Hello and welcome to the first issue newsletter by the Shmita Project Northwest! Whether you have partnered with us from the start of the Shmita year or are connected with members of our community through various connections and events, welcome! Shmita Project Northwest is a collaboration of communities, rooted both within and outside of the Jewish faith, working to bring Shmita values to life in the our region.
Join Earth Ministry/WAIPL on May 10, 7-9pm PT, for a fun night of trivia, celebration, and a chance to support our sacred environmental justice work. All funds raised at the event will directly support Earth Ministry/WAIPL's work to create a just and sustainable future.
Earth Ministry/WAIPL is thrilled to share that our new Executive Director is Rev. AC Churchill (they/them). AC shares our values of putting faith into action for justice and liberation throughout the world and is uniquely qualified to lead us into the future. We can't wait to welcome them in May!
HB 1694 is now law! It allows Washington to tackle toxic PFAS chemical in a broad range of products such as apparel, cosmetics, and firefighter gear by 2025 - the fastest PFAS timeline in the nation.
This year was a short session, meaning bills had just 60 days to make it through the legislature. We helped pass 3 exciting bills through the legislature. Our work in this session also laid the groundwork for multi-year efforts to pass ambitious environmental justice efforts.
Earth Ministry/WAIPL is proud to join with faith leaders across the country in sending a letter calling for President Biden, Senator Schumer, and the U.S. Senate to act with conviction and courage and not to delay enacting the Build Back Better Act which will protect our climate and put our nation on the path of climate justice, environmental justice, and intergenerational justice.
Continued dependence on polluting fossil fuels, especially fracked gas, is not faithful. Join us in supporting an energy code that requires electric heat pump technology for water and space heating in commercial and multifamily buildings. Add your name to Earth Ministry/WAIPL’s clean buildings faith community letter to the Washington State Building Code Council!
Our new legislative action alerts are an opt-in option for those of you who want to be more involved in supporting our bills for environmental justice. We’ll send those who sign up short emails at least once a week with bill updates and timely action opportunities like when to sign in for a hearing or contact your legislator. Sign up here to be added to the distribution list for these legislative advocacy action alerts.
At Earth Ministry/WAIPL’s year-end gathering in December, we looked back and celebrated all we have accomplished together this year. Many thanks to all who attended, and to all of our colleagues, clergy, congregations, advocates, donors, and community members who brought our mission to life over the last year!
Senators Cantwell and Murray and the Northwest delegation recently secured nearly $3 billion in federal funding for imperiled salmon and community investments. In response, Earth Ministry/WAIPL joined with coalition partners to run newspaper ads that thank the senators and ask for their continued leadership in restoring a free-flowing Lower Snake River.
AllCreation.org published a piece by Earth Ministry/WAIPL board member Deirdre Gabbay who speaks to the call of Shmita in our time. Read to hear her vision of holding on by letting go through the paradox of Shmita.
The latest issue of our publication Earth Letter is here! Join Earth Ministry/WAIPL staff and community members as we reflect on our collective successes and continued resistance to fossil fuels.
The Puyallup Tribe of Indians and several community and environmental organizations are appealing the WA Pollution Control Hearings Board’s November decision to uphold Puget Sound Energy’s Tacoma LNG facility’s clean air permit in Pierce County Superior Court. The Puyallup Tribal Council said in a statement. “We were put here to protect these lands and waters and that is what we will continue to do. We will continue the fight. Too much is at stake.”
We have good news: the WA Department of Ecology has released a groundbreaking set of draft recommendations to ban five different classes of toxic chemicals (PFAS, flame retardants, phenolic compounds, phthalates, and PCBs) in multiple categories of commonly used consumer products!
Our community partners at St. Leo's Parish in Tacoma have taken on a beautiful project in their creation care work by caring for honeybees across Pierce County. Pastoral Assistant for Social Justice, Rick Samyn, shares a little bit about the project with us and invites the Earth Ministry/WAIPL community to join St. Leo's Parish in this project with the message below.
