Quote of the Week: "Active Hope is not wishful thinking. Active Hope is not waiting to be rescued by some savior. Active Hope is waking up to the beauty of life on whose behalf we can act." - Joanna Macy Get Out on the Streets:  Photo by zaya odeesho on Unsplash Want the scoop on upcoming rallies, marches, and related events? Visit OI’s Rallies, Marches, Town Halls and Boycotts webpage! Help Our Candidates Win! Action: Volunteer! Help progressive candidates for our city councils, school boards, and Port win by showing up for boots-on-the-ground events this week. There are plenty of options including canvassing and campaign kick-offs. You’ll find them all on our Local Elections 2025 Events calendar. This calendar will be continuously updated. Also check it out on our website at any time. Federal Actions:Oppose Trump’s Military Invasion of Washington DC  Photo Source: The National Guard on flickr Background:
Under pretexts, Trump took over Los Angeles law enforcement in June. Now he is invading our national capital with 850 federal National Guard troops and 450 repurposed federal employees. Why send them there when the 1973 Home Rule Act establishes that DC runs its own law enforcement? Trump claims he has to save the city because there’s an emergency – he says DC is squalid, rife with lawlessness, overridden with fear and violence, and one of the most dangerous cities in the world. It’s a phony recitation. Washington DC’s crime rate is the lowest it’s been in 30 years. Senators say he’s creating chaos to draw attention from today’s many real issues, like the rising costs of food and shelter, stagnant job growth, and the Epstein files. Trump has recently threatened to pursue federal law enforcement intervention in Democratic cities like New York, Oakland, and Chicago. The 1973 Home Rule Act has never before been used to send federal police to DC. The law allows emergency federal takeover of police only with Congressional approval. Now when there is so much danger of Trump’s creeping authoritarianism, our Members of Congress must end this dangerous political theater. Action: Contact your Members of Congress:
Script: I’m troubled about Trump’s move to take over Washington DC law enforcement. Crime is lowest there in 30 years and there’s no emergency under the 1973 Home Rule Act. I urge you to exercise Congressional power under the Act to fight this authoritarian playbook and defeat it in Congress. WA State Actions:Boycott “Windmill Farms” Mushrooms  Photo by engin akyurt on Unsplash Background: “Farmworkers protest at WA grocery stores as part of Windmill mushroom boycott.” Jasper Sundeen. Yakima Herald-Republic, April 5, 2025. You can help Sunnyside farmworkers who are taking their efforts to form a union at Windmill Farms to consumers and grocery stores. The United Farm Workers Union is boycotting Windmill Farms, the Canadian-based company that owns a mushroom farm on Midvale Road in Sunnyside, as workers there seek a union. Farmworkers do not have the same right to unionize that other workers in the US do. That exclusion from labor protection laws dates back to Jim Crow-era policies from before the civil rights movement. Workers began organizing against Ostrom Mushroom Farms, the original owners of the Midvale Road facility, in 2022. Ostrom signed a $3.4 million settlement with the state Attorney General's Office after the company was accused of discriminating against women and domestic workers and retaliating against those who spoke up. Windmill Farms bought the facility in early 2023 and has fired workers. Who is selling or using Windmill Farms mushrooms in Washington? Safeway, WinCo, and Pizza Hut locations. Action: Boycott Windmill Farms mushrooms. Thank AG Nick Brown for Continuing to Provide Protection on Climate Change Photo by shun idota on Unsplash Background:
One of this week’s CTAs asked Indivisible members to write a comment to the EPA on its proposal to strip the 2009 Endangerment Finding. Now it is time to support Attorney General Nick Brown’s efforts to protect our climate. His office released a statement July 29 to put pressure on the Trump administration’s plan to strip climate regulations established by the Endangerment Finding: “…I will consider all options if EPA continues down this cynical path. We won’t stand by as our children’s future is sacrificed to appease fossil fuel interests.” The “endangerment finding” is the EPA’s 2009 scientific and legal conclusion that the Clean Air Act requires regulation of greenhouse gases, including GHG emission standards for vehicles and engines. It concluded there are broad public health effects due to climate change including extreme weather events, temperature increases, worsening air quality, and sea level rise. Last year alone, there were 27 extreme weather events with losses estimated at $1 billion each. In addition, it makes critical economic sense. According to EPA’s own regulatory Impact Analysis, there could be $2.1 trillion in net benefits in maintaining the Endangerment finding over the next 30 years. 5 Facts About Endangerment. In an additional effort to defend Washington on climate issues, on August 8, AG Brown filed a lawsuit against the administration for withholding more than $9 million in Congressionally authorized funding. One of the planned projects would develop a network of WA colleges, tribes and employers to train post-secondary students on climate resilience. Action: Contact AG Nick Brown's office to thank him for opposing the administration’s efforts to gut climate change regulations and climate funding for Washington.
