Chinese Exclusion Repeal Act Remembered

Above: Former United States Ambassador to China Gary Locke spoke at the commemoration of the 75th Anniversary of the Chinese Exclusion Repeal Act on Sunday.

“Legislation matters, and so does its reversal….let’s send that message.” - Beth Takekawa, executive director of the Wing Luke Museum

By Janine Gates

Little Hollywood

https://janineslittlehollywood.blogspot.com

It was a day of intensely personal and poignant storytelling at an event commemorating the 75th Anniversary of the Chinese Exclusion Repeal Act.

The program was held at the Wing Luke Museum of the Asian Pacific American Experience in Seattle on Sunday.

Stories about the impact of racist and discriminatory federal policies were told in first person by Bettie Luke, sister of Wing Luke, and many others.

Wing Luke, a civil rights attorney, served as a Seattle city councilmember from 1962 until his death in 1965. He was the first Asian American to hold elected office in Washington State.

The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 banned the immigration of Chinese to the United States. It also prohibited Chinese from becoming naturalized citizens. 

Native born Chinese American citizens could face exclusion if they left the United States and tried to return. When they returned, they faced extensive interrogations.

Subsequent legislation extended and further restricted Chinese immigration and promoted anti-Chinese sentiment and violence.

The repeal act is known as the Magnuson Act of 1943, named after Senator Warren G. Magnuson who proposed it when he was a member of the House of Representatives.

Even when repealed, only 105 Chinese per year were allowed to enter the United States until 1965.

The exclusionary policies impacted Chinese opportunities for housing, property ownership and employment for decades. 

Many speakers described that those policies can still be felt in their families today.

Above: Bettie Luke, sister of Wing Luke, relates her family history while Lorraine Lee, center, and Connie So listen. Lee is chief administrative law judge of the Washington State Office of Administrative Hearings and was a former policy advisor to Governor Locke. So is principal lecturer of American Ethnic Studies at the University of Washington, among other positions.

Bettie Luke said she did not hear stories or know much about her heritage while growing up. She described the impact that lack of knowledge had when her mother died.

“You’re caught in this dilemma where you’re told that the ideal is the more American you become, the better accepted that you would be….On the other hand, throw away your culture…. It’s such a push and pull.

“When my mother died, I asked my elders, ‘What do I need to do for her funeral?’ And, caught in the push and pull dilemma, they said, ‘Oh, we don’t do those things anymore.’ And I thought, ‘What? She was so Chinese!’

“I wanted to make sure that she got a farewell that was Chinese. So, I had to ask and ask and ask….It’s so heartbreaking to have to throw away your culture. And so many of us lived that promise that the more white American you became the more you would be accepted and that’s such a loss.

“…Women are the keepers of the culture and there’s so much that was lost, so much that we did not learn….Our family did not know the name of mother's village or the name of our father’s village.”

They located a relative who did know and were able to connect with her mother’s family. Luke said she then found out that her mother once had eight brothers, but three had died of starvation.

Her voice breaking, Luke said that realization was a stab in the heart and personalized why her parents had worked so hard.  

“They had an entire compound of relatives that they supported so that they could live....that carried on for a long, long time….I was a child and did not hear the stories. I wonder now about the following generations. What do they care about? I want us to continue learning lessons….”

Gary Locke, former United States Ambassador to China and Washington State Governor, also spoke about his family history and the need to show compassion and fairness toward immigrants.

Saying he didn’t plan on speaking, Locke addressed some sensitive topics head-on.

Mentioning President Trump’s efforts to stop those coming to the United States and deport those who are here, Locke expressed concern with the rise in prejudice and discrimination.

“Our history is filled with prejudice against every wave of foreigners and immigrants that have come here to this country. We need to remember that and celebrate the successes we have had but use that celebration to renew our determination to prevent others from facing that same discrimination and prejudice.

“How is it that so many Chinese were able to come to American despite the Chinese Exclusion Act? It’s because so many of our ancestors claimed they were U.S. citizens or born to U.S. citizens, but the records had been destroyed in San Francisco in the fire.

“And many of our relatives claimed to be U.S. citizens or sons and daughters of U.S. citizens. Why? Because they were paper sons, paper daughters. Many of my relatives came to the United States as paper sons and relatives. Families --U.S. citizens -- would go back to China and then another family would pay to claim the son or daughter as the offspring of that U.S. citizen so they could come in.

