Jeanne,
Relieved? Recharging? Yeah, like you, we’re looking forward to a…
NEW DAY IN THE OTHER WASHINGTON
Our intrepid Federal Team has been working closely with Climate Crisis Policy, pushing these 10 climate bills with Democratic members of our Congressional delegation, meeting virtually with staffers for Jayapal, Smith and Schrier, and Adam Smith directly next week.
With control of the Senate uncertain until after the Georgia Senate race in January, we’re also looking to educate the incoming administration on executive actions for the climate, and Sunrise’s call for an Office of Climate Mobilization in particular.
Not up on federal climate issues yet? Check out this two-day climate symposium with a discussion of climate policy goals for 2021; speakers include representatives of the Center for Biological Diversity, Project Drawdown, 350.org, NAACP, Extinction Rebellion, and many others.
Climate Convergence: Uniting for Victory 2021
Wednesday and Thursday, December 9 and 10
More details and registration link here.
Want to get involved in our federal work? Contact Selden!
And here’s something to get you started: sign this petition telling Biden to stop the Line 3 pipeline! More on that below…
JANUARY IN OLYMPIA
Washington State’s next legislative session, starting January 11, will be a doozy: virtual, with limited bills, overshadowed by a revenue shortfall and the overlapping crises of the pandemic, racial justice, and the climate crisis. On the solution side, we’re hearing about multiple plans to put a price on carbon, the return of the HEAL Act, and clean and just transportation.
Want to stay in the loop, with opportunities to add your voice? Sign up for the 350 WA Civic Action Team here!
MUTUAL AID NEIGHBORHOOD PODS
Connecting with neighbors builds resilience and safety. It’s satisfying (and fun!) to care for one another in community. We’ve got a network of dozens of pods around Seattle, and pod captains are connected so that pods with more resources can support those with fewer.
Sign up to be a pod captain and lead your neighborhood organizing efforts! We’ve got lots of tools and people to help you get it going and figure things out along the way! Or join a neighborhood pod here.
Warm Necessities Collection Drive
We’re teaming up to host a warm necessities collection drive in support of our unhoused neighbors. Starting on December 14 (and earlier in some locations), drop-off sites across the city will collect supplies like sleeping bags, tents, coats, socks, and more that will be distributed through local mutual aid groups to community members in need this winter.
Do you have warm clothes or camping gear to donate? Check out the full list of supplies needed here and let us know what you can contribute. We’ll follow up with logistics for the closest drop off site to you.
Can you host a supply collection site? You’ll be a hub for nearby 350 Seattle members and neighbors to drop off their supplies, and we’ll connect you with a local mutual aid group doing camp outreach for distribution. We’re especially looking for additional sites in South Seattle, the Eastside, and Magnolia. Let Lisa know if you’re interested in being a collection site or have any questions.
Please help us get the word out about this effort—share this supply collection form with neighbors, co-workers, friends, and family!
UTILITY SECURITY
Think about the housed but income insecure for a moment. Should monopoly corporations charge their customers more to make up for profits lost to the pandemic?
We don’t think so either! Send a message to the Utilities and Transportation Commission asking them to protect people, not corporate profits.
BLACK LIVES MATTER
Black Lives Matter is still very much building power despite a reduced in-person presence with the spike in COVID.
We are asking you to continue to show up or re-engage in whatever ways we can for this ongoing movement. There are still marches in support of Black lives every day, and bigger events continue to be put on. They all need our support on and off the streets, including donations and online actions. King County Equity Now, Every Day March, Morning March, The Engage Team, and the Black Action Coalition organizers are putting this work forward, helping to unite our long-divided movement, and bringing solid demands for Black lives and positive change for all into being.
We need each other, and we need to protect each other. Thank you for all the ways you are participating on and off the streets.
Opportunities
Calendar of all BLM events in Seattle in all neighborhoods, by many groups.
Important protest guides and safety info
Keeping Yourself Healthy & Safe at a Protest – 350 Seattle webinar recording.
