAL

It’s no secret that climate change threatens everything we know and love. And yet, Seattle’s climate pollution has been quietly rising in recent years, despite our City’s commitments to climate action and environmental justice. It’s time for Seattle to come together and rise to the climate challenge.

That’s why we’re launching a new campaign in partnership with Got Green—calling for a transformative Green New Deal for Seattle that will eliminate our city’s climate pollution by 2030, address historical and current injustices, and create thousands of good, green, well-paying union jobs.

Help us build overwhelming public support for Seattle’s Green New Deal by canvassing at the Solstice and Pride parades! Sign up here to learn more about canvassing and plug in, and/or sign up here to be on the general email list for the campaign.

Then join us in July for a day-long set of trainings to sharpen your campaign and organizing skills!

Skill-Up for Seattle’s Green New Deal
Saturday, July 6, 10:30am–5:30pm
2100 Building, 2100 24th Ave S, Seattle 98144
Register here, and for more info contact Meg.

HONOR INDIGENOUS SOVEREIGNTY

Last month, Puyallup Water Warriors held an Exit Ceremony for Puget Sound Energy; following tradition, if guests disrespect the land, water or people—those guests are sent out of the territory and not invited to return. Please share this video of the ceremony and help urge Governor Inslee to make sure Washington state honors the Medicine Creek Treaty by stopping the illegal, unpermitted construction of the proposed LNG fracked gas project.

Call the Governor at (360) 902-4111. Tell him to stand with the Puyallup and honor indigenous sovereignty.

You can also send the Governor a copy of our No Consent, No Construction Letter.

Ancestral Waters
This documentary by Native Daily Network, recently released on YouTube, tells the story of the Puyallup fight over the last several years to protect their lands, waters, peoples, treaty and culture from the destructive Tacoma LNG project. People are encouraged to plan watch parties! Contact Stacy for additional watch party tools.

Thank you Native Daily Network for your dedication to frontline journalism and for making Ancestral Waters available for all to see!

POWER PAST FRACKED GAS

Following Governor Inslee’s announcement that he “cannot in good conscience support continued construction of a liquefied natural gas plant in Tacoma or a methanol production facility in Kalama,” the Power Past Fracked Gas Coalition released a letter, signed by over 80 environmental and social justice organizations urging the governor to put actions behind his words and make sure the proposed Kalama Methanol Refinery and Tacoma LNG fracked gas projects receive legitimate environmental impact studies through the Department of Ecology. Thank you to everyone who has called, emailed and shared social media—let’s keep the pressure going until health, safety, treaty rights, and a livable planet are prioritized before profit!

MORE OIL TRAINS IN TACOMA? NO WAY!

SeaPort Sound Terminal (formerly Targa) in Tacoma has been receiving oil trains since 2014. Now they want to nearly double their transfer capacity to 75,000 barrels a day in the name of “overall operational efficiency.”

That’s an additional 15,288 metric tons of CO2 a day, for a total of 8.4 million metric tons in a working year passing through Tacoma! How can our state’s carbon budget allow that? Read up on the project here, and get your butt down to this public comment opportunity:

SeaPort Sound Terminal Public Meeting
Thursday June 13, 5:30pm
City Council Chambers, 747 Market Street, Tacoma 98402

Written comments go to Shirley Schultz: shirley.schultz@cityoftacoma.org.

IT LOOKED LIKE THEY WERE LISTENING…

Last month Puget Sound Energy held a listening session on their 20-year electric plan and how they’re reacting to the 100% Clean law passed by the legislature. Thanks to all the truth-tellers who showed up in red and your strong words about fracked gas, the climate crisis, and inappropriate infrastructure projects like Tacoma LNG and Energize Eastside. All sixty-seven comments are summarized here. Your support helps members of the Technical Advisory Group hold PSE accountable!

STRONGER TOGETHER

Frontline Allies welcomes your participation in everything from organizing trainings on undoing racism and other oppressive systems, to supporting our allies in climate-related justice work. To join contact Lisa. More information and links are available here, including upcoming support and education opportunities. Our monthly meeting is a great place to learn about our work and current projects. Please join us Monday, June 17, at 7 pm to hear more about ways we can deepen our understanding of systemic oppression and be in solidarity with climate justice organizations. If this is your first meeting, please plan to arrive at 6:40 for an orientation. RSVP to Lisa for the address of a home in the Wallingford neighborhood.

350 Seattle Book Club
This fall we’re starting a new study session of What It Means To Be White. Understanding the systemic nature of racism, how it shapes our society, and how we can disempower it is an important tool in the fight for a sustainable and just future. Meetings will be held at the 350 Seattle office for a couple of hours every two weeks for a total of six meetings. Day and time will be determined later. To learn more and be part of the fall study group, email Barbara.

Join La Resistencia for a Father’s Day rally outside the Northwest Detention Center to tell ICE and GEO that Father’s Day should be spent at home with family and community—NOT in prison! More details to be announced, please check this event page for updates.
Sunday, June 16, 2:00–4:00pm
Northwest Detention Center, 1623 E J St, Tacoma 98421

TOTEM POLE JOURNEY

The Lummi Nation invites your participation in a gathering dedicated to the vision of Qwe lhol mechen, the Lummi word for killer whale which translates to “our people that live under the sea”. It is part of our Xa Xalh Xechnging (“sacred obligation”) to bring home from Miami Seaquarium the captive killer whale Tokitae and return her to her family.

We Will Rise Again: Tacoma (hosted by Puyallup tribe)
Wednesday, June 12, 5:30–7:30pm
4224 Marine View Dr., Tacoma 98422
More details here

We Will Rise Again: Seattle
Saturday, June 15, 1:00–3:00pm
Olympic Sculpture Park, 2901 Western Ave, Seattle 98121
More details here

JUNE IS ORCA ACTION MONTH

There are lots of ways to help, and here’s a great place to start:

Contact your congressional delegation urging them to support federal appropriation dollars for critical salmon habitat restoration in the Pacific Northwest. Southern Resident orcas’ primary source of food is the threatened Chinook salmon. Without adequate food, orcas will starve. Click here to sign a petition asking for fully funded programs to support the recovery of Southern Resident orcas.

