Above:
London Fletcher, 11, of Blaine, Washington, delivered a fiery speech at a rally for the
remaining 74 Southern Resident orcas on the steps of the Temple of Justice in
Olympia on Friday.
“We
can no longer wait for the gears of bureaucracy,” Fletcher said.
By
Janine Gates
Little
Hollywood
https://janineslittlehollywood.blogspot.com
On behalf of the climate and Earth’s creatures, youth
voices are rising. No longer can they be ignored and no longer will they be
silenced.
London Fletcher, 11, of Blaine, Washington, wants to be a marine biologist specializing in cetaceans.
In an article written two years ago for Dam Sense, Fletcher wrote, “Do not be distracted by my age. Please pay attention instead to the facts that we all need to know about our salmon and our killer whales.”
In an article written two years ago for Dam Sense, Fletcher wrote, “Do not be distracted by my age. Please pay attention instead to the facts that we all need to know about our salmon and our killer whales.”
A marine activist for years, Fletcher is president and founder of The Blue
Advocates Group, an ocean awareness organization for children and teens in
Blaine, as well as a responder for the Whatcom Marine Mammal Stranding Network
and a research assistant at the Orca Research Trust.
She has visited the Snake River dams and in August testified
in front of the Southern Resident Orca Task Force convened by Washington State
Governor Jay Inslee.
Inslee received a report by the task force on Friday and said he will review its 36 recommendations.
No one appeared to be distracted during Fletcher’s fiery speech about the remaining 74 Southern Resident orcas at a rally in Olympia on Friday.
In fact, her words brought tears to the eyes of some observers as she delivered them on the steps of the Temple of Justice.
Inslee received a report by the task force on Friday and said he will review its 36 recommendations.
No one appeared to be distracted during Fletcher’s fiery speech about the remaining 74 Southern Resident orcas at a rally in Olympia on Friday.
In fact, her words brought tears to the eyes of some observers as she delivered them on the steps of the Temple of Justice.
“We can no longer wait for the gears of
bureaucracy,” Fletcher said, her words loud and clear.
“Governor, I come to you again today on behalf of
the critically endangered Southern Resident Killer Whales of the Salish Sea,
the 700 thousand people who have signed our petition to breach the lower four
Snake River dams, and as the spokesperson of the generation who will inherit
the problems stemming from the decision you make today.
“Mr. Governor, in your inaugural speech, you said
you want to reinvest in ourselves, in our future and in our children’s future,
and to do these things we must act in a bipartisan way. You said that our core
mission is serving the people of Washington, and every single thing we do
should reflect that mission. Well, Mr. Governor, the people of Washington have
spoken and you’re right, it is time to remember who we are as a state.
“Now, I must ask, who are we as leaders? Is your
administration going to be remembered as the orca killers? Or the ones who stopped
the relentless march of extinction in its tracks and set sail on a course
toward a brighter future?
“Mr. Governor, I ask again, what legacy will you
leave behind for my generation? Will it be a legacy of crippling debt? Will it
be a legacy of mass extinction and barren waters? Or will it be a legacy of
hope and prosperity?
“…the legacy you leave behind will be defined by
your bravery or by your cowardice. That choice is yours to make, Mr. Governor,”
she continued.
Recommendation 28 of the Orca Task Force suggests
suspending the viewing of Southern Resident orcas in Puget Sound for the next
three to five years.
Fletcher took issue with this and other recommendations:
“The laundry list of recommendations and the ‘bold’
last minute introduction and passage of wording proposing a meaningless
moratorium of a benign activity while skirting the major problem for these
whales – salmon population crashes throughout their range – is appalling.
“Mr. Governor, I implore you to do what is right so
your grandchildren will be able to say on this day, ‘My Grandfather stood for
what is just and what is right.’
“Today, I am young and life is long, and my purpose
is clear. The days of killing our rivers, streams, fish and precious Southern
Resident Killer Whales are numbered and I will never give up this fight.
“Today I made good on my pledge to fight for the
orca and I hope that you stand with folks like me, and those you see before you
today on the steps of our State Capitol who come to beg for the lives of these
precious animals.
“Mr. Governor, the evil of the extinction and
extermination of a noble and sentient family of whales unlike any other in the
world is upon you.
Above: An “Orca Formation of Mourning” rally for the remaining 74 Southern Resident orcas was held on the steps of the Temple of Justice on Friday in Olympia. It was organized by the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, Portland.
Little Hollywood wrote about the Southern Resident Orca Task Force recommendations and Friday rally at http://janineslittlehollywood.blogspot.com/2018/11/rally-for-74-orca-task-force.html
