Carbon Free Thurston Efforts Underway

Above: Tom Crawford, chair of the Thurston Climate Action Team, stands near a City of Olympia stormwater bypass pump station in downtown Olympia near Capitol Lake. Crawford is working on a regional climate action plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. 

By Janine Gates

Little Hollywood

https://janineslittlehollywood.blogspot.com

Regional elected officials met January 31 to discuss the threat of sea level rise and begin planning efforts to save downtown Olympia.

After being presented with sobering predictions and graphics showing most of downtown Olympia as we know it under water, Thurston County Commissioner John Hutchings asked: is there a natural, self-correcting way to mitigate some of the damage caused by climate change?

His question fell right into the lap of many climate change activists who work hard to educate anyone who will listen, improve public policy, and change personal habits to reduce contributions to greenhouse gas emissions.

The Thurston County Commissioners, who also act as the county board of health, will face a myriad of health impacts that will result with climate change: poor air quality,  asthma, heat stroke, food and water contamination, stress, barriers to health services, and issues with mold, bugs and disease.

Although a regional sea level rise response effort is currently underway, one group is working toward the development of a more holistic, regional climate action plan.

Carbon Free Thurston, a subgroup of the nonprofit Thurston Climate Action Team (TCAT) led by Tom Crawford, is actively working to influence the cities of Olympia, Lacey and Tumwater and Thurston County to focus on community-wide reductions in greenhouse gases. 

The group will participate in recommending a set of clean energy strategies to help the region hit greenhouse gas emission reduction targets.

Their efforts seem to be working so far.

In light of a meltdown on the federal level where it seems no action is going to take place, TCAT members met with regional city staff and attended council meetings and budget hearings to support the setting aside of money in 2018 budgets for climate action planning.

The City of Olympia contributed $80,000 and the City of Tumwater contributed $40,000. The City of Lacey has expressed interest in participating but has not yet decided on funding toward the project.

The group is still looking to Lacey to contribute at least $80,000. 

For their part, the Thurston County commissioners have set aside a half hour on their February 28 work session agenda to discuss the issue and possible funding.

It is estimated that the total cost to develop a regional plan would be $200,000.

Crawford, a retired consultant on Native American curriculum and education and information technology issues, addressed the Olympia city council during public comment on Tuesday night and thanked them for their financial commitment. 

Above: Andy Haub, City of Olympia water resources director, and Lacey Deputy Mayor Cynthia Pratt visit after the sea level rise planning meeting of regional elected officials on January 31. Last year, Lacey adopted a carbon reduction and resiliency plan that included community wide goals and possible strategies for reducing carbon emissions.

The Thurston Regional Planning Council’s sustainability plan, Sustainable Thurston, includes a goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050. The numbers are based on recommendations of the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

“We’re way behind….We’re not going to even make the 2020 targets because we’re just starting to plan. If we keep the present policies in place, our total won’t increase greenhouse gas emissions, but they won’t decrease them either. We have to start significant action now,” Crawford said during a recent interview with Little Hollywood.

Crawford says the region doesn’t need to start from scratch to get this done: the homegrown Climate and Clean Energy Work Group of Thurston Thrives has already done a lot of the homework.

Thurston Thrives is a county-wide initiative composed of community members who work together to improve public health and safety.

A January 12 email from the Climate and Clean Energy Work Group to county commissioners and city councilmembers of Olympia, Lacey and Tumwater outlines a comprehensive list of climate planning recommendations.

“We believe a regional plan will provide a good foundation to regional action…this collective impact model is central to our work…and supports the physical and social health of our residents, and the health and vibrancy of our economy,” it says.

Crawford served as chair of the work group for about two years and is still an active member. He knows climate action planning is an overwhelming concept, but says getting to work on a regional plan dovetails well with current sea level rise planning efforts by the City of Olympia, the LOTT Cleanwater Alliance and the Port of Olympia.

“Sea level rise planning is just one element….A regional plan has other benefits. Most helpful would be to get Puget Sound Energy off coal and then getting them to produce carbon free alternatives. Other climate action planning angles are to make it feasible for more city residents to drive electric vehicles and obtain energy efficient retrofits to their homes.”

