Cascade Chapter -

The Sierra Club Endorses Jay Inslee for Governor of Washington State

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 16:38:14 +0000

January 30, 2012 -- The Washington State Chapter of the Sierra Club enthusiastically announces its endorsement of Jay Inslee to be Washington State’s 23rd governor. “Jay Inslee brings both a vision and expertise for making Washington a leader on clean energy and forging the good jobs and economic future for the 21st century,” said Andrew Lewis, Chair of the Sierra Club's Washington State Chapter. “We need the leadership that he brings to address the most pressing issues of our time - creating real jobs here in our state and addressing global climate change.”

Lewis said Inslee has consistently been a real leader in protecting and enhancing Washington’s air, land and water - working tirelessly to protect pristine wilderness areas, clean up Puget Sound, and curb dependence of foreign fossil fuels while growing clean energy at home. Jay even wrote a book about how to get our economy going again through clean energy development.

Announcing the Sierra Club's 2012 Legislative Priorities for Washington State

Sat, 28 Jan 2012 20:01:59 +0000

This year will present acute challenges to our efforts to advance an environmental agenda at the State Capitol. At the Sierra Club, we believe that environmental protections improve our quality of life and are essential to a long-term sustainable economy. Environmental programs and policies may have upfront costs, but will prevent staggering future costs. In 2012, our priorities in the Legislature are:

No rollbacks of environmental standards in a difficult budget situation;
Sustain I-937, the Renewable Energy voter-approved standards;
Ensure clean water and realistic, data-based management of limited water resources;
Sustainable transit funding in a transportation budget that emphasizes maintenance.

Learn more about our 2012 legislative priorities and get involved!

Help Us Raise Funds for Oil Refineries Litigation

Sat, 28 Jan 2012 19:46:05 +0000

You may have heard that we scored a huge victory against oil refineries last December. In a landmark decision, a federal judge ruled that the Washington Department of Ecology, Northwest Clean Air Agency, and Puget Sound Clean Air Agency have unlawfully failed to regulate climate change pollution from the five oil refineries operating in Washington State. Now we need your help raising funds to keep the pressure on the state. Please attend our fundraiser!

The Washington Environmental Council and the Sierra Club initiated the lawsuit in March, which claimed that state agencies have the duty to regulate climate change pollution from oil refineries because this pollution fits within the definition of “air contaminants” in Washington’s State Implementation Plan, which was approved by the Environmental Protection Agency and is enforceable under the federal Clean Air Act.

Update On Our Fight Against Coal Export Terminals in the Pacific Northwest

Sat, 28 Jan 2012 19:16:29 +0000

Wednesday night, January 25, in the town of Clatskanie, on the lower Columbia River, the St. Helens Port Commission held the first public meeting on coal exports in the state of Oregon. Despite having only a 6-day notice for the meeting, we had a large turn-out of citizens concerned about the impacts of coal exports—from Clatskanie and communities upriver and downriver and along the rail line in Oregon and Washington. 150 people packed the room and flowed out into the hallways. The public comments weighed in at 29 opposed to coal exports and only 7 for coal exports, with passionate speeches from Sierra Club volunteers and our coalition partners, especially Columbia Riverkeeper.

Transportation Advocacy Day Is January 31!

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 19:58:15 +0000

As always, it will be a full day of transportation lobbying with your legislators, getting to know fellow advocates, and possibly testifying in conference committee for transportation funding, policies, and projects.If you’ve never been, you should check it out. If you have been, you’ll want to join us again in this huge year for our issues.

Zip Car will be offering free rentals again, and TCC will be coordinating carpools. We need help to make this a success!

Get involved now!

Volunteer Opportunity: Help Us Develop the Chapter's Policy On Industrial and Sewage Wastes

Tue, 17 Jan 2012 05:46:31 +0000

If you're a Washington State Chapter member and are interested in working on changing WA State policy of spreading contaminated industrial and sewage wastes ("biosolids") as compost/fertilizer, here's an opportunity to help set up a focus group to begin researching waste spreading problems and alternatives. Your work will help our chapter develop its position on this important issue.

Toxic industrial and sewage wastes are sold as "compost" and "fertilizer" and spread across the country on farm land and landscapes. Since the 1970s, the USEPA has promoted this practice -- delegating oversight to states -- as a waste disposal method, as landfill space became minimal and the Clean Water Act disallowed spewing these wastes into open waters. The National Sierra Club opposes land spreading of these materials as they sicken neighbors, poison farm and residential land, food grown in soil mixed with these wastes, pollute rural wells and groundwater. Monthly, entities connected to a sewer is legally permitted to discharge 33 pounds of liquid hazardous waste. Landfill leachates can also be sent to "industrial" waste water treatment plants.

Captain Charles Moore, Prominent Seafaring Environmentalist, Speaks On "Saving Our Oceans From Plastic"

Tue, 17 Jan 2012 05:19:54 +0000

Captain Charles Moore, a prominent seafaring environmentalist and researcher, shares his shocking discovery of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch in the Pacific Ocean, and inspires a fundamental rethinking of the Plastic Age and a growing global health crisis. Captain Moore is speaking in a 5 Western Washington cities in January: Seattle, Bellingham, Port Angeles, Tacoma, and Olympia. Don't miss this important talk to learn how our oceans are being polluted and how you can help.

In the summer of 1997, Charles Moore set sail from Honolulu with the sole intention of returning home after competing in a trans-Pacific race. To get to California, he and his crew took a shortcut through the seldom-traversed North Pacific Subtropical Gyre, a vast "oceanic desert" where winds are slack and sailing ships languish. There, Moore realized his catamaran was surrounded by a "plastic soup." He had stumbled upon the largest garbage dump on the planet - a spiral nebula where plastic outweighed zooplankton, the ocean's food base, by a factor of six to one.