CHASING CORAL

Come to watch the unseen story of coral dying as ocean temperatures rise, reported first-hand from divers and researchers. Stay for a community discussion, led by members of 350 Seattle’s outreach team, on climate change, the extinction crises, and ways to take action in this extraordinary moment in time. This is a great opportunity to bring someone who is just tuning in to the seriousness of the moment and connect them to opportunities for action.

Chasing Coral
Saturday, June 15, 7:00–9:30pm
University Heights Center, 5031 University Way NE, Seattle 98105
Shareable event page

This event is pay-what-you-can; let us know you’re coming here.

SUNRISE

In a matter of months, the climate movement has put the Green New Deal on the national agenda, but if we don’t keep up the pressure, there’s a risk that the media will do what they’ve always done, and ignore the climate crisis in the presidential debates. That’s why the youth-led Sunrise Movement is organizing the largest mobilization for the Green New Deal so far at the second Democratic primary debate in late July, to make sure the Green New Deal is at the top of the public discussion and the next administration’s agenda.

Sunrise is already hard at work organizing transportation and housing. Sign up here for updates on how you and your friends can plug in. Or help Sunrise rent a bus from Seattle by donating to @Sunrise-Seattle on Venmo. And if you’re a young person, please email sunrisemovementseattle@gmail.com to join the bus.

FRIDAYS FOR FUTURE

Only two more Friday For Future strikes before school’s out! Show the youth some support, people!

Fridays For Future
June 14, 1:00pm
June 21, 1:00pm
Seattle City Hall, 600 4th Ave, Seattle 98104

Over the summer F4F will collaborate with Extinction Rebellion and Zero Hour. To stay in the loop, follow @Fri4FutureSea on Twitter, or get involved by emailing fridaysforfuturesea@gmail.com. Youth who want to take action on climate should also check out Climate Action Families.

CLIMATE WALKOUT

On September 20, people all over the globe will take part in what we hope will be the biggest walkout of any kind, ever—workers, students, neighbors, church groups—to send an unmistakable signal to world leaders that we will not stand for business as usual, because “disrupting our normal lives is the only way to secure our future.”

Please stand with youth worldwide. And if you can, organize your coworkers, a team, a faith group, or neighbors!

HEY AMAZON

The climate crisis isn’t going away, and neither are we!

At the May 22nd shareholder meeting, tech workers with Amazon Employees for Climate Justice filled a section of the room and presented their resolution asking for a climate plan. Here’s the NowThis video of the speech and inside action. The resolution got 31% of the vote! (41% when excluding Bezos’ own shares!) We knew it was near impossible to pass with the Board’s published opposition, so it’s significant that the vote was so high—the highest of any environmental resolution at Amazon so far.

And even more importantly, this movement of tech workers speaking out for climate justice is already shifting the entire narrative with workers putting Bezos on the spot and centering the climate stories of tech workers. They’re pledging to file the resolution again next year.

SKITTISH ABOUT NAFTA

While Trump continues to alienate Mexico, using tariffs to extort concessions, there is still the chance of a vote on his new NAFTA in Congress. To keep up the anti-NAFTA 2.0 opposition, we’re working up a NAFTA skit to be videoed and circulated on social media. The trade group is also continuing to collect anti-NAFTA cards to be delivered to Congressional offices. To help with either effort, contact Selden.

LETS DO ADUs!

Starting Tuesday evening, the final Accessory Dwelling Unit battle begins. By the end of next month, with luck and a little more work, we’ll have much more flexible rules on ADUs, and a path to more climate-friendly and affordable housing. Send a letter of support now and then join us for these two…

Public hearings on ADU legislation
Council Chambers, City Hall, 610 5th Ave, Seattle 98104
Tuesday, June 11, 5:30pm – First public hearing
Tuesday, June 18, 2:00pm – Second hearing and likely committee vote

Curious to know what Seattle might look like with more ADU’s? Here’s a chance to explore built projects and talk to the architects:

ADU Tour by the AIA
Saturday, June 15, 11:00am–4:00pm
Multiple locations, more details here.

COME OUT FOR TRANSPORTATION

If you want bikes, feet, and wheelchairs to be able to get where they are going safely in Seattle, June is the month to come out and say so! We need the city council to stop funding cars at the expense of climate-friendly transport.

First, the Ride for Safe Streets will be a family-friendly demonstration for streets that let people of all ages, languages, ethnicities, genders, races, and abilities get around safely.

Ride for Safe Streets
Sunday, June 16, 1:00–3:00pm
Seattle City Hall, 600 4th Ave. to Westlake Park
Event page here

Then SDOT will report back on what we’ve told them, that cutting the Bike Master Plan by half is unacceptable. SDOT will continue to prioritize big auto projects over bikes unless enough of us show up for the Ride on Sunday and then public testimony, sign-holding, and the full Bike Master Plan on Tuesday. The Council can still do the right thing because when we fight, we win.

Bike Master Plan in the Sustainability and Transportation Committee
Tuesday, June 18, 2:00pm
Council Chambers, City Hall, 610 5th Ave, Seattle 98104
Meet for strategizing at City Grind Espresso in the 5th Ave Lobby of City Hall at 1:30pm.

Interested in joining our work for equitable carbon-free transportation in Seattle?

Transportation Team Meeting
Monday, June 10, 4:15–5:45pm
Room 330, Vance building, 1402 3rd Ave., Seattle 98101

SMOKE ON THE HORIZON

Remember when we called it summer, and looked forward to it all year? Remember the deep blue skies and fresh breezes? Those days are gone, stolen by Big Oil. But at least the City of Seattle is doing everything it can to bring them back, by radically reducing emissions, building green affordable housing, transforming transit in the city, installing bike lanes everywhere… um… oh, right. Well, it will do these things and more, if we make it impossible not to, by underlining smoke events with a big red pen pointing at our climate plan failures. More info coming soon and be ready: we’ll need you to come out on short notice.

Art Build for Smoke events
Wednesday, June 26, 11:00am–5:00pm
Powerhouse, 3940 Fremont Ave N., Seattle 98103

When our house is on fire… we gotta act like it. Email Ariadne to get involved.