Suggested Script: [please feel free to share a personal story about why one or more of these lawsuits is particularly meaningful to you] I want to tell Attorney General Nick Brown and staff that I appreciate his work in protecting Washington from the Trump administration's efforts to gut climate change regulations and funding. I support his intent to consider “all options” to push back against EPA stripping the Endangerment Finding and vehicle emissions standards. I also support his suit against the administration withholding more than $9 million in Congressionally authorized climate funding. Local Actions: Join the Olympia Indivisible State Executive Team! Photo Source: Olympia Indivisible Member Are you looking to get more involved in your activism with Oly Indivisible, but don’t know where to start? Do you have an interest in developing collaborative relationships between elected officials and community members? Would you like Olympia Indivisible to push for important legislation to protect our blue state? The State Executive Team (SET) of Olympia Indivisible is looking for new members and would love for you to join their team! Currently their team follows the actions of WA state executive officials, such as the Governor, Attorney General, Insurance Commissioner, and others. The SET suggests calls to action (such as thanking the Governor for signing rent control legislation into law) and tracks the actions of state executive officials. The SET currently meets virtually every other Wednesday from 12-1 to discuss updates and team goals. The time commitment varies per member, but ranges from one to three hours per week in researching, document creation, and updating the shared group spreadsheet. They are looking to expand their group’s reach to include establishing collaborative communication between the SET and our Olympia state legislators, as well as Washington state executive leaders, but they need to expand their team in order to do so! Please contact Jeff or Susan, the co-leads of the SET, to join their team! Action: Contact Jeff 360-791-0708 or Susan 413-221-9252 to join the State Executive Team. Have You Scheduled This Event? Come to Olympia Indivisible's Small Group, In-Person Meetups Every Weekend!  Olympia Indivisible has grown very fast the last six months, and many of us have never met in person. Let’s fix that! Membership Team invites OI members to come to our weekend get-togethers. Here’s the scoop: Saturday, 10 AM: OI Coffee Connection at Soul Cafe What: Come to the Cafe, support a local business by purchasing a cup of coffee and/or some breakfast, and get to know your OI community! You’ll meet representatives from OI’s Membership Team and/or Small Groups team members. Where: Soul Cafe, 300 5th Ave. SW When: Saturday, August 23 at 10am Action: Come join us – no sign-up or RSVP necessary! Sunday, 11 AM: OI Capitol Lake Walk What: Walk the Capitol Lake with OI member Zella. Make new friends as you get in your steps! Where: Meet outside the restrooms adjacent to Heritage Park. Zella will be wearing an OI pin. Stroll as long or as far as you feel like. When: Sunday, August 24 at 11am Action: Come join us – no sign-up or RSVP necessary! You Might Also Like to Attend:  What: Climate Justice “Let’s Talk Event When: August 23, 11am - 2pm Where: Friendship Hall, 220 Union AVE SE Olympia Cost: Two ticket options: $20 or free Focus: Explore the root causes of climate change, the impacts, and what actions you can do to help. The event will have a panel discussion followed by a Q&A session and lunch. Through the event, you will have the opportunity to learn about what climate action looks like in our region, how to reduce your carbon footprint, and what you can do to prepare for future climate conditions. Organizers: YWCA and the City of Olympia’s Climate Programs Register HERE Department of Good News: OI-Endorsed Candidates Prevail in August 5 Primary Election  Photo by Barbara Burgess on Unsplash Olympia Indivisible endorsements seem to carry some weight – per unofficial results the candidates we endorsed did well. Port Commission candidate Krag Unsoeld not only held his own but walked away with a 5% edge over Commission favorite Anthony Hemstad. Renee Fullerton and Julie Watts dominated their school board races, and Emily Leddige and Daniel Mies stayed in their races – Emily against Gilbert Lamont for Olympia School Board, Daniel against incumbent Ty Kuehl for the Tumwater School Board. For complete results see the Thurston County Auditor’s page. Now the real work begins. The November 4 general election is closer than it appears, and we have these and other candidates to take over the top. Bookmark OI’s 2025 Local Election Events page and pitch in where you can! Reverse the Worst of the Cuts in Trump’s New Law
Senate Democrats have introduced two pieces of legislation to reverse the worst of the cuts in Trump’s new law. They are the Protecting Healthcare And Lowering Costs Act to repeal Trump’s healthcare cuts and the Lowering Electric Bills Act to reverse his tax hikes on clean energy. Our Senator Patty Murray and Senator Maria Cantwell have cosponsored both these bills! Comments are closed.
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