The Seattle-King County Black Lives Matter Protest Guide
A guide put together by some local Seattle street medics, with graphics.
EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES
Why Abolition
This workshop will be a mix of presentation and participant engagement with a focus on the devastating impact the prison industrial complex has on community and the environment.
Why Abolition: Deep Dive into Slavery, Prisons and Movements of Resistance
Tuesday, December 8, 6:00–7:30pm
Tickets available here, shareable event page here.
This is a special opportunity to hear from a local, long time organizer for prison abolition who seriously drops the knowledge. BP, (they/them) will guide us through the history of slavery, formation of police and prisons and offer a powerful framework for prison abolition and strategies of resistance today.
This workshop is donation-based, funds are greatly appreciated to support BP in their life and organizing. No one turned away for lack of funds, all are welcome. We hope you can join us.
Our People Gonna Rise
The second offering of this training series is on Zoom due to COVID; everyone who registered previously should have received multiple emails about this rescheduling.
Undoing Anti-Black Racism, Part Two
Sunday, December 13, 10:00am–12:30pm
If you have taken a previous OPGR training and want to join us for Part Two of this one, let Lisa know right away, as a few spots have opened.
Next year’s Allies to Immigrants also has two parts, each two and a half hours on Zoom with a little homework before, and personal exploration between the two.
Allies to Immigrants
Sundays, January 10 and 31, each 10:00am–12:30pm
Description and wait list link here (some spots may become available).
Full descriptions of the workshops and waitlist links for any who weren’t already registered. Contact Lisa with any questions.
Also, here are Racial Justice is Climate Justice Recordings and Resources for the four-part series: Abolition, Defund the Police, Affordable Housing, and Environmental Justice.
SOLIDARITY TEAM
Fighting climate destruction means fighting against all the systems that fuel the destruction of our planet, including white supremacy, colonialism, heteropatriarchy, classism, ableism, and more. We invite you to join the Solidarity team as we work to show-up for all justice-oriented movements.
As a team we seek to avoid recreating the same systems we seek to change, have a deep desire for transformational change, and believe that authentic and strong relationships are critical to this work. To get involved, contact Anna or Meg for more information.
LINE 3 SOLIDARITY
With final permits granted last week by the state of Minnesota, the Line 3 pipeline is as bad as it gets. It violates Ojibwe treaty rights, is strongly opposed by numerous sovereign Indigenous nations (whose sacred wild rice beds and way of life it threatens)—and, transporting nearly a million barrels of toxic tar sands a day to foreign markets, would be as damaging to the climate as fifty new coal-fired power plants.
National Digital Rally to #StopLine3
Wednesday, December 9, 5:00pm
Register here (time shown is for the east coast)
Hear from Minnesota on-the-ground leaders, frontline defenders, statewide organizers and finance campaigners, and learn how to take action to protect the water, the land, and the people working to #StopLine3.
Follow along at the frontlines
With construction underway, putting vulnerable communities at even greater risk from COVID, fierce resistance has begun. On Friday, a tree-sit started, with two Water Protectors lodging themselves high in a tree directly in the path of the pipeline. With numerous legal challenges to Line 3 being heard in the courts, a delay in construction can mean victory.
Follow and support the frontlines of resistance by following the Indigenous-led Giniw Collective on Facebook and Twitter, Resist Line 3 on Twitter and Stop Line 3 on Facebook.
Donate
The Line 3 Legal Defense Fund has been created to support people who are facing arrest, jail time, and state repression because of their opposition to Enbridge’s Line 3 pipeline expansion project.
They include our dear friend, Cody Reid-McKee. For three years, Cody has been an integral part of our Chase campaign, playing key roles in many of our actions, including this bold disruption. Cody recently moved to Minnesota—and they immediately got involved in the fight to stop Line 3, getting arrested for locking themselves to the pipe yard gate, significantly disrupting the construction. You can read Cody’s story here—and please donate hereto support the Water Protectors boldly and fiercely resisting Line 3.