Help Our Orcas and Marine Wildlife: Support a Plastic Bag Ban in Seattle

Fri, 02 Dec 2011 23:04:29 +0000

The Sierra Club is part of a coalition with Surfrider Foundation, People For Puget Sound, Environment Washington and Zero Waste Seattle that is asking the Seattle City Council to pass a bag ordinance. Plastics harm (choke, poison, entangle) our wildlife, such as birds, fish, and whales. A big problem is that plastic bags are light-weight and easily blow into our waters. They break down into tiny bits but don’t biodegrade for hundreds of years. The tiny pieces of plastic, including plastic bag pieces, are called microplastics, and are floating in Puget Sound. Every water sample taken in Puget Sound so far by researchers at UW Tacoma have plastic bits. Another problem is that plastic attracts toxic chemicals like a sponge. Fish eat these plastic bits.

Judge Orders State and Regional Air Agencies to Regulate Climate Change Pollution From Big Oil

Fri, 02 Dec 2011 21:58:59 +0000

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE : December 2, 2011

Challenge to reduce dangerous greenhouse gas emissions from WA oil refineries advances

Seattle, WA —A federal judge today ruled that the Washington Department of Ecology, Northwest Clean Air Agency, and Puget Sound Clean Air Agency have unlawfully failed to regulate climate change pollution from the five oil refineries operating in Washington State. Washington Environmental Council and Sierra Club initiated the lawsuit in March of this year. The lawsuit claimed that state agencies have the duty to regulate climate change pollution from oil refineries because this pollution fits within the definition of “air contaminants” in Washington’s State Implementation Plan, which was approved by the Environmental Protection Agency and is enforceable under the federal Clean Air Act.

Logging Roads Must Meet the Standards of the Clean Water Act to Protect Our Salmon and Steelhead

Fri, 04 Nov 2011 22:00:41 +0000

In a unanimous decision issued in NEDC v. Brown, a case involving logging roads on Oregon State lands, the Ninth Circuit ruled that polluted stormwater generated by logging roads is subject to regulation under the Clean Water Act’s National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES). The August 2011 decision requires that logging roads meet the standards of the Clean Water Act that would protect our clean water and salmon and steelhead. We are stunned that Washington State Attorney General Rob McKenna would join with very conservative states such as Arkansas in urging the Supreme Court to overturn this court decision.

Seattle Voters: Vote YES On Proposition 1 to Invest in Transportation Improvements!

Wed, 02 Nov 2011 22:25:09 +0000

by Tim Gould, Washington State Chapter Transportation Chair

What do you do when your aspirations for a 21st century transportation system that offers choices like world-class public transit, passenger rail, efficient cars, and safe pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure collide with a lack of funding to put these elements into effect? In Seattle, the elected leaders turned to one of the only available financing tools for local municipalities called a Transportation Benefit District and established a citizen panel to explore the needs and possible solutions for improving the transportation system. The City Council considered the recommendations of the citizen panel and decided to place Proposition 1 before city voters this year asking for funding authority to make a down payment on transforming Seattle into a 21st Century great American city.

Spokane River PCBs Await Litigation

Mon, 03 Oct 2011 18:27:46 +0000

PCBs pollute Washington’s waters. From the Duwamish to the Spokane, this group of industrial compounds associated with liver dysfunction and cancer is a risk to human life and wildlife. PCB manufacture is now banned in the U.S. EPA and Washington Department of Ecology (Ecology) should be prompt in developing cleanup plans to protect the public interest. They are not – raising troubling questions.

Vote NO On Initiative 1125

Mon, 03 Oct 2011 17:34:14 +0000

This statewide ballot measure would seriously harm highway and bridge tolling policy throughout the state, kill jobs in a tough economy, and stop the voter-approved East Link light rail line across Lake Washington on the I-90 floating bridge. Sponsored by Tim Eyman and bankrolled by Bellevue developer Kemper Freeman, I-1125 is an irresponsible anti-transit initiative that will make transportation projects more expensive.

Moving Planet Seattle Sept. 24, 2011: Recap of the Day

Mon, 03 Oct 2011 16:48:24 +0000

On a sunny Saturday morning on September 24th, Washingtonians around the Puget Sound were abuzz with plans for attending Moving Planet Seattle.

In celebration of 350.org's annual day of action on climate change, the Sierra Club, Earth Ministry, Climate Solutions, 350 Washington, Washington Environmental Council, Transportation For Washington and many other community organizations came together to host Moving Planet Seattle. A local event in solidarity with thousands of events around the globe, Moving Planet Seattle focused on the need to end our reliance on coal and oil and take action on urgent issues facing Washington state and the Northwest, including stopping coal exports and fighting for more transportation choices.

Job Opportunity: Contract Lobbyist With the Sierra Club Washington State Chapter

Sat, 10 Sep 2011 16:06:12 +0000

Since 1892, the Sierra Club has been working to protect communities, wild places, and the planet itself. We are the oldest, largest, and most influential grassroots environmental organization in the United States. The Washington State Chapter seeks a half-time legislative coordinator to lobby on behalf of the Club at the State Capitol for the duration of the 2012 Washington State Legislative session plus preparation time prior to and follow-up after the session.

This is a contract position that will be primarily centered at the Capitol in Olympia but will also involve some interaction with field organizing staff and volunteer leaders in Seattle and elsewhere in the state to help mobilize grassroots volunteers in support of the Sierra Club's legislative program.