Calendar
The Palouse Region CCL is officially started now, following a great opening meeting last Saturday with front page coverage in the Daily News on Monday! (One of the first items to discuss will be the best time for everyone to meet.) The following is from an email from Rob Briggs and Pat Rathmann last Thursday:
We will have our first regular meeting on Monday April 7 at 7:00 pm in the sanctuary (up stairs) of the Unitarian Universalist Church of the Palouse, 420 E 2nd St, Moscow, ID.
The agenda for the meeting will include listening to the national Citizen’s Climate Lobby conference call. These calls are invariably upbeat and informative and provide concrete actions that we can take to move the campaign for effective federal climate legislation forward.
Additionally, we will be taking initial steps to organize into interest groups to tackle various educational, outreach, and lobbying activities. We’re hoping to establish multiple interest groups that feel empowered to act, and then use the monthly meetings simply for coordination and sharing successes.
There is a wide variety of productive roles you can play in CCL. These range from reliably reading local newspapers, to serving as behind-the-scenes climate science advisor, tabling, giving presentations, writing letters to the editor, and meeting with Senators and House members. There are important roles for all skill sets and comfort levels.
As Bill Barron mentioned several times on Saturday, CCL likes things to run on time. We’re hoping to run our chapter meetings in a disciplined and effective way that is respectful of everyone’s time. CCL suggests that monthly meetings run for two hours. We rather like the idea of finishing early and retiring to some gathering place to socialize and strategize informally. CCL provides great opportunities for us to innovate locally, share nationally, and thereby attach a big multiplier to our creative efforts.
Panel discussion to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the Wilderness Act, 4 pm Thursday at the University of Idaho,College of Law – room 103, 703 S Rayburn Drive, Moscow. Discussion topics include the history and future of the Wilderness Act and wilderness management challenges. Sponsored by the University of Idaho Environmental Law Society.
WHAT: The University of Idaho Sustainability Center is hosting an interdisciplinary, student-led panel discussion on the future of food entitled, “Feeding the Future”.
DETAILS: Students from International Studies, Agricultural Economics, Bioregional Planning, and Business will discuss complex food systems issues in a panel discussion hosted and moderated by the University of Idaho Sustainability Center. Topics will range from the value of sustainable agriculture practices to finding the balance between using acreage for biofuels versus food production. Audience members will have the opportunity to participate in the discussion with questions, and pizza will be provided for attendees. The diverse viewpoints and backgrounds of the student panelists will provide an opportunity to learn about the importance of finding collaborative solutions to global food issues.
WHERE: University of Idaho Commons, Crest Room, 4th Floor
Please come celebrate all that Earth provides on April 22nd at the biggest Earth Day Fair ever on WashingtonState University’s Terrell Mall. This year there will be at least 25 Washington and Idaho community groups and WSU student groups that are involved in the sustainability of Earth tabling on The Mall. In addition to all the conscious groups that will be tabling and informing students, faculty, staff, and the public community of their sustainability-related mission, there will be an open-microphone for anyone to freely speak about the environment, other open-mic entertainment, and free “Earth Week 2014”: sustainable coffee mugs, magnets, t-shirts, and drawstring bags for visiting some of the Earth Day Fair group tables and learning about what they are all about. There will be many opportunities to get involved in the conservation, preservation, and restoration of Earth through the 25 groups that will be there. The WSU Earth Day Fair is sponsored by the ASWSU Environmental Sustainability Alliance and WSU Environmental Science Club. We truly hope to see there!
Please find attached a draft agenda for our meeting tomorrow (Wednesday) at 5:30 pm at the Unitarian Universalist Church of the Palouse (downstairs), 420 E 2nd St, Moscow. We will be serving pizza early during the meeting.
If you can listen to the national CCL call in advance of the meeting here, that will be helpful but is not essential. I found Jay Butera’s story particularly inspiring.
For each month’s call, CCL prepares an action sheet here for the month. Writing members of congress is the top action this month, and I will bring materials so that we can generate letters and postcards to our members of congress during the meeting (time permitting).
Please try to arrive promptly. We will need to finish before 7:00 pm, as many of us will be participating in the planning session (7 pm in Fiske Room, 1912 Center) for community activities to complement the Years of Living Dangerously series showing at the Kenworthy.
The meeting will be held in the Hecht Room of the Neill Public Library at 210 N. Grand Ave, in Pullman from 5:30 to 7:00 pm, Wednesday, June 11. Pizza will be served.
PESC will have a table and we need people to help share with others about our mission, CCL and other upcoming events. Please let me know if you can help. The inaugural PCEI Sustainability Festival will bring together local businesses, community groups and individuals interested in creating a healthy, innovative and more sustainable Palouse. PCEI has identified water, food, waste, energy, ecology and health as the pillars of sustainability. Bring the family and come learn from local experts on ways to reduce your impact! Community Partners will have hands-on demonstrations and activities for all ages.
The next meeting of the CCL-Palouse will be from 5:30-7:00 p.m. on July 16. We will meet at Bucer’s (back room) at 201 S. Main Street in Moscow. Bucer’s offers a variety of snacks for sale if you want to eat. Many of you will probably continue on to the 7 PM meeting of the YLD group at the One World Cafe in Moscow. (Spanning the length and cultural spectrum of Main Street, eh?)
The meeting will follow the National Call on Saturday July 12 at 1pm by Dr. Katharine Hayhoe, climate change evangelist. (More about this on the CCL website.)
Our big success of the month is that the Idaho Democrats Convention approved a platform that included this statement: “For the sake of future generations, we are committed to taking proactive measures to prevent and mitigate the effects of climate change.” While the subject was not addressed in the platform draft that was presented at the beginning of the convention, CCL-P urged Latah County delegates to introduce a plank on Climate Change. Nancy Nelson carried the ball, and after some discussion (e.g. “climate disruption” vs. “climate change”) at the Platform Committee Hearings , this final wording passed with no objection from the convention delegates.