| Welcome to the February Edition of the 350 Seattle Newsletter, your monthly digest from all the different teams, campaigns, and individuals that make up this extended family. Stay warm and stay safe! |
| The One Seattle Plan ✅ Call to action! The City of Seattle is updating its land use plan! 🏩 This is a critical opportunity to advocate for an inclusive, affordable, and green City. Want sustainable growth and green new deal-style social housing in more parts of the city? This is our chance! One Seattle for All Rally – February 5th, 4pm Rally & 5 PM public comment City Hall. RSVP Join community members to rally at City Hall for a welcoming city for more neighbors. Give public comment to fight for social housing in more places and push for more housing affordability. Register here (with some talking points).Can’t make the rally?Email council@seattle.gov, subject One Seattle Plan: “I support more workforce housing in all Seattle neighborhoods. Please amend the One Seattle Plan to afford the same benefits to the Seattle Social Housing Developer as to affordable housing projects.” |
| Amazon Employees for Climate Justice The New documentary Buy Now! features Amazon Employees for Climate Justice. Do you work at Amazon? If so, can we grab coffee?Buy Now! The Shopping Conspiracy, features Maren Costa and the story of how she and fellow Amazon tech workers won The Climate Pledge through collective action. In the documentary, Maren exposes the gaps in Amazon’s 2019 Climate Pledge, questioning its promises of net-zero emissions, revealing greenwashing tactics, and shining a light on the role workers can play in holding their company accountable. Check it out! The documentary’s release comes at a time when Amazon workers across the company are demanding better, mean while big tech CEOs are aligning with MAGA and backsliding on climate commitments as well as initiatives like DEI. Recently, Amazon Employees for Climate Justice released an independent employee survey showing that a majority of surveyed corporate workers do not trust senior leadership on issues including environmental impact — less than 15% of employees believe that leadership is accurately representing the company’s climate impact to the public. Do you work at Amazon? If so, are you open to a coffee chat with a member of Amazon Employees for Climate Justice ? Please email info@amazonclimatejustice.org and a member of AECJ will reach out to you and schedule a coffee chat! AECJ members would love to chat with you because now is the time for more employees to be talking to each other about what we’re seeing so that we can figure out what we can do about it. What are you worried about? What do you think about Amazon leadership and how the company is or isn’t changing? Let’s chat! |
| The Research Team Fun Facts Corner Welcome back to the Research Team Fun Facts Corner, where we share some of the projects we’ve researched by sharing nice things we could have. This month’s fun fact is that the temperature of King County sewer waste averages 70°F, so the nice thing we could have is…Community thermal energy networks! 💩❤️🔥⚡The Rainier Beach Community Center sits atop a network of Ground Source Heat Pumps used for both heating and cooling by tapping into the earth’s constant warmth beneath the surface. The center also sits above a massive heat source in the form of a wastewater line. We could easily follow the lead of Vancouver, BC and create a division of our own wastewater utility that recovers this untapped heat and powers the entire Rainier Beach neighborhood, if not all of Seattle.  In red is the sewer line, blue heart is the community center, and green square is a pumping station. Are you dying to know the specific line of King County municipal code that could birth a new renewable energy public utility? Thrilled by the possibilities of poo-based power? Excited to research climate justice projects? Come join the research team and we’d love to discuss! Email Ammar or Linnea to get involved. |
| Climate Safe Pensions Our Climate Safe Pensions Campaign is ramping up with opportunities to take action to demand that Washington move its 200 billion dollar investment fund out of fossil fuels, and into climate solutions, and use its significant ownership power to push banks and corporations to do the same. Join us! Climate Safe Pensions Action Meeting Tuesday, Feb 11th from 6-7 online RSVP If you’re a current or former public employee in Washington you are especially well positioned to have an impact on this campaign. Let us know here! |
| Climate Community Night: Civic Action Team & Other Cats too Climate Community Night is the time when all our community members–from long-term volunteers to newly engaged activists to climate-curious folks– come together to eat, build community, and take action together. February’s gathering is all about climate justice in Olympia and the work of our Civic Action Team (CAT)! Also, it’s gonna be cat-themed! RSVP FOR CLIMATE COMMUNITY NIGHTWith MAGA Republicans in the White House and Congress, state legislation has never been more important. We have a big opportunity to tackle pollution, cap rising rents, and otherwise advance climate justice. And our Civic Action Team (CAT) is here to help you learn all about it and make your voice heard! Join us to learn how CAT champions bills that move the needle on climate, racial and economic justice, and more. Then take CAT action while building community! Did you miss that it’s gonna be cat-themed? The furry kind 😀 We’ll kick things off with a cutest cat contest, the winner to be featured in the March newsletter (decide by ranked choice voting, of course). Send your cutest kitty pic to jess@350seattle.org. |