“So, sometimes the Chans were not really a Chan but a Lee and the Lees weren’t really Lee but a Locke. And the Lockes weren’t really a Locke but maybe they were a Woo. So, we, among our own people, have come here illegally....

“So, before we go around saying, ‘Let’s kick out all those immigrants that are here illegally, improperly, we need to look at ourselves....

“And why is it that even when the Japanese were incarcerated during World War II, soldiers volunteered to serve in the United States Army when their parents and their brothers and sisters were behind barbed wire concentration camps?

“Why is it that African Americans, facing so much segregation in America, signed up to fight in World War II as part of the Tuskegee Airmen and others, even though back home they faced such terrible discrimination? Also, Native Americans, and the list goes on. It’s because they believed in the essential goodness and destiny of America.

“We are not a perfect country. But we hold ourselves up with high ideals and that’s why people of all generations come to America. We in America are all foreigners or immigrants, whether we’re first generation or tenth generation, except for the Native Americans. We are all foreigners.

“And what has made America great through all these centuries is that beacon of hope and opportunity that has attracted generation after generation of people…whether our ancestors came on the Mayflower or a slave ship or on a boat from China.

“…. We’ve all sacrificed and given our blood, sweat and tears for this country, and therefore when we see injustices being perpetuated against other populations and other ethnic groups, it is our duty, it is our responsibility to stand up for them.

“…. This is a celebration because 75 years ago we repealed this racist act and it was a person from this state who then became a U.S. senator who was responsible for that. So, we have much to be proud of, not only in terms of our own ethnicity but the history of this state in correcting racist acts and prejudicial acts.”

Locke then related the story of his grandfather who came over from China and worked as a houseboy in Olympia and later as a chef at Virginia Mason Hospital.

Locke said it was Doctor Mason who told Locke’s grandfather to bring his family to America. When he did so, his grandfather and family members were held in detention at the immigration facility.

“It was Doc Mason who went down to the immigration center to vouch for my grandfather, and got grandfather, my father, and my uncle out….Act of courage. Act of kindness.

“We need to remember that and...show that same compassion and commitment to diversity and fairness to all other groups in America. Let’s celebrate, let’s learn more about our history and our past, and let’s continue to fight,” said Locke.

Staff members with the National Archives at Seattle’s Sandpoint Way office also spoke and encouraged those interested in genealogy to use their database and research expertise. 

Much can be learned in the interrogation interviews and marriage, birth and death records of Chinese immigrants and others, they said.

Hao-Jan Chang of Bellevue said he has documented 24 generations of Gary Locke’s ancestry to the year 1275.

The Chinese American Citizens Alliance (Seattle Lodge) co-organized Sunday’s event.

Correction, December 17, 2018: Bettie Luke’s mother had eight brothers, not eleven, as originally reported.

Olympia to Declare Homelessness a Public Health Emergency

Above: An encampment on the corner of State and Washington Streets, across from Intercity Transit, on a recent Saturday morning in downtown Olympia. On any given night in Olympia, approximately 130 people can be found sleeping in doorways and on the street within an 81 block area of downtown.

The main causes of homelessness are related to economic and family stability

By Janine Gates

Little Hollywood

https://janineslittlehollywood.blogspot.com

The homelessness situation in Olympia has reached crisis proportions.

At its July 17 meeting, the Olympia City Council is expected to present on first and final reading an ordinance declaring homelessness as a public health emergency. 

Doing so will allow the city to move forward on financing and other efforts to tackle the issue.

The ordinance outlines how the experience of being unsheltered is traumatic and endangers public health. Individuals living out of doors are exposed to harmful weather conditions, communicable diseases such as hepatitis, tuberculosis, respiratory illnesses, malnutrition, and violence.

Medical conditions such as high blood pressure, diabetes and asthma are exacerbated because there is no safe place to properly store medications or syringes.

When a person’s health is continually compromised by unstable conditions, health care services are rarely effective. Inpatient hospitalization or residential drug treatment and mental health care rarely have lasting impacts when the person is returned to a homeless environment.

The cities of Seattle and Tacoma, Portland, Oregon and Los Angeles have already passed similar resolutions in order to provide expedited emergency services and shelters for unsheltered individuals, families and unaccompanied youth.

Above:  From a parking lot near Intercity Transit on Saturday morning, volunteers with Joyful Hands Ministries make pancakes and other breakfast items to serve street dependent individuals and others in need in downtown Olympia.

