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2008: A Great Year For Environmental Activism

by Rein Attemann

This year was the year of the activist, with citizen involvement blossoming. From political activism to labor activism, from social activism to environmental activism, Washington State saw it all. Despite a short 60-day session and a chilly revenue forecast, progress was made on all four major priorities of the environmental community. This progress creates a foundation to build on in the 2009 Legislative Session.

Briefly, these successes include passage of bills on: Climate Action and Green Jobs, linking climate solutions with developing a clean energy economy and broadly shared economic opportunities for Washington; Local Solutions to Global Warming will provide local governments with the tools and support to achieve local goals of reducing global warming emissions. It requires local governments to make responsible decisions to help reduce driving and meet growing demand for green, walkable communities. The bill on Evergreen Cities will restore, retain and establish more trees and forests in our cities, towns and counties. Finally, the Local Farms/Healthy Kids bill eases state and school procurement restrictions to better enable school districts and state entities to choose local produce.

In January, People For Puget Sound organized the annual citizen lobby day for the environmental community. "Priorities for a Healthy Washington" brought over 350 citizens to Olympia from throughout the state. Some were seasoned citizen lobbyists, but many newcomers experienced the sense of Olympia politics for the first time and were empowered by this lobby day, meeting one-on-one with their elected representatives.

However, one day in Olympia is never enough to ensure that our environmental priorities will pass the state legislature. Constituent activists used emails, phone calls and letters during session and helped pass several priority pieces of legislation: A toxic-free toys bill, the first of its kind in the nation to safeguard children from toys containing with toxic chemicals; year-round funding for a rescue tug at the mouth of the Strait of Juan de Fuca to help distressed vessels and reduce the risk of catastrophic oil spills; and, an Orca protection bill keeping all vessels 300 feet away from the endangered whales. What a successful 2008 legislative session indeed!

Puget Sound is in ecological decline. Not enough people are aware of the urgency of this decline and what ails the Sound. To raise awareness, People For Puget Sound in 2008 launched its Save Our Sound (S.O.S) campaign to engage 'John and Jane Doe' to speak from their hearts, their experiences, and visions about what needs to done to help Puget Sound. The S.O.S. campaign this summer delivered to the Puget Sound Partnership over 2,000 signed postcards with personalized comments and suggestions. Over 135 postcard captains took on the task of generating 15, 20, 25 or even 50 signed postcards for the cause. The Partnership and other elected officials now know that there is a strong constituency supporting them if they step up and do what's right for the Sound.

During the remainder of 2008, People For Puget Sound and the Puget Sound Environmental Caucus worked to make sure that the Puget Sound Partnership delivers an Action Agenda on December 1 that is bold, transparent, enforceable and meaningful. The plan has to have accountability and must be funded if we are to bring Puget Sound back to health by 2020.

Looking ahead to 2009, citizen activists will continue to hold our elected officials accountable for doing the right things for the health of Puget Sound.

Please come and make your voice heard for a healthy Sound by attending Citizens' Lobby Day 2009, February 19th in Olympia. To register, go to http://pugetsound.org/index/lobbyday or contact Rein Attemann, Field Director People For Puget Sound, rattemann@pugetsound.org 206-382-7005 ex. 213.


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Updated 2015/01/07 21:14:22