ARTFUL ACTIVISM

We welcome all skill levels in any art form, and have lots going on to jump into, from occasional participation to leadership opportunities. Join online here or come to art builds whenever you can! They are fun, no-skills-needed community gatherings with food and good connections.

Art builds at the Powerhouse: See the Solstice Ensemble and Smoke entries above!

Mural wall needed
We need a high visibility wall for a beautiful mural that will stay up and raise awareness. Know of one? If you do or want to help us find one, contact Doug.

Join the Deployment Team!
Ever wish you had a role during actions and events? Come learn crucial skills with us! We need you! Contact Shemona.

If you’re a skilled artist (visual, theater, dance, music…) and want to apply your skill or show others how, please let us know! Contact Lisa.

Join our Photo/Imagery Library Team!
We’re organizing our photos and imagery data and are looking for folks who want to join a team to do photo sorting and labeling for our events and our imagery library. Launching the team this month! Also looking for an imagery co-librarian! Contact Lisa.

OTHER WAYS TO GET INVOLVED

Looking for an easy way to help out at 350 Seattle? Curious about other ways to get involved? Join us on the third Wednesday of every month to meet others and help with all the small things that keep 350 going!

Volunteer Drop-in Hours
Wednesday, June 19, anytime between 3:00 and 7:00pm
350 Seattle, 1127 10th Ave E., Seattle, 98102
Tasks range from phone calls to data entry to arts and crafts.
More details here. Questions? Contact Shemona.

How do we build our power to win the transformative change we need? By organizing! Join us for a day-long set of trainings to sharpen your campaign and organizing skills and plug in with some of our newest campaigns.

Skill-Up for Seattle’s Green New Deal
Saturday, July 6, 10:30am–5:30pm
2100 Building, 2100 24th Ave S, Seattle 98144
Register here, and for more info contact Meg.

KNOW AN EVENT SPONSOR?

We’re holding our luscious, fun fall fundraiser Intertwined again this year on Friday, November 15th at the Centilia Cultural Center. The Events team is looking for sponsors—are you a business owner or with an organization that wants to support 350 Seattle by sponsoring our event? Here’s our sponsorship packet. Your support helps power our fight! Reach out to Shemona to sign up.

Stay safe, sane and strong, friends!

350 Seattle

by David Perk, Selden Prentice, and Alec Connon

350 Seattle’s Civic Action Team ― 2019 Session Review!

In terms of 350 Seattle’s impact on the state legislature, it was our finest year ever. Our Civic Action Team grew to nearly 1,000 members strong, and together we did this:

2,082: Climate calls made to legislators!

1,020: Climate comments left on bills!

1,122: Climate emails sent to legislators!

4,213: total legislator contacts made by the Civic Action Team in 2019!

What’s more, despite our Seattle-centric name, our 4,213 legislator contacts were made by people from virtually every district in the state, including the eastern side of the Cascades.

In terms of climate bills that actually passed in Olympia, this year was also the most successful ever. KUOW called the session “the year of the environment.” Environmental organizations across the state have celebrated the creation of laws that will clean up our electricity and our buildings, and eradicate super pollutants. Even the hard-to-impress David Roberts spent a couple of thousand words praising our 100% electricity bill as the best in the nation.

The celebrations are easy to understand. 2019 was the first time that Washington legislators started to take the climate crisis even remotely seriously ― the last climate bill related to our electricity sector came back in 2006, and, really, not a whole lot worthy of mention has passed since then.

And so it’s understandable that we feel we’ve taken some real steps forward. Here are a few of the highlights:

 

• • Washington will have 100% carbon-free electricity no later than 2045. This bill does a lot of good things. It eliminates coal from our electricity grid by no later than 2025. (Currently coal is about 14% of our electricity.) It dictates that by 2030, our grid must be carbon-neutral ― with utilities offsetting their fossil fuel use. And ultimately, it dictates that all Washington utilities must be self-generating 100% clean energy by no later than 2045.

 

• • We got the super-pollutant, HFCs, out of our state. After the Trump Administration negated an international treaty banning HFCs ― a climate super pollutant found in refrigerators ― our state legislators banned HFCs in our state. Fortunately, Washington is one of several states that are stepping into the void of moral responsibility left behind by the federal government.

 

• • Our buildings got cleaner and healthier. 27% of our state’s climate pollution comes from buildings. Whether it’s the vast amount of concrete used in their construction, or the energy used to heat and power them, buildings are a massive contributor to the climate crisis. Fortunately, we passed a bill that will set energy efficiency standards for large buildings and incentivize early adoption. Electric vehicle readiness is required for on-site parking in new buildings. The bill also establishes a fracked gas conservation standard that incorporates the social cost of carbon.

 

• • It got easier to go electric! It’s now easier to get rid of your fossil fuel-powered car and get an electric one. Public and private utilities are encouraged to invest in electric vehicle infrastructure. There’s grant money for transit authorities to decarbonize their fleets. And new non-luxury electric vehicles that cost less than $45,000 will now be about $2,500 cheaper.

 

• • Washington’s refrigerators, toilets and more just got more climate friendly! Our fridges, freezers and other appliances will now have to be more energy efficient, and going forward, electric hot water heaters will have to play well with utilities’ demand response programs, to be part of a smarter grid.

Cue well-deserved pats-on-the-back all round. What a lot of success we had! Yes, several bills that we cared deeply about never made it: The Clean Fuels Standard was scuttled by the oil industry, the electrification of the public fleet never made it out of the House, and, most sadly of all, big business sandbagged the HEAL Act and stopped it passing at the last minute, setting back justice and equity in our state. But still: we passed more climate bills this year than the last ten years put together! That’s worth celebrating, right?

Well, while we hate to spoil the party, this really needs to be pointed out: in comparison to the severity and urgency of the climate crisis, the climate bills that passed this year are like bandaids on broken limbs.

 

____________

the climate bills that passed this year are like bandaids on broken limbs. 

____________

Last year, the world’s foremost body of climate scientists, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, concluded that failing to curtail global warming to below 1.5°C (rather than 2°C) means an additional 1.5 billion people will be regularly impacted by extreme heat waves; hundreds of millions of people (mostly in low-income nations that have done the least to cause the climate crisis) will be pushed into extreme poverty; and 10 million people will be impacted by sea-level rise.