25 DAYS OF LNG RESIST-MAS
Puget Sound Energy’s Liquefied Natural Gas facility violates Puyallup Tribal Treaty rights and locks us into decades of fracked gas usage, while creating health and safety risks for already burdened communities.
During the month of December, 350 Seattle is hosting 25 Days of LNG Resist-mas.
Content will be posted daily to our Facebook page highlighting moments from the last three and a half years of resistance, plus some ways to take action. Thank you to everyone that has shown up in different ways over the years— you are appreciated!
With legal appeals scheduled for March 2021, the upcoming months will be a critical time for spreading awareness and solidarity. We will be planning education, outreach, art, and action—so there are plenty of ways to plug in and use your skills to help make sure this facility never becomes operational.
Tacoma LNG Resistance Volunteer Meeting
Thursday, December 10, 12:00pm
Register here!
Can’t make it to the meeting but want to get involved? Fill out this form or email Anna! You can also stay up-to-date on calls to action by subscribing to our Resistance listserv.
Tacoma #253ClimateSolidarity
December 10th is the anniversary of the City of Tacoma passing a Climate Emergency Resolution. While the acknowledgement is appreciated, it hasn’t stopped the city from allowing unlimited expansion of existing fossil fuel operations on the tideflats. To mark the occasion, hundreds of pairs of shoes representing demonstrators in a time of COVID-19 will be displayed along the street and sidewalk in front of the Tacoma Municipal Building. More background here.
Join us by demonstrating remotely on social media! This Thursday, December 10th, invite your friends, family and community to line up shoes and protest signs in a front yard, on a street curb, at a local park, small business, church or community center you are connected to. Take photos and post to social media, using #253ClimateSolidarity to broadcast your solidarity with climate justice for Tacoma and the Salish Sea.
STOP THE MONEY PIPELINE
Stop the Money Pipeline to Line 3
In March, Enbridge Energy, the corporation behind Line 3, has a $2.1 billion loan that is due for renewal. Banks like Chase, Citi, and Bank of America could easily walk away from Line 3 then. So, this Friday, December 11th, activists around the country are participating in a COVID-safe national day of action to put the funders of the toxic Line 3 pipeline on notice. People in more than a dozen states will be delivering this Indigenous Women’s Tar Sands letter to banks like JPMorgan Chase and insurance companies like Liberty Mutual demanding that they walk away from Line 3. Stay tuned for news on what we’re planning in Seattle.
Liberty Mutual
Last week, new research revealed that U.S. insurers like Liberty Mutual are continuing to insure unchecked fossil fuel expansion, while also supporting efforts to thwart climate legislation. You’d think that society’s risk experts would understand the need to take action in the face of the climate crisis, but it’s clear we need to ramp up the pressure on the industry. Send an email to top executives at U.S. insurance companies and demand that they insure our collective futures, not fossil fuels.
And like always, you can stay up-to-date with everything happening with Stop the Money Pipeline by signing up here.
OUR DECARBONIZATION ROADMAP
Can you believe it? There actually is a forward-looking state agency thinking hard about how Washington can completely decarbonize by 2050! Good for them, right? Well then, hitch up your public commenting toolbelt, it’s time to give them some reinforcement, guidance and advice.
You’ll find the draft plan at the top of this page—set aside some time give it a look. Next, try these talking points on for size.
Now for the important part: show up for either of the two public hearings below and add your voice to those calling for a full and complete, equitable, just, rapid, thorough, fossil-gas free, state-wide, all-sector decarbonization—and let them know we want it sooner than anyone thinks is possible, because this is an existential crisis. It’s time to act like our house is on fire because it is!
Comment on the Draft State Energy Strategy
Monday, December 7, 2:00 pm and 6:00 pm
Register here for the virtual meeting. (Both sessions will be the same.)
Can’t make it? You’re forgiven, but please chip in and submit a written comment to energystrategy@commerce.wa.gov.