Puget Sound Energy says it intends to shut down four Colstrip coal plants in Montana by 2027, but for many, that’s not soon enough.

“That is the biggest part of the solution. We will not be able to achieve our targets without that happening…. Nature is telling us you can’t do this anymore. Unless we address the root causes, we’re not going to get ahead of climate change. It’s going to overwhelm us,” said Crawford.

Thurston County Emissions

Identifying the most effective opportunities to reduce carbon emissions in our community can come from the data. 

The Clean Energy Transition/Stockholm Environment Institute did a recent study in October 2017, developing an energy map and carbon analysis for Thurston County. This group also did a similar analysis for the City of Olympia.

The carbon analysis includes the use of coal, petroleum, natural gas, and hydro, and indicates what kinds of actions to take to reduce emissions based on current national fuel efficiency standards and Washington State clean energy standards.

New standards would include cleaner transportation fuels and a reduction in vehicle miles traveled (VMT).

Most of our county greenhouse gas emissions, 44 percent, come from vehicles. Fifty three percent comes from the built environment.

In terms of one’s individual carbon footprint in Thurston County, car fuel takes up, on average, 17 percent of the pie, and electricity takes up 36 percent.

Single occupancy vehicles are still the preferred mode of commuting for Thurston County residents despite carpooling, bike-to-work, and public transit efforts.

According to the Thurston Regional Planning Council, single occupancy vehicle commuting has actually increased, possibly reflecting the impact of urban sprawl.

Housing is a major component of the issue. Residential emissions make up 30 percent of county’s total emissions. Because rental units equal 34 percent of affordable housing units, providing incentives for landlords to invest in efficiencies is one piece. 

The county’s total cost for energy for residential is $166 million a year.

For more information about Thurston Climate Action Team and Carbon Free Thurston, contact Tom Crawford, tom@thurstonclimateaction.org or (360) 280-0242, or www.thurstonclimateaction.org.

Thurston Thrives: Begun in 2013 by the county’s board of health, community members representing local businesses, governments, foundations, nonprofits and neighborhoods are involved with eight action groups to examine the root causes undermining community health. Since 2015, it has operated under a public-private council. For more information, go to www.thurstonthrives.org

Above: City of Olympia Mayor Cheryl Selby, left, speaks with Olympia City Councilmember Lisa Parshley after the January 31 sea level rise response planning meeting. Other elected officials representing Thurston County, the Port of Olympia, the City of Tumwater, the City of Lacey, and the LOTT Cleanwater Alliance were also present.

Indigenous Occupation Continues at State Capitol

Above: Dakota Case, Puyallup, and Eva Ingram, Santee Sioux Niabrara Nebraska, start Tuesday morning with a blessing on the grounds of the Washington State Capitol Campus. Ingram, left, is one of seven women staying in a tarpee overnight outside the Legislative Building.

By Janine Gates

Little Hollywood

https://janineslittlehollywood.blogspot.com

Drumming, singing, prayer and ceremony, along with the burning of sage and cedar, continued on day three Wednesday as several indigenous women occupy the land and spend nights in a tarpee on the Washington State Capitol Campus. Supporters are always present. 

At about 4:00 p.m. Tuesday, a second notice was delivered to occupiers to vacate the grounds or face arrest. 

Everyone was respectful as two Department of Enterprise Services representatives handed out the notice, explaining that they just wanted consistency in the application of the rules. The notice cites Washington Administrative Code regarding the prohibition of camping and a process for obtaining a permit. 

According to the notice, the Department of Enterprise Services is open to issuing the group a permit to erect their structures and displays on a nearby location that doesn't damage Capitol grounds.

Robert Satiacum, Puyallup, and others spoke with the representatives and showed them a copy of the Medicine Creek Treaty. That interaction was videotaped on a live Facebook feed by Angie Spencer.

On Wednesday, they were served another notice and were told it would be the final one. The announcement was made that everyone would be subject to arrest, but the order was unclear as to where observers could stand and not be arrested. 

As of Wednesday evening, there was no police presence.

Eva Ingram, Santee Sioux Niabrara Nebraska, of Seattle has been sleeping in the tarpee. She runs her own company, Independent Two Spirit Media, and explained why she was there to Little Hollywood.