Street feed coordinator Dee Hampton said that close to 300 people were fed. “For this time of the month, that is about average. We have seen over the last year or so such an increase in our homeless population,” she said.

“My heart is always overwhelmed by how many of our families love to give donations to help us continue feeding them even though they give a dollar or 50 cents. They give what they have because they are so thankful we are there for them each week. That is a story that I want to share…the thankfulness and love we receive back from our homeless community,” said Hampton.

Olympia, Thurston County Statistics

Anna Schlect, City of Olympia housing program manager, discussed the most recent Thurston County Point in Time homeless census data with Little Hollywood. 

Each January, Thurston County conducts a “point-in-time” count to capture the number and characteristics of people living without a home. The census began in 2006.

The 2018 Thurston County Point in Time census conducted in January identified 835 homeless persons. 

The definition of homelessness includes people living in emergency shelters, transitional housing and substandard housing.

Of that number, 320 were unsheltered individuals, living out of doors, in cars, under bridges and highway overpasses and other places not meant for human habitation. This number marks a 56 percent increase from 2017.

According to a Point in Time homelessness related survey, the top four reasons for homelessness are job loss and unemployment, eviction and loss of housing, family rejection, and domestic violence.

Fifty-nine percent of those surveyed said they lived in Thurston County before becoming homeless.

Rent Increases

Not all people experiencing homelessness sleep outside. 

“Oftentimes, people blame homeless individuals as though it’s their personal failing that causes their homelessness,” said Schlect. 

“Looking at the data, homelessness rises and falls with the economy. It shows that homelessness rose to a high point in 2010, which was also the high point of the recession in Washington State, and that it started dropping with the recovery. But in the last couple of years, it started spiking up sharply again, in sync with rent increases.

“In a parallel study called the Assessment of Fair Housing, we did a survey of nearly 1,200 people. Of those who are renters, half said they experienced a rent increase of an average of $100 a month in the past year. So that’s a very significant pressure on low income households,” Schlect said.

Little Hollywood recently met an employed Olympia woman who is paying $925 a month for a poorly insulated, two bedroom apartment on Olympia’s westside. A stable and responsible tenant, she and her pets have enjoyed living there for five years.

Unexpectedly, her landlord recently raised the rent $575, for a total monthly rent of $1,500, starting August 1. She is unable to make that financial leap.

Reflective of the data, her story is not unique.

Next Steps

On July 18, the council’s Finance Committee will present an oral report on estimated costs and funding for the ordinance. That meeting will start at 5:30 p.m. and be held at Olympia City Hall, 601 4th Avenue East.

The ordinance would stay in effect until June 2021, at which time the city council would determine if conditions warrant keeping the public health emergency measures in place.

Little Hollywood often writes about homelessness issues, past Point in Time census events, and unsheltered, street dependent, houseless individuals. For more information, go to Little Hollywood and use the search button to type in key words.

Mistake on the Lake Project Appealed to State Supreme Court

Above: The downtown Olympia redevelopment project now known as Views on Fifth is being appealed to the state Supreme Court. The building is now in a state of deconstruction prior to redevelopment. Photo taken last week from the Washington State Law Enforcement Memorial on the Washington State Capitol Campus. 

By Janine Gates

Little Hollywood

https://janineslittlehollywood.blogspot.com

Local attorney Allen Miller said on Friday that his clients have decided to appeal the redevelopment of the Views on Fifth project to the Washington State Supreme Court. 

The nine story structure in downtown Olympia is best known as the Mistake on the Lake.

“My clients decided to ask the Supreme Court to take direct review. We have a deadline of July 20th to file and serve a pleading entitled, “Statement of Grounds for Direct Review,” Miller told Little Hollywood on Friday. “That pleading will begin to flesh out the issues.”

Miller is representing the Behind the Badge Foundation, former governors Dan Evans, Gary Locke, John Spellman (deceased), and Christine Gregoire, former Washington Secretary of State Ralph Munro, former state senator Karen Fraser, the National Association of Olmsted Parks, and several other individuals and organizations.

Miller says the case involves “fundamental and urgent issues of broad public import and which requires prompt and ultimate determination.” 

The Supreme Court has the discretion to either take the case or transfer it to the Division 2 Court of Appeals which sits in Tacoma. A typical Supreme Court case would be decided in 12 to 18 months.