HELLO, MARITIME SOLUTIONS!
Join us in January for our first Maritime Solutions Team Meeting! Learn more about how maritime operations impact our climate, health, water, and marine life. We will also explore the role our local ports play, solutions currently available, and ways to take action or join the 350 Seattle Maritime Team.
Maritime Solutions Team Kick-off Meeting!
Tuesday, January 12, 6:00pm
Register here.
Can’t make it but want to get plugged in? Contact Stacy!
Decarbonizing shipping from berth to wake
Global shipping is the world’s 6th highest emitter of greenhouse gases. And the International Maritime Organization, which sets the standards for maritime carbon emissions, just approved a plan to break with Paris Agreement targets and allow HIGHER carbon emissions from global shipping over the next ten years.
The global maritime shipping industry’s reliance on fossil fuel stands between us and a stable climate, a circular economy, and a healthy Salish Sea. The time to push for solutions is now. Slow steaming can reduce fuel consumption and carbon emissions by 10-30% while also protecting marine life by reducing underwater noise pollution and preventing vessel whale strikes. Retrofitting existing ships for wind propulsion is technologically achievable. Blue carbon policies and initiatives are on the horizon.
Want to get involved? The maritime team is looking for people interested in research, outreach, and social media.
Cruise News
Last week saw the launch of the #RethinkCruiseTourism campaign by the Global Cruise Activist Network (GCAN), aimed at sparking a public policy discussion about the future of the cruise industry and encouraging loyal cruise customers, investors, governments and port authorities to “Rethink Before Restarting” cruise ships. This industry has long put the social fabric, economic integrity, public health, and living environment of host communities—as well as passengers, crew, coastal and marine ecosystems, and the climate—at risk. The pandemic has created an opportunity for us to rethink before returning to business as usual.
The national No Sail Order by the Center for Disease Control expired recently and was replaced by guidelines called The Framework for Conditional Sailing. Several companies have tried to resume sailings already in other countries, despite the pandemic, claiming to have precautions in place, and were quickly faced with onboard infections. Seattle’s cruise season typically begins in April—we must hope that Port staff and Commissioners value our community’s health and safety enough to postpone any sailings until it is truly safe. We can also hope these decision makers are willing to join the global conversation, and rethink how cruise tourism could be done in a way that doesn’t exacerbate the climate crisis, harm water quality and marine life, or inflict health complications on coastline communities.
ETHICS AND THE RIVER
The 7th annual conference of the Columbia River Ethics and Treaty Project brings together tribal representatives, religious leaders, and activists to discuss the need to modernize the Columbia River Treaty based on the ethical principles of justice and stewardship.
River of Time: From Canoes to Freighters to 2160 and the 7th Generation
Wednesday, Thursday, December 9 and 10, 9:00am–12:00pm
Online, register here.
This year’s conference is hosted by the Cowlitz tribe and WSU Vancouver. Agenda here, and more information here.
THE FUTURE OF ICE AND SNOW
Winter is coming… but for how much longer? What is the future of ice and snow in our changing climate? Climate Science on Tap brings together experts in atmospheric science, glaciology, oceanography, fisheries, marine mammalogy, and more to answer your burning questions about this chilly subject! Join them for this one-of-a-kind event that allows you to Ask a Scientist! And there’s a special online twist this year… “science roulette.” Who will you talk to? What will you learn? Let chance decide, but don’t miss your opportunity to be part of these exciting conversations!
The Future of Ice and Snow
Tuesday, December 8, 7:00pm
Zoom event, tickets available here.
Ticket donations are much appreciated and help sustain these ongoing climate outreach events. No one will be excluded because of lack of means, so “no-cost” tickets are also available.
ARTFUL ACTIVISM
Join the Artful Workgroup and get on our email list! We welcome all skill levels in any art form. During these stay home, stay healthy times, we can still be impactful and connected with art across distance! We’re working from home putting art on the web, in small socially distanced masked outdoor art builds, or individually making art outside.
