Recommended Actions for the Week of 20170828

Source:  Lummi Nation, Riveters Collective

Description: The Atlantic salmon polluting our waters are not yet contained.  Lummi Nation’s fishing fleet spent the weekend trying to capture the Atlantic salmon, but there are still many more to catch.  You can help by making 3 calls!!

Background: Over the weekend of August 19^th, up to 300,000 Atlantic salmon escaped from a net pen off of Cypress Island, posing a threat to imperiled native salmon and the broader Salish Sea ecosystem.  The Lummi Nation declared a state of emergency on August 24^th and encouraged tribal fisherman to help contain the spill by fishing for the non-native Atlantic salmon.  The Governor has directed the Department of Ecology to put on hold any new permits for net pens, but more resources are needed to contain the immediate threat.

Contact Information:  

• Senator Kevin Ranker: (360) 786-7678
• Commissioner of Public Lands Hilary Franz: (360) 902-1001
• Governor Jay Inslee: (360) 902-4111

Suggested Script:  Hi, this is [name] from [city/county], and we need your help in northwest Washington. The invasive Atlantic fish spill is still not contained despite the hard work of Lummi Nation’s fishing fleet. Please put all available resources into fixing this problem.

Additional Information:

NPR: Environmental Nightmare After Thousands of Atlantic Salmon Escape Fish Farm

Seattle Times: Farmed salmon ‘heading to every river in Puget Sound’

Lummi Indian Business Council: Lummi declares state of emergency to address Atlantic salmon spill in treaty fishing waters

Source:  Re Sources for Sustainable Communities

Description: Whatcom County’s temporary moratorium on permits for fossil fuel export projects is set to expire soon and must be extended by September 26^th.  The County Council needs to hear that the community supports them in maintaining this moratorium.

Background:  Whatcom County continues to face proposals to export fracked gas and tar sands via pipelines through our farmland and rivers and across the Salish Sea to overseas markets. Right now, the county is conducting a legal study to develop tools to protect public health and safety from increases in rail, pipeline, and tanker shipments. In the meantime, companies like Williams Pipeline are barred from applying for permits under a temporary moratorium on permits for unrefined fossil fuel export projects.

Contact Information:  Click here to email County Council members.

Suggested Script: 

Subject: Extend the moratorium on permits for unrefined fossil fuel export projects

Honorable Council members,

As a voting citizen of Whatcom County, I urge you to extend the moratorium on permits for unrefined fossil fuel export projects by September 26th.

Lifting the moratorium now would allow companies like Williams, SSA Marine, Kinder Morgan and Petrogas to apply for permits and obtain vested rights, exempting them from new development regulations.

I support action to the greatest extent of your power to protect the people and natural resources of Whatcom County from risky expansions to export fracked gas, tar sands, crude oil, propane or coal through Cherry Point.

I hope you will take further action following completion of the legal study underway. Thank you for serving our communities.

[Your full name]
[Your city, voting address optional]

Additional Information:

Bellingham Herald: Whatcom Council approves second 6-month ban on crude oil exports

Whatcom County Interim Ordinance: Imposing an Interim Moratorium on the Acceptance and Processing of Applications and Permits for New or Expanded Facilities in the Cherry Point Urban Growth Area The Primary Purpose of Which Would Be the Shipment of Unrefined Fossil Fuels Not to Be Processed at Cherry Point

Sightline Institute: The Thin Green Line

Source:  RC Member

Description: Tweet/Call/Write to Ask AG Bob Ferguson to Drop the Culvert Case

Background: Many culverts under state owned roads are too hard for salmon to jump into.  The court ordered the state to fix them.  The state appealed and lost.  Now AG Ferguson is appealing to the supreme court.  We want our state tax dollars to be used to fix culverts, not fight court battles.  http://kuow.org/post/he-took-trump-now-he-s-taking-tribes-over-salmon

Contact Information:
Attorney General Ferguson,

• tweet @AGOWA
• (360) 753-6200
• email contact form

Suggested Script:

• tweet: @AGOWA use our tax dollars to fix culverts, not fight a losing battle #salmon
• Call/email “Hi my name is __________ and I am a constituent from _________, WA.  I am {calling/writing} to ask Mr. Ferguson to drop the culvert case. Use our tax dollars for fixing culverts and opening salmon habitat, not fighting a lengthy court battle.

Additional Information:
https://nwtreatytribes.org/tribes-disappointed-state-culvert-appeal-supreme-court/
http://kuow.org/post/he-took-trump-now-he-s-taking-tribes-over-salmon

“I’m 78 right now and still in the courtroom all day, still talking about fixing the salmon problem,” Frank said. “It never seems to get done, and we’re running out of time.” – Billy Frank Jr., 2009

Source: 350.org

Description: Earlier this week, two Harvard researchers published a peer-reviewed study showing that Exxon knew about global warming as early as 1970s but funded an aggressive misinformation campaign to delay climate action, similar to tactics used by the tobacco industry.  We need to urge our Attorney General and others across the U.S. to step up to investigate Exxon Mobil.

