Climate Justice

A 2nd WTO event will take place on Saturday, Dec 7 and will feature a rally and workshops covering how trade injustice affects every aspect of social justice.  RSVP here, and find more info here! 

 The WTO+20 Event Schedule:

You are invited to participate in the Climate Reality Project's "24 Hours of Reality" Zoom Conference Call event.  CRP was launched by former VP Al Gore to train Climate Justice presenters, several of which are in our community doing great work.  Unitarian Universalists from across the nation are honored to be kicking it off Wednesday which begins at 9 AM PST - Here's the link for the UU Wed timetable of presentations beginning at 10AM PST. The link to register for the Zoom Conference Call: https://forms.gle/bJvEpaKkWxWf7rPSA.  You will need to register to get the link. Facebook Event Page:  https://www.facebook.com/events/441689836539682/ For more information about the entire event:  https://www.24hoursofreality.org Please share and Let people know that for everyone who participates, a tree will be planted in the location of their choice – Amazon Rainforest,  Andes,  Appalachia,  Australia,  Brazil,  British Columbia,  California,  Colorado,  Ethiopia,  Florida,  Ghana,  Guatemala,  Haiti,  India,  Indonesia,  Kenya,  Ontario,  Oregon,  Quebec,  Romania,  Rwanda,  The Philippines,  Uganda or  Vietnam!

“On my last day on earth I would plant a tree.” WS Merwin, poet 

UU Ministry for the Earth has several calls to action that have deadlines over the next couple of weeks:

• 1) Submit a Keystone XL Environmental Impact Study (EIS) Public Comment by Nov 18th --www.uumfe.org/2019/11/13/public-comment-needed-now-for-keystone-xl-pipeline-by-nov-18/
  • The US State Department just released a draft of its most recent study on the Keystone XL pipeline, and this is your last chance to give a public comment on KXL! All comments must be submitted by November 18th, 2019 (as of today only 400 letters have been sent).

• 2) The US House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis is seeking public input on climate policy issues -- due by Nov 22nd -- climatecrisis.house.gov/inforequest
  • The U.S. House of Representatives created the Select Committee on the Climate Crisis to “investigate, study, make findings, and develop recommendations on policies, strategies, and innovations to achieve substantial and permanent reductions in pollution and other activities that contribute to the climate crisis, which will honor our responsibility to be good stewards of the planet for future generations.”
  • There is a questionnaire that the Committee needs you to respond to.
• 3) Sunrise Movement is holding another US national climate strike on Dec 6th pushing for a Green New Deal! Support your local youth leadership!! www.sunrisemovement.org/climate-strike

•  . . . in Washington Faces New Federal Court Challenge (https://biologicaldiversity.org/w/news/press-releases/kalama-methanol-refinery-washington-faces-new-federal-court-challenge-2019-11-12/).
• Sign the WA Department of Ecology petition at:  https://www.columbiariverkeeper.org/petition-methanol

Starting in late November, there will be a “Week of Action” from Nov. 29 to Dec. 6, 2019. Fridays for Future is doing a November 29 strike; more information at https://www.fridaysforfuture.org/ Globally people are also doing strikes on November 29 – watch for information at https://www.brightest.io/cause/fridays-for-future/activity/global-climate-strike-november-29th/.  There is a map there but no events in Washington yet. Sunrise Movement is holding another US national climate strike on December 6^th,  pushing for a Green New Deal. Sunrise is also doing sit ins at legislative offices on Dec 6^th. More information at www.sunrisemovement.org/climate-strike
 Next year in April, there are plans for climate strikes starting on Earth Day, April 22.

