Artwork credit: © A. Cyaltsa Finkbonner, 2023 Starting Sept 23rd, 2023, the intertribal nonprofit Se’Si’Le’ will join with coalition partners, including Native Organizers Alliance, Nimíipuu Protecting the Environment, and KHIMSTONIK begin an eight-day journey across Washington, Oregon, and Idaho (September 23 - October 1). The journey starts…
Restoring the Lower Snake River is the cornerstone of a regional salmon recovery strategy. By taking action during the 2023 legislative session, WA State can help lead this holistic effort which has the potential for far reaching impacts including the recovery of endangered salmon and steelhead, investment in transportation, agriculture, and clean energy infrastructure.
By Catherine Ferguson SNJM The Fig Tree, Feb 2023 At the 2023 Eastern Washington Legislative Conference on Jan. 21, legislative advocates from three faith-based organizations shared insights on bills that address issues of concern to faith communities during the Washington State Legislature, which is a long session this year running from Jan. 9 to April 23. Many bills being proposed in the legislature have support from the organizations.
The faith community has been asked to show up in solidarity with Lummi tribal members, the House of Tears Carvers, intertribal nonprofit Se’Si’Le, and Native communities across the Pacific Northwest to support a Totem Pole Journey uplifting the Indigenous-led movement to remove the Lower Snake River dams and restore the health of salmon and orcas.
Washington celebrated an exciting win this Earth Day when the Washington Building Codes Council passed groundbreaking building codes for new commercial and large multi-family buildings! Starting July 2023, new commercial and multi-family residential buildings will be required to be built with high-efficiency electric heat pumps for water and space heating.
On Saturday, April 2, people gathered in Olympia to show their support for a comprehensive solution to breaching the Lower Snake River dams that will restore salmon populations and invest in communities along the river. We were honored to hear Rabbi Seth Goldstein of Temple Beth Hatfiloh speak about the sacred work that is salmon recovery and how it aligns with the Shmita year.
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.
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!
People of faith have been in a prayerful stance of solidarity supporting the Puyallup Tribe and co-litigants' appeal of PSE's immoral project. We are incredibly disappointed that the PCHB failed to make the right decision to uphold the Tribe’s request for further review of this dirty and dangerous fracked gas facility.
The values that ground us as people of faith call us to prevent the pollution of the Columbia River River with what could be the nation’s largest coal export terminal. Not only that, but this moral faith foundation compels us to…
Earth Ministry/WAIPL Executive Director, LeeAnne Beres, partnered up with Board Member Rev. John Rosenberg to share how faith communities saying no to coal export in the Northwest and turning their attention to federal coal leasing. You can provide your input…
