Weekly Call To Action - December 4, 2022

Quote of the Week:

​“If voters here in Georgia had stayed home two years ago, Republicans would have kept control of the Senate and they would have blocked every single piece of legislation that President Biden and Democrats passed.” –Barack Obama, December 1, 2022

Electoral Actions:

Text Bank for Senator Warnock Monday, Dec. 5, from 2-3:30pm PST with Black Voters Matter

Black Voters Matter is sponsoring a text bank to reach out to Black Georgia voters before election day for the Georgia Senate runoffs. The purpose is to share polling information to ensure that Black voters are able to exercise their right to choose their leadership. 

Action: When you sign up, you will receive a link with instructions on how to sign up with the textbanking program and how to send and reply to texts. This is a straightforward way to make a difference right from your own home! ​

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Local Actions:

Port Commissioners Must Postpone Vote on Swire Coca-Cola Lease

Coca-Cola Bottling Company in Whitestown, Indiana, GDI Companies photo​

On Monday, November 28, Port of Olympia staff presented for the first time at a public meeting a draft lease developed with Swire Coca-Cola to build a manufacturing plant on 95 acres of Olympia Airport property. Port Commissioners appeared to be in favor of the lease agreement and may vote their approval as soon as Monday, December 12.

Serious environmental and other concerns have not been sufficiently discussed by the Commissioners, nor has the public had a full opportunity to voice their concerns on major issues such as:

• Coca-Cola is a major polluter. Reuters reported on February 15, 2022 that “Coca Cola was the world's worst plastic polluter for the fourth year in a row in 2021, according to the global coalition Break Free From Plastic's annual report released in October”;
• How sustainable is the quantity of water usage from City of Tumwater wells over 75 years?;
• The proposed site for the Swire Coca-Cola plant is irreplaceable habitat to endangered species;
• The Port will commit to paying up to $9.5 million in Habitat Conservation Plan mitigation fees; 
• Proceeds from the lease will go directly to the Airport under FAA regulations. The airport may use these funds to reconfigure the taxiway exit systems in the future to accommodate up to 630 flights and landings per day, including large cargo planes that usually arrive at night.

The Port has failed to sufficiently answer questions about Swire Coca-Cola on their website: “Potential Lease with Swire Coca-Cola USA”

Action: Email all 3 Port Commissioners in one email - this will reach each one separately and is the best way to ensure each Commissioner sees your message. Send as soon as possible, but no later than Wednesday, December 7. 

Copy and paste all three email addresses into the same 
“To” line of the email.
Email to: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]
 
Copy and paste this sentence into the Subject line of the email:
Subject: Postpone your vote on the Swire Coca-Cola lease pending more information

Script: (If you've time, please vary the wording a bit.)

Dear Commissioner,
I fail to understand the rush to approve a lease with Swire Coca-Cola that has a 75-year renewal option. Postponement will provide both you and the community time to learn and discuss the effects of this large manufacturing plant on our community. 

We need to clearly understand Swire’s impacts on our environment regarding water usage, on our endangered species in the area, on ground water pollution, as well as impacts from the petroleum-based plastic on air and water. Reuters reported on February 15, 2022 that “Coca Cola was the world's worst plastic polluter for the fourth year in a row in 2021, according to the global coalition Break Free From Plastic's annual report released in October.” 

We need to decide if this is what our community wants to support.
​
Please do not vote on the Swire Coca-Cola lease at your December 12 meeting. Instead, listen to the public's concerns, ask more questions of the company, and vote after a full investigation.

Thank you,
(Your name)
(City where you live)

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Threat of Increased Flights at the Olympia Airport

Video ~ Stop Growth of Olympia Airport. 32:00

Local citizens held a public meeting on November 15, 2022 in Olympia, Washington to alert residents of the threat of daily increased commercial flights at the Olympia Regional Airport. More flights over Olympia and Thurston County could result in 630 additional takeoffs and landings each day! 

Expanded airport operations at the Olympia Airport will have serious health and harmful effects on neighbors and people living and working under the flight paths, as well as economic and environmental effects due to pollution and noise. Port of Olympia Commissioners have jurisdiction over the Olympia Regional Airport and will vote on an Airport Master Plan Update perhaps as early as February 2022. Their vote could lock in the “revised preferred alternative” of increased flights. 

Action: Please Sign the Petition Here to Port of Olympia Commissioners which will soon be delivered to them in person. 

For more information email: [email protected]

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State Actions:

​Washington’s Local News and Democracy Crisis

A timely new report documents the severe decline of Washington’s local news industry and how democracy is suffering as a result.

The League of Women Voters of Washington produced the 133-page report because it’s concerned about how this crisis is affecting civic engagement, public health and even public finance, as research found government costs are higher where there’s no local journalism.

Several state-level proposals to help are expected in the upcoming Legislature, including an extension of tax breaks for newspaper producers and a journalism fellowship program modeled on one in California.

Senator Cantwell and Rep. Dan Newhouse both sponsored the Local Journalism Sustainability Act.

Key Points

• WA State newsroom staffing fell 67%
• Explosion of mis- and disinformation
• Increased partisanship
• Lower voter turnout
• Impact on public health
• Failure to watch over public officials
• People rely on social media for their news

Background

• League of Women Voters Journalism Study
• Seattle Times:New study documents Washington’s local news and democracy crisis 

Action: Read the report and support local news.
The Decline of Local News and Its Impact on Democracy 

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​Elected Leaders and Forest Advocates Gather for First Ever Legacy Forest Summit

On Saturday, December 10th 1:30-3:30pm, the Center for Responsible Forestry (CRF) is hosting the first ever Legacy Forest Summit at the Olympia Center. The address is 222 Columbia St. NW, Olympia WA 98501. This summit is bringing together some of the most prominent forest advocates from across the state to discuss the growing movement to protect “legacy forests” on WA State lands. 
 
Speakers include: 

• Former DNR Commissioner, Peter Goldmark
• Thurston County Commissioners, Tye Menser and Carolina Mejia
• Conservation Northwest’s, Paula Swedeen
• Washington Environmental Council’s, Miguel Perez-Gibson
• Earth Law Center’s, Elizabeth Dunne 
• Center for Responsible Forestry’s, Stephen Kropp
   

CRF’s Executive Director Stephen Kropp explains, “Legacy forests are the old growth of tomorrow. Public land belongs to all of us.Let’s invest in our rural communities and ensure that our public forests have a chance to grow into the climate solutions that our future generations depend on.”
 
At the Legacy Forest Summit, attendees will learn more about why these legacy forests are so important for healthy watersheds and ecoregions. Speakers will discuss exciting new developments in the legacy forest movement. Summit attendees will also have the opportunity to engage in dialogue with speakers about action steps communities can take to protect legacy forests. 
 
Action: To attend the summit, please register at Legacy Forest Summit Registration. 
 
Please email [email protected] for more information.

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Have You Scheduled This Event?

Action Cafe, Every Monday 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.

Register HERE. 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.