The IPCC is clear: to have any chance of avoiding these impacts, we must slash our global climate pollution in half by 2030. The bills passed in Olympia this year don’t even get our state  halfway to the reductions that we need.

 

____________

The bills passed in Olympia this year don’t even get our state halfway to the reductions that we need.

____________

Even if every bill on Governor Inslee’s climate package had passed ― which didn’t happen, owing to the oil industry’s attacks on the clean fuels bill ― our state would still only have been on track for 25% reductions by 2035. That’s a million miles from what the IPCC has told us is needed to prevent disaster.

And so, yeah, maybe 2019 was the “year of the environment.” But we need next year to be the year of the environment, too. And the year after that. And the year after that. Otherwise, we know what kind of future lies in wait.

 

 

We’re starting with a pitch this month—for us. We get over 3/4 of our funding from individuals like you—and this week’s Give Big event is our single biggest fundraising opportunity. Can you schedule a donation to support our work this year?

If you need some inspiration, check out our team members’ stories under “Fundraisers for this nonprofit.” Or our annual report for last year.

Okay, down to business…

YES, THIS IS THE MOMENT

Together, we won a 100% clean energy future for Washington and now it’s part of our presidentially-inclined Governor’s climate plan for America. That’s great! But… we also need Governor Inslee to champion a healthy climate by opposing new mega-fracked gas projects right here at home. That starts with saying no to the Kalama methanol refinery—which is on track to be Washington’s largest climate polluter by 2025—and the Tacoma LNG facility, which is being built despite the opposition of Northwest Tribal nations and without all of its permits. With major permitting decisions coming up this summer,Governor Inslee has a critical role to play in whether these dirty fracked gas projects move forward.

Please call Governor Inslee and thank him for his leadership on 100% and let him know that it’s time to take the next step and stand up to fracked gas in Washington: 360-902-4111. A climate champ doesn’t quit!

CAMP OUT IN KALAMA

The proposed Kalama fracked-gas-to-methanol refinery is on track to be Washington’s single largest climate polluter by 2025 and threatens clean air and clean water for our region. With a major permit decision coming up this summer, now is the time to stand with Kalama locals fighting this mega-fracked gas project.

No Methanol—Land & Water Action and Community Camp-out
Saturday, May 18, 1:30–6:30pm
Camp Kalama RV Park, 5055 Meeker Dr, Kalama 98625

Join us and the Power Past Fracked Gas coalition for a celebration of water and community in Kalama—we’ll have kayaks on the Kalama River, and a family friendly rally and picnic on the beach at Camp Kalama. Camping optional! More info and RSVP here.

WHAT DOES IT TAKE, TACOMA?

Opposition and calls for more oversight continue to grow surrounding Puget Sound Energy’s proposed fracked gas refinery and storage project. 17 Washington tribes have released this letter to Governor Inslee, and the office of AG Bob Ferguson weighed in as well. Then last week, the Tacoma Human Rights Commission released a letter urging the city to protect the life and health of residents, including the more than 1500 immigrants detained in the for-profit Northwest Detention Center.

Please call Tacoma City Manager Elizabeth Pauli at (253) 591-5130 and demand they conduct a Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement for the proposed Tacoma LNG project.

Then speak from the heart to Tacoma City Council and Mayor about why we need to limit the expansion of fossil fuel projects in our region!

Tacoma Tideflats Interim Regulations
Tuesday May 14, 5:00pm
747 Market St., Tacoma 98402
More details here

LISTEN UP, PSE

Puget Sound Energy has been promising to hold an Executive Listening Session since the middle of last year. Now after multiple delays, we’ve got a date! We’re not sure who the lucky executive will be, but please, join us for a fun-filled evening as we tell Puget Sound Energy executives (with members of the Utilities and Transportation Commission in the audience) that we won’t pay $133 million for fracked gas infrastructure that violates treaty rights, contributes to climate chaos and will primarily be used to sell gas for corporate profits. Oh, and we don’t want that damn pipeline expansion in Snohomish County, either.

PSE: No More Gas Projects!
Wednesday, May 22, 4:00–8:00pm
Bellevue Hilton, 300 112th Ave SE, Bellevue 98004

In classic PSE fashion the exact time remains unconfirmed—follow the event page for updates. Can’t make it? Sign our petition to add your voice!

UNIST’OT’EN CAMP

Come to the frontlines! For the last ten years the Unist’ot’en Camp has been controlling access to their unceded territories in British Columbia exactly where the gas industry wants to build multiple fracked gas pipelines. This a critical moment for their struggle as TransCanada’s Coastal GasLink pipeline has won an interlocutory injunction against the camp and is seeking a permanent injunction.

Unist’ot’en Construction Camp May 12 – 31. The call is out for supporters to come and help build multiple cabins for the continued reoccupation of traditional Wet’suwet’en territory. People with carpentry, cooking, camping, and frontline skills or a good attitude and a willingness to work hard and follow indigenous leadership are desired. The camp is a full day’s drive north of Seattle, near Houston, BC. Learn more on the camp page and sign up to come to the camp here!

COAL MINING IN KING COUNTY—WTF??

Strange but true: the federally permitted John Henry Coal Mine in King County is seeking final permits to resume mining, which would make it the only active coal mine in Washington State. There’s still one major hurdle to go, a Natural Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit from the Department of Ecology to regulate wastewater. We expect the draft permit to be released in May or June, so get your opposition boots ready – we’ll be mobilizing folks around the state to comment on the permit, attend public hearings and pressure their public officials. To get involved and added to the action listserv, email Emily.

YEAH, WE’RE PRIMED ALRIGHT

Amazon tech workers have been pressuring the company to release a comprehensive climate justice plan (over 7,000 of them now) and at this year’s shareholder meeting they’ll present their resolution to the board. Join us for action outside the meeting to bring community pressure and call on Amazon to take responsibility for its climate impacts.

Amazon: Come Clean on Climate
Wednesday, May 22, 8:00–11:00am
Fremont Studios, 155 N 35th Street, Seattle 98103
RSVP and sharable event page here

Questions? Contact Rebecca.