Sign up here to be added to our general Artful Activism List and tell us what skills and interests you have, but NO SKILLS ARE NEEDED! Come Spring we are looking forward to hosting in-person social distanced masked art builds at Gasworks Park. Creating art together as we come out of winter will be a joyous act! Join our list to get notified when the time comes!
Do you have experience in any art form? We’re looking for people with tech, graphic design, and video skills, for folks comfortable with Zoom, webinar, and web presentations, since that’s the main way we’re gathering in large numbers and sharing ideas these days. Contact Lisa.
We are always building out our teams in photography/videography, music, sewing, prop building, and visual arts. And we’re looking to build teams in dance, spoken word, and theater. Contact Lisa.
350 Seattle’s YouTube page is growing! Check out this recent training we did on Keeping Yourself Healthy and Safe at a Protest and the recording of the How to Edit a Video on Your Phone webinar. Just a small part of the DIY How-To videos, webinars, trainings and other awesome content we’re hosting there!
CLIMATE GRIEF AND EMPOWERMENT
Using The Work That Reconnects practices developed by Joanna Macy and drawing on longstanding wisdom traditions, this monthly group for adultswill gather to deeply feel, digest, and move through grief in the face of social injustice and the climate crisis and toward empowerment. Climate is but one doorway into an intersectional understanding of the current social and ecological crises in which we find ourselves—crises with roots deeply entangled in colonization, white supremacy, patriarchy, and our current economic system.
This form of group work allows people to transmute and release pain, fear, and grief so we can show up for our ourselves, our families, and our communities with presence and courage.
Climate Grief and Empowerment Group – December Meeting
Saturday, December 12, 10:00–11:30am
Online, register here.
Free of charge for adults 18+. You can attend as many or as few offerings as you like, and suggested donations of $10-15 are welcome and used to directly fund the group. Co-sponsored by 350 Seattle and Climate Action Families. Questions? Contact climategrief@350seattle.org.
THE PEOPLE’S ECHO
The People’s Echo is a Seattle-based song collective energizing and bringing joy to our interwoven movements for social and climate justice by sharing songs that inspire change and connect people to themselves, each other, and our planet.
Join us for an online teach-in as we close out this wild year in song!
The People’s Echo Song Teach-In
Wednesday, December 23, 6:00–7:30pm
Online, more details and RSVP here.
For any questions about The People’s Echo, email Bex. We also invite you to sign up for our listserv with an email to get more updates from The People’s Echo!
THE UNDERSTORY
Have you seen our great new story-based blog yet? We just added a new post, so check it out and subscribe!
GET INVOLVED!
Here are some really great ways to start on that path of engagement! Check out our updated Volunteer Opportunities List. Opportunities range from low commitment to high, introductory to skilled. All you have to do is find something you’re excited about and reach out! Unless otherwise noted, all opportunities can be done from home.
SHAMELESS CALL FOR DONATIONS
Ahem! We need to raise $105,000 by the end of the year. We’re 25% of the way there—can you make a donation today to fund high-impact work on climate? Do you have stocks you’d like to donate? We’re set up for that! Details here.
Hot tip! This year, thanks to the CARES Act, each household can deduct up to $300 in donations to 350 Seattle, even if you don’t file itemized taxes… and if you do itemize, you can deduct up to 100% of your income for donations made to 350 Seattle. Crazy, but true.
OH, AND ONE MORE THING
Have you seen…? Please check your hideaways and see if you have any 350 Seattle Artful imagery including banners, props, etc. We are also looking for the 100 or so precious cloth napkins of Joanna’s that someone kindly took home to clean and fold after Intertwined last fall. Please let Lisa know if you have information about any of these items’ whereabouts. Thank you so much!
That does it, folks. Buh-bye 2020! We’ll catch you on the flip side—rest up, restore, recharge and show up ready in January to get started on some heavy lifting.
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350 Seattle
5031 University Way NE
Seattle, WA 98105
United States