“You can now see the Olympics and Puget Sound through the girders looking north and you can see the Capitol Dome looking south.  The owners are proceeding at their own risk since the court could order them to take the building down should we prevail in the end,” he said.

The mixed use redevelopment project is expected to provide over 140 market rate apartments, a ground floor restaurant, and retail space. Related to the redevelopment, a nearby one story building was demolished and two, new three-story mixed use buildings will be constructed.

The area is located between Fourth and Fifth Avenue, bounded by Sylvester Street and Simmons Street near the present day Heritage Park Fountain on what is called “the isthmus.” The narrow strip of land was created from fill in the early 1900s and is located in a flood zone between Capitol Lake and Budd Inlet.

Unrelated to the Views on Fifth project, the city owns two acres on the western part of the isthmus across from Bayview Market. The city purchased the acreage for a park and recently cleared it of vacant buildings and landscaped the area.  

Above: The Washington State Capitol Campus has one of the most extensive and intact Olmsted-designed capitol landscapes in the nation. Eliza Davidson, National Association of Olmsted Parks, presented testimony to a city hearing examiner at a January 9 hearing in Olympia. 

In her testimony, Davidson said that the Views on Fifth project would “irrevocably destroy the scenically unique Puget Sound vista which the Olmsted firm sought to highlight” and that Olympia was chosen as a permanent exhibit of “Landscapes with a Civic Purpose.” The National Association of Olmsted Parks and The Friends of Seattle's Olmsted Parks are two of several appellants in an appeal of the redevelopment case to the state Supreme Court.

For more information and previous stories and photos by Little Hollywood since 2009 about the Mistake on the Lake, (also known as the Capitol Center Building, now Views on Fifth), building owner Ken Brogan, Allen Miller, the isthmus, sea level rise issues, the Downtown Strategy, downtown flooding, king tides and storm surges, go to www.janineslittlehollywood.blogspot.com and type key words into the search engine.

Olympia Visit for Royal Wedding Bishop Curry

Above: Episcopal Presiding Bishop Most Reverend Michael Curry, who preached at the royal wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, is coming to Olympia in June. Photo of Curry is a screenshot from BBC America.

By Janine Gates

Little Hollywood

https://janineslittlehollywood.blogspot.com

Episcopal Presiding Bishop Michael Curry, who captured the world’s attention by preaching a show-stopping sermon at the May 19 royal wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, will visit St. John’s Episcopal Church in Olympia on Saturday, June 16, at 10:30 a.m. A reception will follow in the Parish Hall.

St. John’s is located in the South Capitol neighborhood at 114 20th Ave. SE, Olympia.

Nearly two billion people worldwide reportedly watched Curry speak at the wedding of the couple now known as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.

During his 14 minute sermon, Curry spoke to the power of love and invoked the messages of Martin Luther King Jr. Clips of his sermon are available online.

The Episcopal Church has a hierarchy of bishops led by Presiding Bishop Curry. Curry will visit St. John’s with the Bishop of the Diocese of Olympia, the Right Reverend Greg Rickel. 

Curry will be speaking at other public events across the diocese.

On Thursday, June 14, Curry will be preaching at Saint Mark’s Cathedral in Seattle.

Parishioners of St. Christopher’s Community Church of Olympia, St. Benedict’s Episcopal Church of Lacey and St. John’s Episcopal Church of Olympia will be chartering a bus to go up to Seattle to hear Curry.

Curry, the first African American to preside over the Episcopal Church, has long been known for his passionate, powerful, and progressive preachings. He was one of the first to allow same-sex marriages to be performed in churches in North Carolina.

According to CNN, Curry plans to participate in a candlelight vigil and protest in front of the White House on Thursday. 

He will be joined by leaders from Christian churches who say they are concerned about a “dangerous crisis of moral and political leadership at the highest levels of our government and in our churches.”

Above: St. John’s Episcopal Church in Olympia.

Editor's Note/Correction, May 24: The time Presiding Bishop Michael Curry will speak at St. John's will be 10:30 a.m., not 11:00 a.m.

Electric Car Buying Made Easy

Above: Thad Curtz, center, organized a display of eight electric vehicle models, including his own Ford CMAX Energi plug-in hybrid, at the South Sound Climate Action Convention in Lacey on April 14. His new nonprofit is called Electrify Thurston. 

Washington State Sales Tax Exemption for Electric Vehicles Ends May 31

By Janine Gates

Little Hollywood

https://janineslittlehollywood.blogspot.com

If you’re looking for a new vehicle and sick of paying high gas prices, maybe you’re thinking of purchasing an electric car. 