GETTING CHASE OUT OF FOSSIL FUELS

April was quite the month! Across the country, people took action against Chase in 22 cities. Here in the Seattle region, we visited all 44 branches of the world’s largest funder of fossil fuels. You can check out the wrap-up video here. Moving forward, May 21st is Chase’s Annual General Meeting, and, well, let’s just say we’ll be keeping an eye on what happens there. For more details on the Chase campaign check out our blog, and to get involved with a distributed research program we’re running, please fill out this form!

NAFTA? FIX IT!

The likelihood of Trump’s climate-killing, worker-harming, Big Pharma protecting NAFTA 2.0 being brought to a vote in Congress has increased as pressure builds on both Republicans and Democrats to approve it. That’s why we’re ramping up our efforts to counteract that pressure. Two ways to help:

1. Join us at food coops around the region to hand out flyers and collect signatures against the deal—email Selden to join this effort.
2. Call your Congressional representative at 1-855-856-7545, or find your representative’s direct dial number here. Tell them to oppose any vote on the NAFTA deal until its fixed. A real NAFTA replacement needs stronger labor and environmental standards with swift and certain enforcement mechanisms—and it can’t sneak in language that locks in high medicine prices. The corporate provisions allowing fossil fuel companies’ lawsuits against Mexico over environmental standards must be removed, along with the whole corporate-rigged regulatory chapter.

Thank you for helping to stop this rigged deal!

OLYMPIA WRAP UP

It was a good year for the climate and the environment in Olympia—the best year in over a decade, thanks to new legislators in both chambers who supported a few overworked champions by demanding that leadership let them deliver on their campaign promises to support climate action. It’s proof that elections matter.

And thanks to the hundreds of members of the Civic Action Team who made nearly 4,500 legislator contacts this session to champion important climate bills. Your calls and emails helped pass bills that will give Washington carbon neutral electricity by 2035, cleaner, less polluting buildings, and make sure the Salish Sea is a safer place for our orcas and salmon. Here is our list of the bills that passed and the ones that didn’t—and look for our session wrap-up blog early this week.

But keep in mind that we’re not done—nothing passed this year puts us on track to hit what the IPCC has told us is necessary to prevent climate chaos. There’s still lots of education and action needed in Olympia.

No Cap and Trade
Alerted to a cap and trade bill by our friends at Got Green, we took a position against this false solution that has failed to protect frontline communities from being burdened with even more pollution. To learn more about why we oppose cap and trade, check out our No Cap and Trade blog.

STRONGER TOGETHER

Frontline Allies welcomes your participation in everything from organizing trainings on undoing racism and other oppressive systems, to supporting our allies in climate-related justice work. To join contact Kara; More information and links are available here, including upcoming support and education opportunities. Our monthly meeting is a great place to learn about our work and current projects. Please join us Monday, May 20 at 7:00pm to hear more about ways we can deepen our understanding of systemic oppression and be in solidarity with climate justice organizations. If this is your first meeting, please plan to arrive at 6:30 for an orientation. RSVP to Kara for the address of a home in the Wallingford neighborhood.

Our People Gonna Rise: Undoing Racism Workshop Series
The final workshop in the series is this next weekend, and you don’t need to have attended the first two to attend this one! Highly recommended, and amazingly there is still room this time!

Allies to Immigrants
Sunday, May 12, 2:00–8:00pm
Centilia Cultural Center, 1660 S Roberto Maestas Festival St., Seattle 98144
(Right next to the Beacon Hill light rail station)

Facilitated by the Mangrove Collective, this workshop creates a safe space for difficult conversations as we come together and commit to ending racism in our climate justice work. The format will be a mix of short presentations of how oppressions (specifically racism) work and how individual experiences can intersect along axes of different oppressions; small group storytelling (longer times with opportunities for deeper sharing and deep listening); large group sharing (shorter and mostly of highlights from small group discussions); and time for individual creative reflection. Please click here to reserve your spot so we know how much food to prepare! Cost: sliding scale, scholarships available. Contact Kara for more info.

What is now called the Licton Springs neighborhood in Seattle was once a spiritual and medicinal gathering place for the Duwamish people. There were once hundreds of springs, but most have been paved over and destroyed by development. One remaining spring is in Licton Springs Park, and the Urban Native Education Alliance is leading a campaign to designate it a historical landmark. Read more here, and sign this petition calling on the Landmark Preservation Board to give this spring landmark status—then share with friends, neighbors, and co-workers!

National Bail Out is a Black-led and Black-centered collective of abolitionist organizers, lawyers and activists building a community-based movement to end systems of pretrial detention and ultimately mass incarceration. They are once again running the #FreeBlackMamas campaign to raise bail for black mothers to get out of jail and be reunited with their families for Mother’s Day. Consider skipping the flowers and cards this year and using that money to make a donation to #FreeBlackMamas today!

CITIES MAKE A DIFFERENCE

Portland reduced their greenhouse gas emissions while their population grew. How can we do that?!

Cities Climate Summit II: A model for success!
Saturday, May 11
Sorry, the event is full, but you can sign up for the video here

Climate planner Susan Anderson will describe how the City of Portland and Multnomah County brought greenhouse gas reductions from goal to reality. Cities account for 70% of national greenhouse gas emissions, and while local K4C cities have set goals, they aren’t meeting them. Sign up for the video to learn from Portland’s example, and check out the local group holding K4C cities accountable.

TRANSPORTATION IS 62% OF SEATTLE GHG

If you get around on foot, bike, or wheelchair, please take 5 minutes to complete this WSDOT active transportation survey—strong survey results could help shift funding priorities toward zero-carbon transportation.

Bike update
The bike community really came through at the Bike Master Plan open houses, refusing to fight over the scraps, standing up for prioritizing bike lanes in communities that need affordable transit the most, and insisting it’s the city’s job to prioritize bikes over cars. Because you all turned out, climate was front and center in every discussion. SDOT has asked for an extension, so it’s likely the BMP won’t be before the City Council until June.