| But What is This Civic Action Team? The Civic Action Team educates and empowers people to advocate in the Washington state legislature to pass strong, sound, and just climate policy while strengthening partnerships and relationships. The state legislative session is in full swing and CAT is here to make following and engaging on important bills quick and easy! At the 350 WA Civic Action Team, we work hard to make strong climate justice connections across many different policy areas including Housing, Building Electrification, Waste Management, Transportation, Forestry, Police Accountability and Criminal Justice Reform, Energy, and more. Sign up to receive our twice weekly action alerts tailored with options for how much time you have (from 5 to 20 minutes per week). |
| The Anti-War X Climate Team Want to attend our meetings, but can’t make it on third Wednesdays each month? No problem! Our new time is monthly on 4th Wednesdays, 6:30-7:30 PM. We’re going to start using the open source conferencing app Jitsi, instead of Zoom! Contact Mary to join the team Signal thread. The meeting invite will be shared there.Please consider three targeted boycotts against corporations either profiting from genocide, war, and extractionism or silencing victims: Netflix: On October 13th and October 14th, Netflix decided to delete at least 19 films by Palestinian filmmakers or about Palestinian stories from its platform. Previously, Netflix launched “Palestinian Stories,” a Netflix collection of 32 films that would “showcase the depth and diversity of the Palestinian experience, exploring people’s lives, dreams, families, friendships, and love.” Now, the “Palestinian Stories” Netflix page only shows one film. Storytelling is a crucial aspect of keeping Palestinian history alive — Netflix is literally erasing Palestinians’ stories and perspectives from popular culture. CodePink encourages you to boycott Netflix and sign their petition. Chevron: Info on this American Friends Service Committee page, where you will also find a link to an Action Network letter to the Chevron CEO More on instagram @seattlechevronbds  Apple iPhone TeamCongo. RDC (on Instagram) and others continue to call for a boycott of the new Apple iPhone as one example of how corporate-fueled consumer culture feeds war, exploitation, and extractionism in The Democratic Republic of the Congo. Aka “green colonialism” when over-production of batteries for gadgets and electrification leads to devastation. Here is a recent story on the situation in the RDC on Democracy Now 350 Seattle is a member of the Seattle Anti-War Coalition. If you’d like to receive the SAWC newsletter approximately two times a month, please send a request to seattleantiwarcoalition@gmail.com. |
| The Aviation Team The Aviation Team continues its opposition to the expansion of SeaTac airport. We expect the final version of its Environmental Assessment soon, and are poised to collaborate with many frontline organizations in further opposition, unless by some miracle the FAA recommends a full EIS, as the EPA has recommended. We are trying to end leaded fuel used in small planes, which is surprisingly complicated given that we’ve known for decades what a health hazard that is. We work with the CAT on state legislation related to this and other aviation issues. Register here for our next Team meeting on February 11 from 7-8 pm, on Zoom, or contact Laura to get involved. |
| Federal Policy Team We will not stop demanding our national leaders protect our rights to a safe climate and healthy environment. There is much we can do, and the Federal Policy Team is recommending two important actions this month: First, we are joining Food and Water Watch in their new campaign to Stop Microplastics Now! By law, when seven state governors petition the EPA to monitor dangerous chemicals like microplastics in our water, the EPA must comply or provide a detailed justification for their refusal. We are requesting that you follow this link to send a letter to our new Governor Ferguson and demand that he petition the EPA to monitor microplastics. Feel free to personalize the form letter – I (Linnea) wrote that I became passionate about this issue when I first read that a study found that mothers were passing microplastics to their babies via breast milk. Second, Senate climate hawks have re-introduced the Polluters Pay Climate Fund Act in the Senate. As climate-fueled wildfires devastate Southern California, forcing tens of thousands of people to evacuate, we’re calling on every member of the US Senate to become a cosponsor. Click here to send a letter to the Senate today demanding that the biggest polluters begin paying their fair share to confront the climate crisis. (Via Climate Hawks Vote.) We meet the first Wednesday of every month at 5pm. To find out more and take more actions, please join our next meeting, February 5th at 5 pm. We will discuss new priority actions including trade, supporting our Rep. Pramila Jayapal stepping up as lead sponsor for the Green New Deal for Public Schools, and more! To get the Zoom link, sign up for our listserv or email Beth or Linnea. |
