Weekly Call To Action - May 29, 2022

​Quote of the Week:

​US. Supreme Court Justice Warren Burger once said, “The gun lobby’s interpretation of the Second Amendment is one of the greatest pieces of fraud, I repeat the word fraud, on the American people by special interest groups that I have ever seen in my lifetime.”​

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Take Three Actions Now:

Want an End to Mass Shootings? 
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Volunteer Now for Pro-Gun-Control Candidates 

Background [source: Ronald Brownstein.“The Real Reason America Doesn’t Have Gun Control.” The Atlantic, May 25, 2022: 

​“In their opposition to gun control, Republicans in Congress clearly are prioritizing the sentiments of gun owners in their party over any other perspective, even that of other Republican voters. The Pew polling found that significant majorities of Americans support background checks (81 percent), an assault-weapons ban (63 percent), and a ban on high-capacity ammunition magazines (64 percent); a majority also opposes concealed carry of weapons without a permit. Majorities of Republicans who don’t own guns shared those opinions, as did Democratic gun owners, by even more lopsided margins. Even most Republicans who do own guns said in the polling that they support background checks and oppose permitless concealed carry (which more red states, including Texas, are authorizing). Despite all of this, Republican elected officials, in their near-lockstep opposition to gun control, have bent to groups like the NRA in equating almost any restrictions as a sign of disrespect to the values of red America.”

We know that thoughts and prayers are not the answer. We need legislation and leadership. What can you do as a citizen? 

Action 1: Step up TODAY to volunteer for a Washington 2022 midterm candidate who is actively working to stop gun violence. 

• Volunteer for CD-8 candidate Dr. Kim Schrier, who prioritized gun violence prevention in her first term. Her Congressional race is hanging by a thread–it's by far the most competitive federal race in Washington state. When you volunteer, let her team know that Kim’s commitment to ending gun violence is why you are stepping up.
• Volunteer for LD-22 candidates Jessica Bateman and Beth Doglio, who have both prioritized gun violence prevention. When you do, let them know their commitment to ending gun violence is why you are stepping up.

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Join Snake River Salmon Recovery

The Olympia Indivisible Steering Committee is asking out members to join with Snohomish County Indivisible and a group from Consolidated Oregon Indivisible Network (COIN) working to recover salmon, steelhead, and other species on the Snake River and advocating for breaching the lower Snake River dams.

The process Governor Inslee and Senator Murray initiated last fall to address Snake River recovery is scheduled to release a preliminary report for public comment by the end of May. The comment period will last for one month and Governor Inslee and Senator Murray have stated that by July 31 they will formulate their recommendation regarding breaching of the dams, which means that we will need to be prepared to work quickly to have our voices heard on this important issue.

To facilitate Washington State Indivisible’s actions supporting breaching of the dams and solutions for the affected communities we need to include all OI members on the email list that will provide updates on the preliminary report and also provide letter templates for use in actions to our governor, senators and Council on Environment Quality. The email updates would be sent out every two weeks during this critical period. OI members should expect to receive one or two suggested actions after review of the preliminary report before Inslee and Murray release their final recommendations July 31.

Option A: Take this action with one click in Take Action Network (TAN) Join Snake River Salmon Recovery

Option B: Compose your email. 

Action 2: Send an email to [email protected]  

Script: Please add me to the distribution email list for Indivisibles for Snake River Salmon Recovery. 

[NAME] [CITY, ZIP]​

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​Olympia City Council Must Act NOW!

​Despite declaring a “State of Climate Emergency” last year, and despite a Youth Climate “Die In” last week, the Olympia City Council is moving slowly, through regular channels to peck away at making changes. Will you join the Youth in our Community that are urging the city council to put in place emergency procedures so that we begin acting now? Business as usual will not put in place the actions that MUST be taken this decade.

References:

• Countywide Planning Policies
• Building Climate Resilience: The Urgency Of Updating The Growth Management Act
• Imagine Bothell Comprehensive Plan

Option A: Take this action with one click in Take Action Network (TAN) 
Ask Olympia City Council to Act on Climate!

Option B: Contact Olympia City Hall and Community Planning & Development

Action 3: Write to the Olympia City Council this week to urge them to adopt and put in place emergency procedures so that we can fund needed actions NOW!