Stand up for faster buses!
Join us and the MASS Coalition at Tuesday’s meeting of the Seattle City Council’s Sustainability and Transportation Committee, as we speak up for faster buses! The committee will be hearing reports on Move Seattle and RapidRide implementation. These plans are moving very slowly, and many projects have been pared down or delayed. Buses carrying scores of riders shouldn’t get stuck behind a sea of single-occupancy vehicles! The City needs to be more ambitious about climate, starting with prioritizing public transit on our roads.

Sustainability and Transportation Committee—Prioritize Public Transit
Tuesday, May 7, 1:30–3:00pm
Meet up at 1:30 in City Grind cafe in the lobby for talking points, meeting at 2
Seattle City Hall, 600 4th Ave, Seattle 98104
Shareable event page here

The other kind of movement politics
350 Seattle’s Transportation Team is co-sponsoring this event with Red May Seattle, featuring Mimi Sheller, author of Mobility Justice: The Politics of Movement in the Age of Extremes. Come rethink the way that the climate crisis, immigration, and our everyday transportation issues fit together.

Mobility Justice
Sunday, May 19, 12:00pm
NW Film Forum, 1515 12th Ave, Seattle 98122

UW Transit passes for all—we keep fighting, and winning
Last summer, we won transit passes for many of UW’s union workers, and last month, MASS Coalition (Move All Seattle Sustainably) got UW Administration to back down on a proposal to increase U-PASS costs for professional staff and faculty. Now we will be testifying during the public comment at 5:30 to show that UW employees and community allies support a fully-subsidized U-PASS for ALL UW employees without distinction! Come stand with us as we testify as a group. Full transit benefits will help the UW reach its Campus Master Plan goal of lowering the drive-alone rate to 12%.

UW Regents Meeting—Transit Passes for Employees
Wednesday, May 8, 2019 at 5:15 – 5:45pm
Gerberding, Room 142, UW Seattle Campus
Shareable event page here

Interested in joining in our work?

Next Transpo meeting
Monday May 13, 4:15–5:45pm,
Room 330, Vance building, 1402 3rd Ave

HOUSING POLICY IS CLIMATE POLICY

Affordable Housing Week, May 13–17 has tons of events where we can learn about what folks are doing toward affordable housing in Seattle right now. Lots of interesting topics such as Renters Rights 101, Anti-displacement Forum, and Parking and Housing Affordability. Check out the whole list here.

Two opportunities to speak up for public affordable housing
We rocked the first open house for a new ecovillage on the National Guard Armory site, and now there’s another open house coming up. Join us at the next Interbay Project open house to again speak for social housing and the services and spaces that make for true community, on the scale we need to help stem the tide of displacement. Our showing up in numbers sparked others to get excited for housing opportunities, so let’s keep up the momentum.

Interbay Open House
Wednesday, May 15, 6:00pm
Ballard VFW Hall, 2812 NW Market St., Seattle 98107
Shareable event page here

The city is revving up to build some affordable housing in a really nice neighborhood, right next to Discovery Park. So, you can bet there will be pushback. Come help us support more affordable housing in all our neighborhoods. Details about the city’s plans here.

Fort Lawton Public Hearing
Meet in City Grind Espresso in the lobby at 4:00pm to prep for hearing
Tuesday, May 21, 4:30pm
Seattle City Hall, 600 4th Ave, Seattle 98104
Shareable event page here

Backyard cottages not McMansions
The backyard cottage legislation died in the final week of the legislative session, but got quite a bit of good traction, and sparked great educational conversations with many legislators. Thanks to everyone who commented in person or in email—your work should help move this bill forward again next session.

Meanwhile, the frivolous appeal of Seattle backyard cottage legislation’s EIS by proponents of exclusionary zoning is slowly grinding along: we expect a final Hearing Examiner ruling in May, and for the Council to consider final backyard cottage legislation in June. To get ready for that, find out more about this gentle and relatively affordable density at this Capitol Hill Renters event:

All About Accessory Dwelling Units
Thursday, May 16, 6:00–7:30pm
1620 12th Ave, Seattle 98122
Tickets required, RSVP here

DROP IN WITH URBANITY

For May we’ll be doing a special joint session of our drop-in hours with the chill folks at The Urbanist. Come join us to help out with a couple of tasks that benefit both our city and our climate.

Volunteer Drop-In Hours with The Urbanist
Wednesday, May 15, 5:30–7:30pm
Cafe Solstice, 925 E Thomas St., Seattle 98102

ARTFUL ACTIVISM

We welcome all skill levels in any art form, and have lots going on to jump into, from occasional participation to leadership opportunities. Join online here or come to art builds whenever you can! They are fun, no-skills-needed, community gatherings with food and good connections.

Art builds at the Powerhouse
3940 Fremont Ave N, Seattle 98103
Monday, May 13, 5:00–8:00pm, for No Methanol and Sunrise
Wednesday, May 15, times TBD for the Amazon rally

Save the date: Saturday, June 22, 11:00am–5:00pm, and participate in our Green New Deal ensemble in the Solstice Parade which draws 100,000 viewers to Fremont! All are welcome. Lots to create and easy, fun roles to fill! No sills needed! Sign up on our list to get notified of art builds for giant scales and giant green hand props, costumes, singing an original song from Ale, as well as batik and paper folding workshops, starting mid-May. To get involved contact Shemona.

Mural wall needed
We need a high visibility wall for a beautiful mural that gets to stay up and raise awareness. Know of one? If you do or want to help us find one, contact Doug.

Join the Deployment Team!
Ever wish you had a role during actions and events? Come learn crucial skills with us! We need you! Contact Shemona.

If you’re a skilled artist (visual, theater, dance, music…) and want to apply your skill or show others how, please let us know! Contact Lisa.

Join our Photo/Imagery Library Team!
We’re organizing our photos and imagery data and are looking for folks who want to join a team to do photo sorting and labeling for our events and our imagery library. Launching the team this month! Also looking for an imagery co-librarian! Contact Lisa.

TAKING ACTION CREATES HOPE

You don’t have to be an organizer, protest-goer, phone-banker, or someone who’s ready for civil disobedience to get involved. Community Resilience is here to assist individuals in finding ways to contribute to our efforts in working towards climate justice. The climate movement requires many skills and talents, which rarely reside in one person alone. The broader our skill sets and resources are, the stronger our chances are of success.