Our house is on fire and Washington State’s senators aren’t putting it out! We must convince them to extinguish the fire by supporting the Green New Deal. But that will take large-scale, disruptive, direct action - and we need your help! Can you join us in planning our largest action to date to put out the fire? Democracies function when our elected officials listen to the people who elected them. But after multiple visits to our senators’ offices, we still haven’t received a reason why they won’t support the Green New Deal. Every day they delay, our future becomes graver. They need to take action now. The only way they will do that is if we convince them this December through actions like this one! To plan our biggest action yet, we need help from you to recruit other young people to join us, make artwork and posters, gather supplies, spread the word via social media, and much more. To help plan this fun, firefighter themed action, please take 30 seconds to fill out this 5 question form. We can’t do this without your help! Sunrise Movement Seattle sunrisemovement.org Facebook  Twitter  Instagram

Glen Anderson, Host of Glen's Parallax Perspectives on TCTV Cable television in Olympia, WA, interviewed Solutionary Rail Project Lead Bill Moyer on the latest developments of the project. Watch the interview. Glen wrote up a very helpful 14 page briefing about Solutionary Rail, which includes a summary of the interview, as well as additional links to resources.  Access the information HERE. To learn more about Glen Anderson's Parallax Perspectives show and website, visit parallaxperspectives.org Thank you, Glen, and the TCTV Team for this in depth conversation and for your help in spreading the word about this plan to decarbonize transportation and energy! Watch Glen's 2017 interview with Bill for even more perspective on this project.

For three days UUs and friends gathered in Washington, DC, for inspiration, outreach, education, and action on the climate emergency and the need for climate justice. We came from all over the country at a critical moment, a few days before the global Climate Strike and the start of the United Nations Climate Conference. The conference was the result of cooperation from all corners of the UU world, and that is itself one of the most important takeaways—this is a challenge we all acknowledge cannot wait and that requires us to work together. At this year’s General Assembly we passed an Action of Immediate Witness, “Build the Movement for a Green New Deal,” that called on us to “rebuild our political and economic structures to prioritize the well-being of future generations.” This conference was a contribution to that goal. More Join our Webinar Conference Review Click here to join. Thursday, November 14, 5 PM PST

The federal government is facing a new legal battle against the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion. . . . “We are taking this issue to the Supreme Court of Canada not only to stand up for our inherent and constitutionally protected rights, but also to make sure that Canada follows their own laws when making decisions,” Tsleil-Waututh Chief Leah Sisi-ya-ama George-Wilson said in a news release. Read more here.

Green Biz, Elsa Wenzel Wednesday, October 30, 2019 Part of the power that young activists such as Greta Thurnberg hold for older folks is that they represent the fuzzy concept of "the future" in the flesh: Here, face your non-theoretical neighbors, nieces or grandchildren. Their complaints about inheriting a mess are legitimate. Plus, they appear to have more wisdom and stamina than you, and they probably don't even drink coffee yet. It's humbling. These "kids" are not just pointing fingers and raging, but calling for action from all generations. There's reason for hope, given that youth-led movements historically have shown long-term tenacity against "even the toughest barriers, not the least of which can be the intransigence, negligence or timidity of their elders," GreenBiz Executive Editor Joel Makower noted back in the spring. Read more here.

It is quiet right now in the Legislature, which makes it the perfect time to reach out to our Representatives and Senators and let them know what is important to us.See leg.wa.gov site for their contact information.  I am suggesting three issues that may resonate with JUUstice Washington members.  This list is one guy’s best guess of those few priorities that have- 

• • had some traction in the 2000 - 2019 legislatures;
  • been or currently are priorities for our justice allies, and
  • have precedent in other states or jurisdictions.

1. Clean Fuel Standards - 2019 House Bill 1110 - Passed the House, Active in the Senate
2. Mitigation measures to preserve the Southern Resident Orcas - Supported by the Governor and an active issue in 2019
3. Eliminate Cash Bail in Washington State - Cash Bail imprisons the poor, who cannot post bail from family resources. 

