Knowing that tribal consultation is a moral issue, we are calling on the Tacoma City Council to do better at listening to the Puyallup Tribe’s requests to protect the Tacoma Tideflats. Please join us in an action of allyship.
Earth Ministry/WAIPL and our partners in the Protect the Tacoma Tideflats Coalition have been working for years with community members to pass strong land use regulations for the Tideflats. Following the lead of the Puyallup Tribe, we continue to ask the City Council for protection from both the expansion of existing fossil fuel facilities AND the construction of new polluting projects
In April, the council delayed the Tideflats non-interim regulations process by sending the policy to the Infrastructure, Planning, and Sustainability (IPS) Committee for further review. This delay, requested by industry stakeholders, was granted despite months of work that the Planning Commission had put into the strong original recommendations.
On August 25, the IPS Committee is holding a meeting for government-to-government feedback from the Puyallup Tribe on the non-interim regulations process. In the lead up to the meeting, Earth Ministry/WAIPL is asking people of faith to send a message to the IPS Committee asking them to listen to the Puyallup Tribe and incorporate their requests.
As the faith community, we seek to be in right relationship with the first people of Tacoma. We want to see our leaders do likewise, centering environmental justice and taking meaningful action in this time of climate crisis.
Thank you for raising a moral voice for accountability in this consultation process.