We need you too! Add your skill to our list.

And we also need: houses or venues for benefit concerts, fabric, seeds, art supplies, blank t-shirts, beer, wine, vans, buses, trucks, building materials, organic soil, rooms, hospitality, spaces for workshops, bikes, skill shares, unicorn costumes. And more!

Please email Alexandra Blakely to plug in.

 

Whew. Busy month ahead! Big business and most foundations don’t fund climate action and systemic change work. They just don’t. So, we turn to you for support.

Please, schedule a Give Big donation to support our work this year.

Thank you—with your participation, donations, good will and sharing we might just give future generations a fighting chance.

350 Seattle

Cap & trade has failed communities in California ― why would it be any different here?

In 2013, California adopted the country’s largest cap and trade scheme. Since then, the state’s overall greenhouse gas pollution have dropped from the 2001 peak…but there’s a catch. Many of the most polluting corporations have actually increased their pollution since the program came into effect. Oil refineries, gas corporations, fossil fuel-hooked utilities: all have increased their greenhouse gas emissions and related pollution since 2013.

That’s because cap and trade is a policy that “caps” the total amount of greenhouse gas emissions in the state (which is, undoubtedly, a good thing) but allows individual companies to actually increase their emissions by “trading” purchasing pollution “allowances” from companies that pollute less.

So, while overall emissions may have dropped, the first serious study examining the social impacts of California’s cap-and-trade program, found that 52% of companies regulated by the program saw an increase in annual average greenhouse gas emissions. Cement plants, for example, saw an increase in emissions by almost 75%….cement plants like, say, the Ash Grove plant in south Seattle that accounts for 10% of our city’s overall emissions and massively contributes to the fact that south Seattle residents are three times more likely to have asthma than those who live in the north of our city.

That’s the biggest problem with cap and trade. The corporations that are permitted to increase their pollution rates are overwhelmingly situated in disadvantaged communities; black, brown, and low-income communities that have historically been hit hardest by environmental pollution.

That’s why a number of Washington-based people-of-color-led environmental justice groups, including our friends at Got Green and Community2Community, are deeply concerned that state Senator Carlyle has introduced Senate Bill 5981, proposing a cap and trade system for Washington state.

In a policy paper released by Got Green last week, they argue that cap-and-trade is a “scheme introduced for and by major climate-polluting corporations.”

And they have a point. In Washington state, Senate Bill 5981 originated with British Petroleum ― a corporation which continues to spend ungodly sums of money on opposing climate action. So why is BP, a company that spent $13 million opposing I-1631 last year, supporting cap and trade? Is it because they’ve seen the light and suddenly support meaningful climate action? Yeah, right. In the last five years, BP has spent more money than any other company on earth fighting climate policy.

BP supports cap and trade because it’s figured out how to coexist with California’s cap and trade system. But here’s the thing: BP’s basic business model is incompatible with curtailing catastrophic climate change. So, anything that’s good for BP isn’t good for the rest of us who live on this planet — especially not frontline communities.

In its policy paper, Got Green also argues that cap-and-trade “increases harm to those communities living next to oil refineries, fossil fuel power plants and other carbon-intensive industries.” The evidence from California backs them up.

We cannot have climate justice without environmental justice ― and it’s clear that cap and trade only deepens environmental injustice. For anyone who professes to care about climate justice, cap and trade is a “solution” that we must push back against. Hard.

We hope you’ll join our friends at Got Green and Community2Community as they do exactly that with a No Cap and Trade Rally in Olympia next week. RSVP & more details here.

 

 

Taking on the Nation’s Largest Bank: JPMorgan Chase

by Alec Connon

For two years now, we’ve been campaigning to force JPMorgan Chase, the nation’s largest bank, to stop funding climate disaster. Here’s the story behind the campaign ― an overview of the problem we’re trying to solve, a history of what’s happened so far, and a preview of what’s coming next. We hope you’ll join us.

First: The Problem

Despite the fact that 80% of known fossil fuel reserves must be left in the ground to avoid climate catastrophe, fossil fuel companies continue to spend hundreds of billions every year building new coal terminals, new oil pipelines, and new LNG facilities. Every one of these projects locks in decades of climate pollution ― and commits us to a future of ever more wildfires, hurricanes, sea-level rise, and species extinction.

But there’s a key fact missing from this story: Fossil fuel companies are wholly dependent on major bank loans to build new fossil fuel projects. Without major bank loans, fossil fuel companies just don’t have enough money to build massive, multi-billion-dollar pipelines such as Trans-Mountain or Keystone XL.

This means that if we can stop the flow of dollars from banks to fossil fuel companies, we can stop the buildout of devastating new fossil fuel projects.

That’s the basic premise of our Chase campaign. Now, here’s what happened so far.

The Campaign Begins

In January 2017, Trump signed an executive order to force through the Dakota Access and Keystone XL pipelines. Within months, oil was flowing through the Dakota Access pipeline ― and soon, it was being reported that TransCanada was moving pipeline to South Dakota to start construction on the Keystone XL. With the White House in the hands of a dangerous climate denier, there seemed to be little that we here in Seattle could do to stop this monstrosity.

But, there was one option left open to us: follow the money.

The Keystone XL would cost TransCanada $8 billion. Even super-wealthy fossil fuel companies like TransCanada don’t have enough money stashed away to pay for a pipeline that expensive without relying on major bank loans. And so, after talking with our friends at Mazaska Talks, we decided to launch a campaign targeting the TransCanada’s largest funder: JPMorgan Chase.

Our First Actions

We started by going to City Council. Thinking that a potential $3 billion customer would have some sway with Chase, we pitched the idea of Seattle City Council passing a resolution committing the City to avoid banking with any bank that funds the Keystone XL pipeline. Councilmember Sawant agreed to sponsor the resolution. Two weeks later, it passed the Council unanimously. It was a good start, but we knew that it was only a start.

A few weeks later, we hosted a press conference at a downtown JPMorgan Chase branch. At the press conference, we issued a simple demand: release a public statement that you will not fund the Keystone XL or we will shut down at least ten of your branches all across the City.

