Calendar

Topics will include: May or June field trip in vicinity of the city of Palouse about green energy; final plans for that evening’s showing of 350.org film; Scheduling showing of a series of films like Chasing Ice and the YouTube videos from the UUA Green Sanctuary Global Warming group; Attending Bidder 70 at the Kenworthy on April 22 and meeting for a picnic (potluck or brown bag) before at East Side Park (or other spot – even the church patio); updating our Web site – I need some help! Any other agenda items out there?

At the Yellow House as usual (just west of UUCP church which is at 420 E. 2nd St. Moscow). Topics will include: June green energy field trip in vicinity of the city of Palouse and Oakesdale; Idler’s rest maintenance; NWEI discussion book “Menu for the Future; Scheduling a series of films. Any other agenda items out there?

Topics will include meeting Patrick Johnson about Palouse environmental issues, ‘debriefing’ on the Tar Sands Healing Walk (sharing our photos, sharing what we learned, what do we do next), and discussion about possibility of inviting a First Nations person here in the future to discuss the tar sands. Melina Laboucan-Massimo would be a great possibility.

We’re going to meet at my place this Wednesday at 5:30 for the 350.org video chat on “Draw the Line”. This is an organizational meeting for the main event on September 21st. More details in the email below. Please let me know if you’re planning to come.

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Friends,

Here at 350.org, we believe, above all, in people power — and there is no better example of that than our work against Keystone XL and the tar sands.

From the summer of 2011, when 1,253 people were arrested in civil disobedience at the White House to stop the pipeline, to earlier this year when we were part of the largest climate rally in US history, to the ongoing pressure of Keystone demonstrations at Obama Administration events — taking action together has turned what was once a done deal into a defining test for the President’s climate legacy.

In the past few weeks, President Obama has said that he’s willing to stop the pipeline if he thinks it ‘significantly contribute[s]’ to climate change — and so it’s time for us to take action together once more. Today’s announcement that he is putting solar on the White House makes his choice even clearer: it makes no sense for him to put solar in his back yard and a tar sands pipeline in ours.

On September 21st, I’d like to invite you to join 350.org and allies across the country to put people power to work again. That’s when we’ll be taking action against Keystone and the tar sands in communities coast-to-coast, and telling President Obama that there is no turning back — to keep his climate promises, he must reject Keystone XL.

We’re calling it Draw the Line, to show that our commitment to defending our communities and stopping the tar sands is non-negotiable.

Some of us will draw a line showing where sea levels threaten to rise, others of us may link arms in front of refineries or tar sands industry targets to stop business as usual, still others may march with giant pipelines through the streets — but together we will draw lines that send an unmistakable message that the tar sands are a climate disaster and President Obama must stop the pipeline.

If you think you’re ready to lead a Draw the Line action in your community, click here to register your action and get started: act.350.org/event/draw_the_line/create/

At 350, we love days of action. We’ve used them before to make waves in international climate talks to help bring heads of state to the negotiating table for climate action, and highlight the impacts of climate change that are already underway.

With two years of historic momentum at our backs, I think this will be a chance to bring together our movement in a powerful way.

We’ll be having a video chat next Wednesday at 9 PM Eastern Time to talk about Draw the Line on the 21st, and the moment we’re in. I’ll be on it, along with several friends from the movement to be announced — click here and you’ll be automatically signed up to get a reminder: act.350.org/sign/dtl-9-21-video-chat-reminder/

Being a part of Draw the Line on September 21st is easy. Once you’ve found a place where you’d like to draw the line and register your event, there are resources to help you at every step of the way.
If you’re feeling ready to get started, sooner is better than later. Click here to register an action and get the guide for planning your event: act.350.org/event/draw_the_line/create/

It hasn’t been all smooth sailing for the past two years by any means. President Obama backed the southern leg of the pipeline, which is under construction, and we’re still far behind where we need to be for climate action overall.

But where we’ve made progress, we’ve done so because we stood together, and on September 21st, I hope we can stand together again. Let’s draw the line.

