Another World
December 19, 2018
I’ve been thinking a great deal about hope in the past year. There is no denying that we are in dark times, certainly the darkest era I’ve seen in my lifetime. And that’s why hope is so vital.
I’ve been thinking a great deal about hope in the past year. There is no denying that we are in dark times, certainly the darkest era I’ve seen in my lifetime. And that’s why hope is so vital.
For nearly ten years, the Unist’ot’en Camp has been a leader in indigenous anti-colonial resistance and the movement to keep fossil fuels in the ground. Now, they are asking for help.
We won’t mince words. Locally, last night sucked. Despite the largest, most diverse coalition in WA state history, and despite the heroic efforts of 6,500 volunteers, I-1631 probably lost. But if we broaden our view to take in the rest of the country, it’s important to understand what we gained:
This is going to be a big month for Tacoma LNG, with comment trainings, teach-ins, and a public hearing that could kill the project. But before we get to all that, it’s our last chance to say:
If you believed everything you read, you could be forgiven for thinking that gas is a key solution to the climate crisis. Last year, The Seattle Times published an op-ed titled The Power Of Natural Gas in the War On Carbon Emissions, in which Executive Director of the NW Gas Association, Dan Kirshner, extolled the low-carbon virtues of gas — and in doing so revealed himself as nothing but a cheap con man.
On August 30th the Canadian Federal Court of Appeal quashed the Trudeau government’s approval of the Trans Mountain Expansion Project in a major legal victory for the environment and indigenous rights. Construction on this project is now officially stopped!
VIGIL AT THE WATER’S EDGE
For the last ten days we’ve seen a heart-rending example of how personal ecological stress can be. Carrying her dead calf day after day, local orca Tahlequah forces us to reckon with her grief—not just the broad tragedy of climate change and its looming extinctions. It’s a grief we’ll see far too often—in humans and all others—unless the status quo changes quickly and significantly.
Welcome to July! First up, big props to all of you who helped make sure that…
I-1631 WILL BE ON THE BALLOT
Big thanks to everyone who got pied up at Octopie on Saturday night! This month we’re upending our usual order of business and shouting out:
Whether it was yet another police shooting, the war in Syria, or a pipeline protest, I felt powerless to make anything change. But Standing Rock seemed different, and events since then have confirmed that perception. It seems like the protest never died, just spread to other locations.