Two weeks passed and ― surprise, surprise ― Chase did not release a public statement. So we did what we had promised to do: In a major act of civil disobedience, we shut down 13 branches of JPMorgan Chase.

Not long after, Mazaska Talks called for a global day of action to hold the banks accountable for their role in the climate crisis and for their role in funding projects that violate Indigenous Nations and Tribes right to Free, Prior and Informed Consent. Three months later, the largest ever protest against banks’ investments in fossil fuels occurred in 60 cities, 12 countries, and 4 continents. In Seattle, we disrupted business at all 106 branches of the tar-sands-funding banks in the city and seven people were arrested as we shut down central branches of JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, and Bank of America.

Entering the Bank

We knew that protesting outside (and, um, inside) Chase wasn’t going to be enough, either. And so in November 2017, we sent a letter to Chase PNW Chairwoman Phyllis Campbell requesting a meeting to discuss Chase’s role in the climate crisis. To our surprise, a few weeks later, we joined with Matt Remle and Rachel Heaton, the founders of Mazaska Talks, to meet with Phyllis Campbell, Maris Buchanan (Chase’s Vice-President of Sustainability), and Thomas Perrick (Chase’s PNW Head of Government Relations).

At that meeting, we explained why we are engaging in this campaign: Chase is funding new fossil fuel projects at a time when new fossil fuel projects mean locking in climate pollution that will cause the extinction of species and vast levels of human suffering. Matt and Rachel explained how the fossil fuel industry routinely violates Indigenous communities’ rights to Free, Prior and Informed Consent. In each instance, we provided numerous examples of Chase clients ― namely, TransCanada and Enbridge Energy ― building projects that both violate the rights of Indigenous communities and lock in climate chaos.

After the meeting, Ms. Campbell referred us to Matt Arnold, Chase’s Global Head of Sustainability. Since then, we have been in regular dialogue with Mr. Arnold and others at Chase ― and we have continued to push them hard in every one of these conversations.

Recognizing that people aren’t corporations, but that people are responsible for the decisions of corporations, we will continue to engage with, and hold accountable, Chase’s leadership at every stage of this campaign.

And the Coalition Grows

In September 2017, Rainforest Action Network (RAN), a national organization with 30+ years’ experience with corporate campaigns, joined the campaign against Chase. Their opening salvo was an impressive banner drop, rally, and disruption at an event that Chase CEO, Jamie Dimon, was speaking at in Denver, CO.

Since then, we have worked closely with RAN, and the coalition of groups participating in the campaign has only grown: Honor the Earth, Indigenous Environmental Network, Greenpeace USA, 350.org, 350 Colorado, 350 Madison, and Chicago Rising Tide are a few of the organizations that have thrown down for the campaign in the last year. On a local level, we have planned all of our Seattle actions with our friends at Mazaska Talks, Protectors of the Salish Sea, Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, as well as with organizers from 350 Eastside and 350 Tacoma.

As we look ahead, we know that this campaign will have to grow even more. That’s why we’re excited that organizers from 350 Mass, 350 Bay Area, and 350 Denver are all participating in the upcoming April 10th action.

And the Actions Continue

Despite the fact that Chase decision makers are now engaging with us, the campaign coalition has continued to use public protest as a key strategy. Here are just a few of the highlights:

• In November 2017, RAN dropped a huge banner outside Chase’s US HQ on Wall Street
• In May 2018, we had our first national day of action targeting Chase and there were actions in 19 cities, including a major action in Seattle that shut down 2nd Ave outside of Chase’s PNW HQ.

 

 

• A week before that action, we dropped this rather beautiful banner advertising the fact that in one week’s time we were going to do what we had done before: #ShutDownChase
• Also, in May of 2018 a delegation of activists gatecrashed Chase’s AGM in Texas and caused a disruption calling for Chase to divest from fossil fuels.
• In Sept 2018, RAN dropped a banner at the US Open final. Why? Because Jamie Dimon loves tennis and was in the crowd!
• In October 2018, we dropped this 24x24 foot banner from Highway 99 that articulated Chase’s role in the proposed, massive tar sands pipeline, Line 3. We followed up the banner drop with sending Chase’s executive leadership 1,000 emails with an image of the banner.
• In December 2018, there were simultaneous actions in New York, San Francisco, and Seattle. In Seattle, we put a 50-foot pipeline through Chase PNW HQ in Seattle and simulated an oil spill, and dropped a massive banner calling on Phyllis Campbell to use her power in the company to move it away from fossil fuels.

These are just a few of the actions that have happened as part of this campaign: RAN has also been following Jamie Dimon all over the country and regularly bird dogging him; 350 Madison and 350 CO have had actions we haven’t mentioned here, as have numerous other organizations. Literally dozens of these actions have been reported in media outlets like Bloomberg, The Seattle Times, Democracy Now! and many more. In addition, we’ve supplemented these on-the-ground actions with other strategies: In December 2018, Chase executives received well over 20,000 emails and 1,000 phone calls demanding that they stop funding fossil fuels; at Chase’s 2018 AGM, RAN attempted to introduce a shareholder resolution that would have forced the bank to complete a study into their tar sands holdings, a resolution that Chase executives blocked from being introduced.

So, What’s Next?

Well, the short answer of that is more of the same. Last week, we just found out that Chase is now the largest funder of fossil fuels in the world. The numbers don’t lie: since the Paris Agreement was signed in late 2015, Chase has loaned over $196 billion to fossil fuel companies.

And so we will continue doing everything in our power to hold Chase accountable. We’ll engage their leadership in dialogue, we’ll send their executives tens of thousands of emails and call Jamie Dimon thousands of times, and we’ll protest at their branches all over the country.

The next opportunity to join the campaign is on April 10th. We hope that you’ll join us. Here’s how:

1. Attend the Mass Action Meeting on Wednesday, March 27th at 6:30. You can RSVP and get more details here.
2. Can’t make the meeting, but still want to get involved? Email Alec: alec@350Seattle.org
3. Are you a Chase customer? Fill out this form and we’ll be in touch with ways that you can use your power as customer to help us win this campaign.

It’s going to take all of us to move the nation’s largest bank. We hope that includes you.