This guest opinion piece about salmon restoration was written by Rep Debra Lekanoff. Photo Credit: Ingrid Taylar
Make salmon restoration a policy and budget priority
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Speaking up for Clean Buildings
The Earth Ministry/WAIPL community joined with over 75 groups and 4600 individuals who submitted supportive written comment for updating Washington’s building codes for new residential buildings.
Harvest Hoopla Wrap-Up
We’ve just wrapped up Earth Ministry/Washington Interfaith Power & Light’s Harvest Hoopla Tour! After three months, six cities, seven events, over 120 attendees, and almost $12,000 dollars raised, all of us at Earth Ministry/WAIPL have full hearts. We started this tour with several goals in mind: community building, celebration and joy, and fundraising for our collective work.
Modernizing the Columbia River Treaty: Where do we go from here? Webinar Recording
Earth Ministry/WAIPL is honored to to have co-hosted an interactive webinar regarding the Columbia River Treaty on October 4 with leaders representing Columbia Basin tribes and Save Our wild Salmon.
Salmon advocates ask to include healthy ecosystems in Columbia River Treaty
This article on the advocacy to add healthy ecosystems as a core element of the Columbia River Treaty includes a couple quotations from our advocacy Director, Jessica Zimmerle! Photo Credit: Gord Mckenna
Fracked Gas is Not Faithful: Support clean energy homes
You may remember a victory we celebrated earlier this year when the Washington State Buildings Code Council (SBCC) passed the most climate-friendly building codes in the nation! Starting in July 2023, all new commercial and large multifamily buildings will be required to be built with high-efficiency electric heat pumps for water and space heating.
Gov Inslee and Sen. Murray Lower Snake River Dam Replacement Report
In October 2021 Governor Jay Inslee and Senator Patty Murray announced a joint federal-state process to develop and deliver a comprehensive solution to protect and recover Lower Snake River salmon and invest in the region’s communities. Photo credit: Richard Saxon
PSE requests rate increases to pay for Tacoma LNG
For many years, the Earth Ministry/WAIPL community has advocated against PSE’s Tacoma LNG facility in solidarity with the Puyallup Tribe who oppose the project due to its violation of their treaty rights. While the Tribe and several environmental groups continue to fight the project’s clean air permit in court, PSE now wants to recover costs associated with Tacoma LNG’s construction. We know that #FrackedGasIsNotFaithful. Significantly raising energy bills for Washingtonians to pay for more fossil fuel infrastructure does not embody care for our communities, benefit our shared air and waters, or bring us towards a more just future.
MNCJ’s Sacred Earth Fair a Success
The Bellingham Multifaith Network for Climate Justice (MNCJ)'s Sacred Earth Fair on July 31 was a wonderful time for building community and resilience in the midst of the climate crisis. Click to see pictures from the fair!
Help get clean fuels over the finish line
You may remember how we celebrated passing a Clean Fuel Standard through the Washington State Legislature last year. This bill was one of our legislative priorities for four long years, throughout which the Earth Ministry/WAIPL community kept showing up to articulate our moral responsibility to reduce transportation pollution and create more healthy, equitable options for how we get around. Now, we’re carrying forward this persistence to see the bill through to the finish line. Rulemaking about how to implement the Clean Fuel Standard is underway and we’re advocating for it to be as strong as possible. Submit your comment today!
Columbia River’s salmon are at the core of ancient religion
This article on salmon's spiritual significance to Inland Northwest Native Nations was published by the AP on August 15, 2022 Photo credit: Sarah McDevitt
Faith communities ally for climate justice; to hold Sacred Earth Fair
"For the believer as well as the nonbeliever, the plagues of heat waves, droughts, wildfires, floods and storms — extreme weather events brought about by climate change — are bedeviling the environment and the lives of people all over the world. The crisis is forcing communities to question their relationships to nature and the world around them. As environmental consciousness grows, members of faith communities are among those seeking to engage with the reality of the climate crisis."
July 2022 Shmita Project NW Newsletter
Welcome to the second issue of our online newsletter! In this issue, we feature the self-assessment that took place in June, in which we invited our partners to reflect with us on “roses, buds, and thorns” in their Shmita Year 5782 activities. Our goal was to open up a conversation around projects our community has been working on this year, including what was successful, what felt difficult, and what ideas were proposed by not implemented
Earth Ministry/WAIPL’s Harvest Hoopla Tour
This summer and fall we’ll be traveling around Washington state to connect with the Earth Ministry/WAIPL community! Our Harvest Hoopla tour will center relationship building, celebration, and raising funds for our collective work of turning faith into action for environmental justice. Join us online or in-person in Tacoma, Olympia, Seattle, Yakima, Walla Walla, and Spokane.
Spirit of the Waters Totem Pole Journey: Challenge 2.0 Three Part Series
Paths to Understanding's Challenge 2.0 series recently featured conversations with Native leaders during the Snake River to Salish Sea Spirit of the Waters Totem Pole Journey in a three part series.