“We are here so we can pray over this land – as indigenous people we look to our women as life givers and life bringers. You as women teach our young ones the ways that we should live, and bring them up that this land is for you, and you are to respect it, the four-legged, the two-legged...and that’s the power that the life bringers and life givers hold. It’s more power than any male will ever understand. So that’s something that we needed here. There’s never been in history seven women to occupy a tarpee or teepee or any kind of structure in front of a Capitol Building in the world. No matter what happens, we made history,” she said. 

Ingram and supporters say 2018 is the time for action against the climate crisis. 

The occupation is also to bring awareness of the Liquid Natural Gas (LNG) plant being constructed by Puget Sound Energy at the Port of Tacoma on Puyallup Tribal land. The plant, which will serve natural gas customers and maritime transportation needs, does not yet have all the proper permits. Authorities say the permits will continue to be obtained until it is scheduled to open in 2019.

Dakota Case, Puyallup, explained how the LNG will further threaten the Puyallup tribal way of life.

“We live there, right at the mouth of the river. The Tacoma City Council allowed PSE to do their own environmental impact statement and the site is on top of a 70 acre solvent plume – a Superfund site - that’s over an aquifer...I don’t know how they got the dirt samples clean enough to present them…it’s on top of a leaking arsenic site and they’re trying to figure out how to clean it up. How they got past everything is beyond me….

“The toxic air pollutants will emit 81 pounds of ammonia a day at peak, but they only did the environmental impact statement at 50 percent…It goes up into the air and will come back down right into our water. The air quality in the City of Tacoma is so polluted that we have one of the highest cancers rates in the State of Washington.”

He says that in four more years, there will be no more salmon.

“Our elders are coming forward and saying it’s a salmon estuary, that’s stated in the land claim settlement. The pH balance is already off in our water – our fish are having a hard time accumulating at the mouth of the river before they head up stream. They’re not able to spawn so we have to gut them to get the eggs out of there and fertilize the river manually instead of them letting them do it the natural way….Only twenty five percent of our salmon run is original, the rest is imported. The fish farms and the LNG are a threat to us so we’re trying to set up a government to government to negotiate. 

“Enough is enough – we’re protecting our part of the Salish Sea....”

As our interview concluded in the still of night, the rhythmic sound of rain and indigenous drumming and singing got louder.

Case encouraged Governor Jay Inslee to come out from his office or the nearby Governor’s Mansion to talk with them, hoping the drumming and singing was loud enough for him to hear.

Above: The Washington State Capitol Building and tarpee occupied by several indigenous women on Wednesday evening.

PSE Investigates Electrical Load of Olympia Marijuana Operation

By Janine Unsoeld

www.janineslittlehollywood.blogspot.com

Puget Sound Energy has completed its investigation into electrical loading issues at a home in a northeast neighborhood in Olympia. The home is alleged by a neighbor to be used for a commercial marijuana grow operation, and not a collective garden as the resident says. 

The Thurston County Narcotics Task Force made an unannounced visit to the home on July 7 and found the marijuana operation in compliance with that of a state licensed collective garden.

The neighbor, Melinda Spencer, believes that recent utility line fires were caused by the operation next door to her home. Through telephone calls and emails since June, she requested information and assistance from city code enforcement, law enforcement, and Puget Sound Energy. Finally, she addressed the Olympia city council on August 18.

Amy Tousley, Puget Sound Energy's (PSE) municipal liaison manager and Bryan McConaughy, PSE senior local government representative, wrote a letter today to Olympia city manager Steve Hall and council members explaining their investigation and recommendations. The letter does not delve into the possible reason for the electrical loading issues.

In late August, PSE installed a volt recorder meter to conduct readings at Spencer’s home and that of her neighbor’s. 

 

The letter states that Spencer’s home readings were determined to be well within normal swing limits for electrical usage. 

The readings at the neighbor’s house,  “…indicated a steady state of electrical load with high fluctuations well above electrical tolerances. This type of usage demand does not allow the equipment to cool. Our investigation also determined that the existing 100 amp circuit panel for (the address) is not sufficient to...meet the load being placed upon the equipment. To meet the existing load, PSE recommends that the circuit panel be increased to a 300 amp meter base. It is PSE’s assessment that without improvements to the service line and circuit panel, existing and additional increases in electrical load will continue to affect the service….”

