Good afternoon, 350 WA+ Conversation friends,
Can you believe we’ve been holding these conversations (almost) every Monday night since the start of the pandemic? I truly cannot imagine walking through this tremendously difficult year without the ongoing community of support that we are building together.
And fingers crossed that third time will do the trick, it looks like Roberta Giordano of BlackRock’s Big Problem will be able to join us this coming Monday night 350 WA+ Conversation! Let’s give her a big warm PNW welcome, and you can register HERE for next week’s call. We’ll also talk about Getting Out The Vote, and have a chance to share the latest news at your local group, all while enjoying each other’s company and lifting our spirits in this profoundly difficult season.
Here are some highlights from our conversation on Monday:
- The 350 WA Network voted as a network to join the steering committee of the Climate Alliance. Yay! That means that our super slick 12-group decision-making process actually WORKS!
- Bob from 350 Juneau also works with a forest conservation group in his region, and Pedro, Pam, Beverly, and the rest of the folks at Kitsap Environmental Coalition are also working on forest conservation. There’s room to connect and collaborate on this. And we acknowledged that healthy forest management is full of challenges, with lots of reasons to look to indigenous burning practices for a healthy path forward.
- Jeanne from 350 Wenatchee reported back on their AWESOME support for the youth-led climate strike in Leavenworth organized by local high school students. There were ~200 in attendance speaking up for climate justice – despite some vocal and confrontational opposition from Trump supporters. What a HUGE challenge it is to organize in our right-leaning areas right now. Thank you 350 Wenatchee for showing such strong leadership!
- Marty from 350 West Sound Climate Action reported back that her group is continuing to support local BLM protests. She’s also been working with Selden Prentice of 350 Seattle to advance the federal THRIVE agenda, and meeting with Citizens Climate Lobby on Bainbridge island to coordinate.
- Exciting news! The state of Oregon is now included in Grace’s expanded coverage of the PNW. That means that we will begin welcoming folks from 350 groups in OR into our Monday night community space over the coming months, too. We are on a path to build more regional power than ever before, and to strengthen the Thin Green Line here in the PNW by building meaningful relationships.
- The Sierra Club is organizing for state-wide utility justice in response to COVID – can you help get 3,000 comments in by October 6th?
- Here is 350 Seattle’s live document with all the past recordings and resources from their learning series, Racial Justice is Climate Justice. The final training is tonight and you can register HERE. This one is on Environmental Justice and features members of the Tacoma LNG Resistance! And I’ve heard from 350 Seattle folks that we are seeing lots of familiar 350 WA Network faces from across the state on these calls.
- And a quick fun update: Emily from 350 Spokane said that their recent screening of Ancestral Waters, which they promoted out to the 350 WA Network, was their largest virtual event to date, with folks from many different 350 groups attending and staying to talk. How cool is it that we can lift each other up and work together like this!
Grace Hope, they/them
PNW Regional Organizer, 350.org