| The Act That Does Not, In Fact, Fix Our Forests The Senate could soon vote on the “Fix Our Forests” Act. Despite its Orwellian name, this bill is bad news for our forests. It will open the floodgates for unwarranted logging and roll back protections for endangered species. Contact senators Murray and Cantwell here and urge them not to support this tree-killing bill. It will take less than a minute, and your voice could make all the difference for our forests.The “Fix Our Forests” Act is an attempt to circumvent vital protective measures and accelerate logging, all supposedly in the name of preventing wildfires and helping forests thrive. But it simply doesn’t make any sense. Chopping down trees is the opposite of fixing our forests. This bill proposes to exempt “vegetation management” (commonly known as logging) activities in our national forests from environmental review, leaving forests at risk from reckless logging projects. Mature and old-growth trees help prevent flooding and erosion. They provide homes for wildlife of all kinds. Senators Murray and Cantwell need to hear from you as soon as possible! |
| The 350 Seattle Book Club The Book Club is excited to announce our reading list for 2025! In February, we will be wrapping up our discussion on Elite Capture by Olufemi F. Taiwo. For those whom books are not the best option, we also have article and podcast alternatives so you can still engage in the conversation! We will then move on to our first fiction book of the year, The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin. You are never required to have read everything (or even anything) to join our book club discussions! We host them in a hybrid format with both Zoom and in-person options. If you are interested in staying connected with the Book Club, you can sign up through this form and we will get you looped in to our emails and signal channel! |
| Climate Grief & Empowerment How do we build the resilience we need to cope with the daily onslaught of injustice? How do we move from a state of overwhelm or panic to a deep sense of purpose and a felt experience of belonging? What tools do we need to not only survive but to thrive at this moment? If you’re asking these questions, consider joining us for the next Climate Grief and Empowerment Group, where we process our climate-related emotions in community. We meet monthly, every second Saturday. Together, we’ll engage in collective practices that deepen our capacity for dwelling with difficult emotions and strengthen strategies for coping in uncertain times. Our upcoming Climate Grief and Empowerment Group Monthly Gatherings are: Saturday, February 8th, from 10:00 am to 11:45am Saturday, March 8th, from 10:00 am to 11:45am Register here for each session you plan to attend. We welcome adults (18+) for as many or as few meetings as you would like! The Climate Grief and Empowerment Group is co-sponsored by 350 Seattle and Climate Action Families, out of the recognition that ongoing emotional support plays a critical role in building community resilience and robust social movements. |
| Artful Activism Art, performance, and music are critical parts of movements for social change. Got skills you want to share? Or just enjoy making art, singing, or drumming? Or want to do some backend non-art type of art support role? We need you! Join our Artful team! Join the Artful Team and/or the Artful Alerts list! Sign up here to get on the Artful email list for monthly info on upcoming community art opportunities and to let us know your skill sets! (Scroll all the way down that web page to sign up.) Skills welcome and appreciated! AND… no art experience yet? no problem! Join us! We’ll teach you as you go! You’ll love to be part of making the art for our actions in a supportive, learning, fun, and connecting atmosphere with other people who care enough to show up, and who accept you as you are. Come have fun with us, building powerful beauty for the movement, getting out there with us to put that art into action at events and actions! RSVP for Upcoming Art Builds! No experience needed, just energy and smiles! Join us for camaraderie while doing meaningful, beautiful and powerful work! Whatever calls you to the Artful Team, this team is for you! Contact Lisa. |
| Community Resilience Help us create a more resilient activist community! Do you have a skill or service you would like to offer at low or no cost to the 350 Seattle activist community as a way to take part in and support the work we do? No matter your strengths and skills, there is a place for you! Maybe you’re able to offer tax prep help, or a free acupuncture session, or pet sitting. All skills are welcome! Please fill out this form with your own offerings, and we’ll reach out to confirm details. We’re excited to hear from you! Consider patronizing local Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) -owned businesses! Here is a list of some local community BIPOC businesses to support, with additional lists linked at the bottom. Can you pick one new BIPOC-owned business to support this month?? Lastly, take a minute to bookmark our Community Activist Resource List, full of helpful resources of all kinds. Feel free to share with others in our broader movement community who may be interested! |
| And Finally, “Feeling so grateful for Vivien Sharples, who has co-led the Climate Grief and Empowerment Group for several years, and with characteristic wisdom, grace, and groundness, has helped create a welcoming space where community members can move through difficult emotions and difficult days, find connection, and build resilience. Thank you!” – Annie Want a way to search all of the ways you can be involved with 350 Seattle? We compiled a (nearly) comprehensive list that is deemed the Volunteer Opportunities Doc. Our teams keep this document updated so if between newsletters you are scratching your head, this resource is for you.Solidarity,- 350 Seattle Staff Collective |