Background:  In February, current and former employees of Exxon Mobil filed suit, alleging that the company deceived them about the financial risks of climate change, which they argue affected the value of the shares they’d purchased.  In July, three California communities sued 37 oil, coal and gas companies, including Exxon Mobil, for contributing to sea level rise while engaging in a “coordinated, multifront effort to conceal and deny their own knowledge of those threats.”  Finally, the Attorneys General of Massachusetts and New York are continuing to investigate whether Exxon Mobil may have violated racketeering, consumer protection or investor protection statutes.  Responding to questions about whether they misled consumers, shareholders of the public, Exxon Mobil urged: “Read the comments and make up your own mind.” The Harvard researchers did just that.  In their peer-reviewed analysis, the first known empirical analysis of Exxon Mobil’s 40-year history of climate change communications, they found that: “Exxon Mobil misled the public about the state of climate science and its implications.  Available documents show a systematic, quantifiable discrepancy between what Exxon Mobil’s scientists and executives discussed about climate change in private and in academic circles, and what is presented to the general public.

Contact Information: Attorney General Ferguson, call (360) 753-6200, or use this email contact form

Suggested Script: My name is [insert name] and I live in [city, County, state].  A new Harvard study reveals that Exxon committed a vast coverup of climate science. I urge you to open an investigation into Exxon’s misleading of the public and their investors on the risks and impacts of climate change.

Additional Information:

NY Times: Exxon Misled the Public on Climate Change, Study Says

LA Times column: A new study shows how Exxon Mobil downplayed climate change when it knew the problem was real

Environmental Research Letters: Assessing ExxonMobil’s climate change communications (click here for the authors’ summary posted in the NYTimes Opinion Pages)

Source: Jen Hoffman’s Action List/Kathy Hennessy

Action: Advocate for two bills protecting the special counsel.

Background: ABC news story and Time have good articles. 

Contact Information: Your 2 senators (lookup or leave message).

• Senator Patty Murray, WA (206) 553-5545, DC (202) 224-2621
• Senator Maria Cantwell, WA (206) 220-6400, DC (202) 224-3441

Suggested Script: Hi. I am calling because I approve of the special counsel investigation into Russia ties, and would like [name] to support two pieces of legislation that protect Robert Mueller from presidential dismissal. S. 1735 (sponsored by Sen. Graham) and S. 1741 (by Sen. Tillis) both check the president’s power. Which does [name] support? (pause) Will [name] co-sponsor one or both of these bipartisan efforts? Thank you.

Additional Information: Who is Robert Mueller

Source: Jen Hoffman’s Action List/Kathy Hennessy

Description: NY Times: “President Trump on Friday pardoned Joe Arpaio, the former Arizona sheriff whose aggressive efforts to hunt down and detain undocumented immigrants made him a national symbol of the divisive politics of immigration and earned him a criminal contempt conviction.”

His illegal treatment of Latino people and neglect of abused children must be righted.

Action: Counteract Arpaio pardon by donating to grassroots justice organizations in his home state (in his name, if you wish).

Visit and donate to:

• Puente Movement
• LUCHA
• Defenders of Children

Source: Jen Hoffman’s Action List/Kathy Hennessy

Description: Call your US Representative and ask them to co-sponsor House Resolution 496.

Background: Here are 16 times Trump condoned racism. 

Contact Information: Your one rep (lookup or leave message).

• Representative Rick Larsen (WA 2nd Legislative District), WA 360-733-4500, DC (202) 225-2605
• Representative Suzan DelBene (WA 1st Legislative District), WA (360) 416-7879, DC

Suggested Script:  Hi. I am from [ZIP] and deeply concerned about the president’s apparent tolerance for white supremacist views in his cabinet and racist aggression in our communities. I am calling to request that [name] join with fellow House representatives in co-sponsoring H.Res 496, which censures the president for his handling of the Charlottesville violence. Can I count on [name] to sign it?

Additional Information: Here is the list of Congressmen and women who have co-sponsored H. Res 496.  

Source:  Jen Hoffman’s Action List/Kathy Hennessy

Description:  President Trump on Friday directed the Pentagon to ban the recruitment of openly transgender people, but is leaving it to military leaders to determine whether individuals already in the armed forces should be allowed to continue to serve.

The presidential memorandum signed by Trump will also prevent the military from providing medical treatment for sex- reassignment surgeries.

Background: Washington Post and Politico have good articles.

Contact Information: Your 3 MoCs (red or blue) (lookup or leave message).

• Representative Rick Larsen (WA 2nd Legislative District), WA 360-733-4500, DC (202) 225-2605
• Representative Suzan DelBene (WA 1st Legislative District), WA (360) 416-7879, DC
• Senator Patty Murray, WA (206) 553-5545, DC (202) 224-2621
• Senator Maria Cantwell, WA (206) 220-6400, DC (202) 224-3441

Suggested Script: Hi, I am from [ZIP] and oppose the president’s new and unwanted order that bans trans people from serving in the military. Can you tell me what [name] is doing to oppose this action and defend the rights and equality of fellow citizens?

Additional Information: “Care for transgender people in the military would add $8.4 million to the total medical costs of all active duty service members, according to an analysis last year by RAND Corp. That’s a little more than 0.1 percent of what the military spends on medical care for all service members. To put that in perspective, it’s about 0.0014 percent of Trump’s total defense budget proposal.  Further, A 2014 study estimated that 15,500 trans people were currently serving in the U.S. military.”  source