Please use the talking points below to craft a letter of support which can then be sent to City Council at the Council email address: [email protected] and the Community Planning and Development at [email protected] 

And please cc or send additional emails to council members directly

Mayor Selby: [email protected] 
Clark Gilman: [email protected] 
Yen Huynh: [email protected] 
Lisa Parshley: [email protected] 
Dani Madrone: [email protected] 
Donte Payne: [email protected] 
Jim Cooper: [email protected] 

Script:
Dear Council Member, 

I am writing to you to support the Thurston Youth Climate Coalition in the concerns they brought to you at the last council meeting. The youth have demonstrated very poignantly the desperation of the situation we are in when it comes to climate change. You declared a climate emergency last year, and it is now time to govern in a manner that reflects the state of emergency we are in. We are asking that you develop emergency procedures that will allow you to move with the swiftness required, rather than staying beholden to the “way we’ve always done it” systems and procedures which take far more time than the planet has, and which has lead to so little progress made in the last year on the actions laid out in the TCMP. We know you have the political will, we have heard council say time and again that climate change is an emergency, some of you have joined us in the street. We now ask that you get creative in reimagining what systems of emergency governance will allow you to move your time and money towards confronting this crisis and implementing the TCMP before it is too late. We only have till the end of the decade. There is no time to waste. 

Sincerely,


[First, Last]

Talking Points:

• The most recent IPCC report reveals that we must be focusing on adaptation and mitigation now, as we have already surpassed critical tipping points
• The procedures, order of operations, and governance processes we have in place now were not created for a time such as this, they were not created to govern in an extremely time-sensitive emergency. Hence, you must create an emergency governance procedure that will allow you to move quickly.

• Front line communities, such as the homeless/houseless population, low-income communities, communities of color, and tribal communities are impacted first and more extremely by the impacts of climate change.
• Climate change is deeply connected to every other issue you are working on in our city and county
• We are already seeing the impacts of the climate crisis here in Olympia in the form of downtown flooding, heat waves, smoke days, and extreme winter snow events.
• The city must allocate more funds to increase climate staffing.

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Have You Scheduled These Events?

​Action Cafe 
Monday (May 30) at Noon

Please come to tomorrow's Action Cafe! This weekly Zoom lunch hour gathering is a place to meet, eat, build fellowship and take actions together.

Action: Register HERE for the next Action Cafe. We will send you a Zoom link and tomorrow morning, we'll send you our "menu" with live links for the actions we'll take together. ​

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Mitigation and Resilience through Estuary Restoration
Tuesday, May 31 at 5pm 

This community forum hosted by the Deschutes Estuary Restoration Team will feature speakers with environmental backgrounds and provide discussion surrounding the present and future implications of climate change. Restoring estuaries is a way to mitigate climate change and will be the main focus of the forum, which will run May 31 from 5-8 p.m. at The Olympia Center: 222 Columbia St NW.

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OI Endorsement Presentation
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Saturday, June 4, 10:00 to 11:00 AM

During each election cycle, the Endorsement Team of Olympia Indivisible collects information about candidates for elective office within Congressional District 10 in Washington State. Candidate information is presented to the membership of Olympia Indivisible to help them make informed voting decisions and to determine whether or not Olympia Indivisible should endorse the candidate. 

The Endorsement Team presentation for the 2022 Elections and will present the result of their research into candidates on Saturday, June 4 from 10:00 to 11:00 AM. This will be followed by an OpaVote where you, as an OI member, can vote on who you think should be endorsed. Register here for the presentation.​

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​Elections: 

Mary Hall, Auditor: Sign up for the event Thursday, June 2, 2022 5:30 PM TO 6:15 PM , via Zoom. A virtual meet and greet featuring our own County Auditor Mary Hall, running for reelection in 2022, and Representative Jamila Taylor, of the 30th legislative District. Meet and support Rep. Jamila Taylor and Thurston County Auditor Mary Hall

OI Website: Keep up with what is happening with candidates on OI’s Election 2022 resource page. And discover more about OI plans and activities on the website. 

Yard Signs: Pick up a yard sign to support Jessica Bateman (State Rep), Beth Doglio (State Rep), Mary Hall (Thurston County Auditor), and Tye Menser (County Commissioner) any Saturday from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm at 1014 E. 4th Avenue in Downtown Olympia!

Kim Schrier, CD-8: Volunteer to re-elect Congressional Rep. Kim Schrier! Take the CD-8 survey to let the Schier campaign know what kind of time and help you can offer. ​