Calendar
The Palouse Land Trust and Palouse Environmental Sustainability Coalition are hosting the second annual trail clean up at Idler’s Rest Nature Preserve from 9am – 12 noon on June 14th. This lovely cedar grove is enjoyed by many area residents. It is owned and managed by the Palouse Land Trust, which is dependent on donations from the community to maintain the Preserve, so this is a wonderful opportunity to show how much we care about these special places. Carpoolers can meet at 8:30 at the Unitarian Church (420 E. 2nd St., Moscow). As a thank you for all your hard work a delicious Co-op lunch will be served around 11:30. Trish Heeken from the Idaho and Latah County Conservation Departments will be joining us to identify both the invasives and the native good guys. Last year she found a rare plant she had never seen before in this area. For directions or questions, email Amy Trujillo at amy.trujillo@palouselandtrust.org or Pat Rathmann. An RSVP is appreciated so we can make sure to have enough food.
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.
The Palouse Chapter of the Citizen’s Climate Lobby will meet from 5:30-7 p.m. on Wednesday August 6 at the Daily Grind on Main Street in Pullman. The Grind has a variety of beverages, sandwiches and pastries if you would like to eat there.
We will send the agenda and July’s minutes with our next reminder, but the focus of the meeting will be a Power Point presentation from the national office on climate change. Members, please come with tough–even adversarial–questions so we can hone our skills at giving presentations to local organizations.
The next national call is on Saturday, August 2 at 10 a.m. Retired general Wesley Clark, former NATO Supreme Allied Commander will discuss the impact of climate change on national security. To listen to the call go to http://citizensclimatelobby.org and on the opening page, scroll down to National Call. If you are registered, you can listen live, or the call will be available as an MP3 by about 1 p.m. that day under the button “Listen to the August Call.” We hope you can listen to this prior to the August 6 meeting.
— snacks provided — at the Yellow House (414 E. 2nd St. Moscow).
Agenda will include detailed plans for the March for Survival Sunday Sept 21: we have permission to use the Chipman Trail! This march is in solidarity with the 350.org huge climate demonstration in NYC. Also planning for the UI PalousaFest Table on August 23rd, Gasland II at Kenworthy September 15. Please send additional agenda items to me.
(Please note the change in the date for March for Survival. We previously had planned for the day before, but this conflicted with a WSU football game.)
Please mark your calendar for the next Citizens’ Climate Lobby meeting to be held Wednesday, September 10, 5:30 – 7:00 pm at Café Artista at 3rd and Main St. in Moscow. Café Artista offers teas, coffees, croissants and muffins. (Sorry, we’re not permitted to provide pizza at this venue.)
This week’s national CCL call will feature Retired Naval Rear Admiral Len Hering talking about the impact that climate change is having on national security. A link to the recording of the call will be available by mid-day Saturday (9/6) here: [http://citizensclimatelobby.org/resources/monthly-conference-calls-and-actions/]. Past national calls have been highly informative, and I encourage everyone to listen to the call if they can.
We’ll again have a quick letter-writing activity as part of this month’s meeting. I like this quote from Former Congressman Billy Evans (D-Georgia):
“Legislators estimate that 10 letters from constituents represent the concerns of 10,000 citizens. Anybody who will take the time to write is voicing the fears and desires of thousands more.”
Hope to see you next Wednesday.
Rob Briggs
Co-Group Leader
Palouse Region Chapter, Citizens’ Climate Lobby
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eMail: palouseregion@citizensclimatelobby.org
The award winning documentary Gasland Part II will have its Moscow area premier at the Kenworthy on Monday, September 15, at 7pm. This sequel to Gasland released in 2009 continues to explore the controversial method of extracting natural gas and oil known as “fracking,” one of the most divisive environmental issues facing our nation today. Gasland Part 2 argues how and why fracked wells leak contaminated water and air and contributing to climate change. Audience members are invited to stay after the showing for a thought- provoking discussion. This event is sponsored by the Palouse Environmental Sustainability Coalition with a generous donation from the Batina family.
Normally we would meet on this day but we will be busy with the “March for Survival” event instead. We will meet again next month on the third Sunday at noon as usual.
You are invited to the ‘March for Survival’ Sept. 21 at 2 pm in Pullman, followed by a Celebration at 6 pm in Moscow. We will walk from Pullman to Moscow on the Chipman trail in solidarity with the ‘People’s Climate March’, the biggest demonstration in the history of the climate change movement on the same day in NY City. Our March and Celebration are peaceful events of healing, hope, and inspiration for all. We will promote climate change awareness and support those suffering from the environmental consequences of Canada’s tar sands oil extraction, especially First Nations Peoples.
Our March begins at 2 pm at the head of the Chipman Trail (Quality Inn parking lot) with a Native American blessing by Roger Vielle. We will walk the length of the Chipman Trail to its endpoint across from the Palouse Mall (8 miles), with an option to exit at the halfway point. You are invited to bring signs expressing your concerns about climate change. Bring water bottles, snacks, and outdoor clothing suitable for an 8-mile walk (hot sunny weather is forecast).
Our Celebration begins at 6 pm in Friendship Square in Moscow, with a potluck, Native American drummers, local environmental speakers, and opportunities to connect with like-minded community members and groups.
Carpools will meet at 1 pm at the southeast corner of the Palouse Mall parking lot which is across the lot from Winco – (intersection of Pullman Rd & Farm Rd), across the road from the end of the Chipman trail. This will enable residents to return to Pullman or to go to Friendship Square after the March.
Organized by the Palouse Environmental Sustainability Coalition. For more information contact Lori Batina skydancer8@gmail.com, Pat Fuerst epfuerst@frontier.com, 509-339-5213, or our Facebook page “Palouse March for Survival”.
The results of our Doodle Poll to find a new meeting time are in, and the day most people said they could participate was the first Thursday of each month. Respondents were nearly evenly divided on preferred start time, so we decided to stick with 5:30 pm in part because Cafe Artista, where we frequently meet, is only open until 7 pm.
Our next CCL Meeting will be on Thursday, November 6 from 5:30 to 7:00 pm at the La Madrid Restaurant at 1420 S. Blaine Street (on the west side of Eastside Marketplace) in Moscow.
The December meeting of our local chapter of Citizens’ Climate Lobby will be held next Thursday, December 4 beginning at 5:30 pm in the meeting room at South Fork Public House, 1680 S. Grand Avenue in Pullman. South Fork is located at the interior corner of the L-shaped Wheatland Shopping Center, which is conveniently located at the intersection of Bishop Blvd. and Grand Ave.
A big thank you goes out to everyone who has contributed to our chapter’s TutumuchCO2 campaign! Our fine chapter has reached 70% of its goal of $1,000, which will go to keep CCL growing and increasing its impact on Capitol Hill. If you would like to see world climate stabilized through enlightened public policy rather than extravagant geo-engineering projects like the one pictured above, please click here. Contributions are tax-deductible, and the IRS will pounce on anything not contributed by December 31.
We had a genial gathering and brain-storming session of members of our Newspapers and Media interest group last week at the Briggs-Lohr residence. We’ll be sharing our plans to boost CCL presence in our local media at our meeting next week.