Arm-in-arm,
May

P.S. The news about the President putting solar on the White House is encouraging. This was a campaign we fought hard for — starting way back in 2010 — and it shows once more what we can do when we don’t give up. Here’s a link to a slideshow of photos from the campaign, and a statement from 350.org co-founder Bill McKibben: 350.org/en/about/blogs/president-obama-putting-solar-white-house-roof

FROM WIRT: In solidarity with Nez Perce megaload blockaders, carpools are departing the WIRT Activist House at 8 am on Monday, September 9, with stops through the reservation, to rally outside and pack the 4 pm Boise federal court hearing seeking a megaload injunction. Advocates for the West will present oral arguments for suspending Idaho Transportation Department permits for Highway 12 megaloads until the Forest Service completes its megaload impact study. After the Nez Perce Tribe and Idaho Rivers United (IRU) versus the U.S. Forest Service case hearing, IRU is hosting a gathering of anti-megaload activists that evening, before we return to north central Idaho. Please contact IRU at 208-343-7481 or info@idahorivers.org if you can attend the party and call 208-301-8039 if you plan to carpool from the Moscow area. The following article and alert describe new developments in this lawsuit.

Agenda items include deciding on support for the Nez Perce benefit concert. Schedule date for Sustainable Energy presentation – Graham Stevens. What other agenda items are there?

Meeting will be followed by discussion of plans for a presentation on this year’s trip to the Healing Walk. Pat Rathmann, Anne Remaley and Pat Fuerst.

Elaine Alvey, a native of Kentucky, will give a presentation on “Mountain Top Removal Coal Mining in Appalachia”. She will discuss the process and impacts of mountain top removal for coal. Elaine is a WSU graduate student in the college of education. As an undergraduate at the University of Kentucky she explored the relationship between the coal industry and public education in Appalachia. This presentation is at 7 pm on Monday, September 23rd in room 103 of the Menard Law Building on the University of Idaho campus, with free parking nearby. The event is sponsored by the UI Environmental Law Society and the Palouse Environmental Sustainability Coalition.

Graham Stevens, from Navigant’s Energy Practice (and a Moscow resident), will discuss methods of reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the United States, and evaluating the costs vs. efficacy of these options. Graham’s presentation is at 7 pm in room 103 of the Menard Law Building on the University of Idaho campus, with free parking nearby. The event is sponsored by the UI Environmental Law Society and the Palouse Environmental Sustainability Coalition.

The Hanford cleanup is costing taxpayers billions each year. We regularly hear about radioactive leaks and delays in processing waste. What’s the rest of the story? Ginger Wireman’s presentation, ‘What’s Up with Hanford Cleanup?’ will explain the current status of Hanford cleanup and the State of Washington’s role in cleanup oversight. Wireman has been a community outreach and environmental education specialist with the Washington Dept. of Ecology’s Nuclear Waste Program since 2001. She has an MS in Environmental Studies and has written and illustrated a children’s book, ‘If Wishes Had Wings’, which explores the animals and habitats of the Washington shrub steppe and Cascade Mountains through a child’s imagination. This presentation will be at 7 p.m., Tuesday, November 12, at the Unitarian Universalist Church of the Palouse, 420 E. Second St., Moscow. Sponsored by Palouse Group of the Sierra Club and Palouse Environmental Sustainability Coalition. For further information, contact Al Poplawsky.

Topics will include Citizens Climate Lobby and Kathleen Dean Moore.

Megaloads? Tar Sands? Pipelines? Climate Change? What’s the Connection? Explore these questions with local citizens who journeyed to the tar sands of northern Alberta to join the First Nations (Native Americans) and other concerned citizens from across the continent for the Healing Walk. Led by First Nations elders and leaders, participants witnessed the scale of environmental devastation caused by tar sands mining and crude oil processing.

Six local healing walkers will share what they learned on their solidarity journey, connecting the local and regional megaloads, huge pipeline projects, impacts on people and places, and overarching climate change and moral issues. Their presentation and discussion, A Healing Walk Through the Alberta Tar Sands, will be on Saturday, December 7 from 3 to 5pm. This event is in the Arts Workshop room immediately following the Winter Market at the 1912 Center, 412 E. Third St., Moscow. Sponsored by the Palouse Environmental Sustainability Coalition, Wild Idaho Rising Tide, Idaho Sierra Club and 350 Idaho. For further information, contact Pat Fuerst, epfuerst@frontier.com.

December’s meeting will be at 1:00 p.m. – NOT noon. At the Yellow House (414 E. 2nd St. Moscow).
Agenda Items: will include: Citizens Climate Lobby update; discussion of last Saturday’s Healing Walk presentation, and how we might improve it next time; updates on UI Sustainability Center, megaloads.

Any additional agenda items?
Any other upcoming events for PESC, or other environmentally-related issues?

For those of you unable to attend the Healing walk presentation last Saturday, it went pretty well but ran too long and not so smoothly. We expect to be giving it again in the near future, at UI and WSU.