By Chuck Jensen

As we watched Mother Earth suffer through a record-setting summer, we probably all pondered, "What can I do, even in the smallest way, to help with the climate crisis?" 

Locally, the largest single producer of greenhouse gases (GHG) is transportation. Over 44% of this region’s GHGs come from cars and trucks.  Every gallon of gas burned will emit 25 lb of pollution.   So, what are our options?  Public transportation, carpooling, walking, biking, or not driving at all would significantly reduce the transportation effects on the environment as well as congestion on the roads. Alternatively, a non-GHG-emitting form of transportation, such as electric vehicles, would help reduce GHGs. 

In the Northwest, up to 87% of the power is from non-fossil fuel - mostly hydropower - but with solar and wind becoming larger contributors.   Electric vehicles (EVs) cost less to operate than fossil-fueled vehicles.  First, they don’t require tune-ups such as oil changes. Also, they are more efficient.  Even if your Mini-Cooper gives you 50 mpg, that is still 10 cents per mile with gas costing close to $5/gallon. Most EV's will cost less than 2 cents per mile. 

Are you a two-car family?  Why not use an EV for your "around the town car" or for a daily commute, and save the SUV for out of town trips.  You could cut your pollution by up to 80%.  

The EV revolution has begun. Consider being  part of the solution, and no longer part of the pollution problem.

Saturday, September 16, 2023

10:30 am - 1:30 pm
Downtown Steilacoom
1717 Lafayette Street
Steilacoom, WA 98388

Get more information and register here.

"Some populations are more vulnerable to extreme heat: the elderly; children; pregnant people; those with chronic medical conditions; people living unsheltered, in marginal housing, or in urban heat islands; outdoor workers; people in poverty; and people not fluent in English. Extreme heat has an outsized impact on socially and politically marginalized populations such as low-income households and communities of color."

So begins the one-page summary of a new report, issued in June this year, from the Climage Impacts Group at the University of Washington. This report goes on to discuss forecasts but also provides recommendations for what individuals, families, health professionals, community-based organizations, and local and state government officials across many agencies can do to take immediate action to mitigate heat.

Read this important report, the summary and other information, including a variety of additional resources here.

See the trailer here.

 

Many of us have found ourselves in working groups where we’ve been asked “to do more with less.” We may be operating right now in what health promoter Heather Archer calls “Grind Culture.”  She defines this as a way of working that puts a premium on getting the job done, whether that means working through the night, missing family events, or putting off times to reconnect with friends in a relaxed way. The experience and risk of burnout within activist and service organizations has led Dr. Ginwright to describe respecting the need for “rest” as a collective act of freedom, an act of core health, and an act of justice too. He argues that we are not less committed, or weak, because we need to rest. 

To ensure strength for the continuing work of defending democracy and empowering voters, we can examine our daily practices of personal care and healing—not in an isolated way, but in the context of our collective experience—acknowledging that we feel stress and tire differently, and that we have different needs for relief and flexibility. We can invite our groups and organizations to ask questions about the ways we work, the schedules or timelines that seem absolutely necessary, the expectations of availability and immediate response to requests. We can raise up the importance of rest so that we CAN keep going. In a widely experienced grind culture, with the productivity gospel preached almost everywhere, insisting on the importance of rest can be a revolutionary act. 

Given our League commitment to addressing homelessness in Pierce County, we might be considered revolutionary to insist that people living homeless also have a right to rest—in public spaces-- without being criminalized.  Burnout from lack of rest is not just an organization problem, nor is it just an individual problem.  Ella’s Song reminds us that the work of justice is always a collective calling.  As Ella says, through the song writer’s translation: “Struggling myself don't mean a whole lot. I've come to realize that teaching others to stand up and fight is the only way my struggle survives.”   As we start the fall of 2023 together, as we consider where we take the fight for justice, I urge us all to honor our need for rest and support that need in others.

 

On August 19, a survey was sent to all active LWVTPC members asking about unit meeting preferences. Why? Because the pandemic interrupted a pattern of many years, when we held geographic-based in-person unit meetings. Over the last few years we've primarily held virtual sessions and sometimes none.

There was not a large response, but here's what those who responded said.

If you did not respond to the survey and have different opinions than these - and you want to be sure that the League leadership hears your voice - please send an email to Carolyn Edmonds and let her know what you would like for this year's unit meetings.

The plans for subsequent months will be announced in next month's Voter. Thank you to all who took the time to share your thoughts in the survey.

Join other LWVTPC members on September 18, 4:00 – 5:00 pm at the League office, 621 Tacoma Ave. S., # 202, Tacoma, to continue planning for “GOTV” (get out the vote) activities for the upcoming General election. Help identify specific community outreach projects for the coming months.

 

If you have an interest in this work but can’t make the meeting, contact Rosemary Powers to be connected with the committee for future opportunities.  

The GOTV planning meeting will be followed at 5:00 pm by an informal work party where we’ll decorate “democracy rocks” to share at our League booth at the Puyallup Fair.  There will be rocks painted white and other paints and paint pens will be provided to decorate the rocks.  If that time isn't good but you have some energy for helping with the project, contact Rosemary Powers and she will find a way for you to share in the project.

Tacoma voters may no longer be asked to choose between two competing renters' rights measures in November.  This past Wednesday a Pierce County judge ruled that the city of Tacoma must remove a ballot initiative for tenants' protections that have already been approved by the Council. Tacoma for All’s initiative seeks to amend the city’s current rental housing code. 

Questions remain:

This webinar is co-sponsored by Tacoma-Pierce County League of Women Voters, Tacomaprobono Community Lawyers and Tacoma-Pierce Coalition to End Homelessness.

For more information about current and proposed rental housing codes: 

Read about CDR Executive Director and LWVTPC member Maralise Hood Quan, recipient of the Greater Tacoma Peace Prize, here.

 

and,

"When our audiences get more familiar with our songs, it also becomes more meaningful for us to perform them! If you haven't had a chance to see the new video, here it is:  Jambo Bwana 2023!"

 

See more about Tacoma Refugee Choir here.

Also,

October 14, 2023, 6:00 - 9:00 pm
LeMay Car Museum
Get more information here.