To address the load, PSE recommends the installation of a larger wire for the service, replacement of the mast-head and anchoring for the new service wire, and an upgrade of the circuit panel.

The customer is required to contact PSE Customer Construction Services to submit an application for a service upgrade. 

“If PSE were to make improvements to the service line without the masthead and circuit panel being upgraded, there will more than likely be continued service issues at this location including the potential for a structural fire.”

PSE has contacted the property owner to explain the issues associated with the service to the property, and has sent the customer living at the rental home a letter informing him of his options.  Those options are to obtain the services of an electrician and submit an application to PSE for improvements, curtail the additional load being placed onto the system, or disconnect the electrical service due to ongoing safety concerns.

The letter places the burden on the city to address the underlying issue or what may or may not be going on at the property in question, and suggests that the city request access to the home in order to ensure that any alterations to the existing circuit panel are compliant with code.

“We are also concerned about rumors of an expansion of the ancillary use to the detached structure on the parcel….We greatly appreciate our partnership with the City to ensure proper permits are obtained prior to any expansion occurring.” 

After city manager Steve Hall briefly reviewed the PSE letter with councilmembers, Councilmember Julie Hankins asked a couple of follow up questions about grow operations in a residential area, which prompted a longer conversation about referring the issue to the city's Land Use committee and the city’s Planning Commission for further review.

For more information about this case, go to Little Hollywood at www.janineslittlehollywood.blogspot.com, and use the search engine to type in key words. Three previous articles are dated August 18 and August 23, 2015.

Editor’s Note: Although Puget Sound Energy’s letter to the city manager and councilmembers mentions the address of the home in question, Little Hollywood is choosing not to print it. Little Hollywood initially printed it the evening of August 18, but chose to retract the address the next day. Little Hollywood does not believe the address is relevant, as the issue is one that is widespread throughout the city, and one that will need to be addressed.

Didn't They Get the Press Release?

 

Above: Advertising works!

Didn't They Get the Press Release?

by Janine Unsoeld
www.janineslittlehollywood.blogspot.com

Olympia light show activists struck again, broadcasting messages such as "Public Power Yes," "End Corporate Power," and "Sold To PSE," this time highlighting The Olympian building on Bethel Street, earlier this evening. No one was apparently available to comment within The Olympian offices.

Drivers seeing the messages honked their acknowledgement, passersby asked questions, and two police officers stopped by to check on the situation. The officers left within a minute of their arrival, smiling and waving to nearby photographers. 

The Olympian is owned by the McClatchy Company and has taken a position against Thurston County's Proposition 1, the same position held by Puget Sound Energy, the for-profit multi-national corporation that currently serves Thurston County.

The Thurston Public Power Initiative, a grassroots group of citizen activists, encourages citizens to vote yes on Thurston County Proposition 1 this November 6th. The initiative authorizes the Thurston County Public Utility District (PUD) to own and operate electric distribution and generation facilities.

For more information, go to www.ThurstonPublicPower.org.

Despite the Rain, The Message is Clear

by Janine Unsoeld
www.janineslittlehollywood.blogspot.com

 

Despite the rain, messages were clearly visible earlier tonight as activists peacefully used the biggest billboard surface in town: the Mistake by the Lake, aka the Capitol Center Building, in downtown Olympia. The messages could be seen by Westside residents and passing motorists, many who honked in acknowledgement. Who knows when or where the messages will next be seen!

 

For those who missed the Public Power forum sponsored by Thurston Community Television (TCTV) and the League of Women Voters on September 27 at the Washington Center for the Performing Arts, you can watch it anytime on www.tctv.net or on TCTV Channel 77 on Comcast or Channel 23 on Fairpoint in the Yelm area, on the following remaining days: Wednesday, October 17, 4:00 p.m., Sunday, October 21, 7:30 p.m., Wednesday, October 24, 4:00 p.m., Sunday, October 28, 7:30 p.m., or Wednesday, October 31, 4:00 p.m.