Kelly Thompson

Legislative Advocacy Action Team

JUUstice Washington

Two Alaska Native youth introduced a resolution on climate change adopted earlier in the week at the Elders and Youth Conference. The hour-long discussion that followed ended with acclamation for Nanieezh Peter, who is Neets’ail Gwich’in, age 15, and Quannah Chasing Horse Potts, who is Gwich'in and Lakota, age 17. The resolution they brought to the floor calls on the Alaska Federation of Natives to to declare a state of emergency on climate change and to set up a climate change task force to develop climate policies. . . . “In recent years, we have lost community members due to unpredictable and unsafe ice conditions,” the resolution continues. “We have seen the die-off and disease of seals, salmon, migratory birds, shellfish, whales, and polar bears and recognize that these are also our relatives. We, the Alaska Native youth are asking our tribal leaders to consider, as is traditional, the future of their grandchildren and the generations to come,” read Peter. Quannah Potts added, “We shouldn't have to tell people in charge that we want to survive. It should be our number one right. We should not have to fight for this, but here we are coming to ask for your help.” Read more here.

As the chaos in the world increases, most ideas of the future become fatalistic. Yet, the situation only seems “hopeless” when viewed from the narrow logic of a collapsing world view. Old ways of seeing the world are blocking more vital paths of imagination, vision and healing. The point is not simply evolution or progress, rather there needs to be a collective rite of passage that transforms our world view. Transformation is required to move us from despair and overwhelm to awakening and imagination. We are either on the way to transformation or on the road to greater tragedy. The agony of the earth calls for each of us to defeat the growing alienation and isolation of life in order to become more human and be more present. The issue is not the pretension of “saving the planet,” but rather finding deeper ways of serving the earth.  This world, despite all its troubles, remains a place of ongoing creation. Yet, creation can only work through the souls of those alive at a given time. What we learn from mythic stories and imagination is how our human nature can make us part of the ground of being and the vital pulse of the living world. Join us for an evening of myths of renewal, tales of transformation, and a resounding call to find unity and wholeness in this time of conflict and confusion. Tickets: $15 General / $10 Student.  Doors open at 6:30 pm, Bellingham Unitarian Fellowship, 1207 Ellsworth St., Bellingham, WA

The next Washington State UU Climate Action Roundtable will be  November 13, 7:00 p.m. An agenda will be sent to addressees on the climate list serv. If you are not a member of the listserv, please fill in the form on the right. Here are the details of the Zoom meeting: https://zoom.us/j/287970416 , Phone +1 669 900 6833, Meeting ID 287 970 416

UU Ministry for Earth is proud to be an Executive Producer of The Condor & The Eagle, a documentary film about Indigenous climate leadership and movement building across North & South America. The world premiere of the film was on October 4 at the Woodstock Film Festival in Woodstock, NY. The film will be shown at over one dozen film festivals throughout October. Stay tuned for information about hosting a UU community screening! LEARN MORE

“Sustainable means accountable to the future. Unsustainable means unaccountable to the future. Everything else is but a footnote or distraction.” ~ Rev. Michael Dowd Time: October 20, 2019 from 10:30 am to noon  “A Humble Relationship to Reality.”  Rev. Dowd speaks to the intersection of science, inspiration, and sustainability. He will explore healthy vs. unhealthy ways of relating to temporal and spatial reality and offer practical guidance for nurturing a mythic relationship to time and nature that doesn't require believing in anything.

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Swedish activist Greta Thunberg expressed solidarity Monday with "the struggles of all Indigenous peoples in protecting their land, water, and traditions" as she continued her climate-focused trip to the Americas with stops in the Dakotas. Thunberg's tweet included images of an event she attended on Sunday, the Youth Climate Activism Panel at Red Cloud Indian School in Pine Ridge, South Dakota. The discussion—which also featured 16-year-old Dakota Access Pipeline opponent Tokata Iron Eyes—was hosted by the Lakota People's Law Project and the Oglala Sioux Tribe. "We are at the edge of a cliff in regards to our timeline to save this planet, and the Indigenous peoples will be the ones to lead the movement off of the edge," Iron Eyes said during the talk.   Read more here.

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Rail Bite #5 - SR will cut Greenhouse Gas Emissions