If you're nervous because you don’t know much about them, and don't know the difference between a Chevy Volt and a Chevy Bolt, you’re not alone.

The electric car industry, still recovering from the days of “Who Killed the Electric Car,” now has several options on the market and local help is now available without the pressure and stress of walking into a showroom. 

Electrify Thurston, a new local non-profit created by Thad Curtz and Paul Elwood of Olympia, is educating community members about electric vehicles and hopes to increase the relatively small number of them currently sold.

The group also promotes residential, workplace and multi-family charging infrastructure. Future work could include the promotion of charging infrastructure at transit centers and parking facilities.

Curtz, a retired professor at The Evergreen State College in Olympia, recently organized a display of eight locally owned battery electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids at the South Sound Climate Action Convention, held at the Lacey branch of South Puget Sound Community College on April 14.

The display showcased the new Nissan LEAF, a new Chevy Bolt, a Tesla Model S, a Chevy Volt, a Ford CMAX Energi, and a Fiat500e.

Convention goers had the opportunity to sit in the cars and speak with the actual owners, all of whom were thrilled about their experiences driving them. Owners liked the significantly lower costs of driving on electricity and their low greenhouse gas emissions. They also praised the cars’ quick acceleration and their low maintenance costs. The cars ranged in size from tiny to a full sized sedan.

Perhaps the most common worry potential consumers have about electric cars is the possibility of running out of juice.

Curtz says this is not a problem. 

“Roughly 80 percent of electric vehicle owners charge their cars at home overnight or at work, on a regular outlet or a 220 volt charger,” he says. “The plug-in hybrid models mean you can have the best of both worlds, using battery power for local trips supplemented by a gasoline-powered generator for longer trips.”

Lowering Thurston County Greenhouse Gas Emissions

For climate activist-minded consumers, electric vehicles are a no-brainer, and part of the answer to reducing Thurston County’s greenhouse gas emissions. 

“Unfortunately, they don't reduce emissions here as much as they would in Mason County or Seattle, where almost all the electricity comes from hydro,” warned Curtz. 

In late 2017, a greenhouse gas emissions analysis was conducted by the Clean Energy Transition and Stockholm Environmental Institute for the Thurston Regional Planning Council. The study suggested that Thurston County should work with other jurisdictions to advocate for the successful decarbonization of Washington’s electricity grid. 

Although Puget Sound Energy’s plan to begin pulling away from coal over the next eight years is a promising sign, for many, it is not soon enough.

“About 34 percent of PSE’s electricity currently comes from coal. People in Thurston County drive, on average, 9,000 miles each year. The most efficient current gasoline car, a Toyota Prius, has an Environmental Protection Agency rating of 52 mpg, and produces 4,189 pounds of CO2 a year on local power....

“A Jeep Wrangler, one of the least efficient passenger cars, has a rating of 18 mpg, and produces 11,280 pounds of CO2,” said Curtz, citing estimates from the vehicle cost calculator at the U.S. Department of Energy's Alternative Fuel Data Center website.

Curtz says that driving a Nissan LEAF on PSE power rather than a Honda Accord saves two metric tons of CO2 a year, and even driving a LEAF rather than a Prius saves nine metric tons over the life of the car. 

Prices for new battery electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles start at about $21,000, so if a new car is beyond your reach, the market for used electric vehicles which are returned to dealers after two and three year leases is booming.

There are many advantages and reasons to lease a car.

Above: Olympia city councilmember Clark Gilman shows off his Fiat 500e at the South Sound Climate Action Convention in Lacey on Saturday.

Thurston County Electric Car Drivers 

As of January, 1,015 were registered in Thurston County, about 3.6 percent of those in the state. 

Curtz is aiming to improve this number by working with local auto dealers to get discount prices on specific makes and models. Successful group vehicle purchases have been negotiated with impressive discounts in Colorado and Utah in collaboration with local universities, hospitals and local jurisdictions.

At the end of last year, the City of Seattle negotiated with Nissan to offer city employees a group discount of $10,000 on the 2017 Nissan LEAF, which has a range of just over 100 miles on a single charge.

Olympia city councilmember Clark Gilman purchased his two year old Fiat500e in November, a lease return, for $10,000.

A long-time avid bicyclist and bus commuter, Gilman at times needs a car to get between his jobs, meetings and activities. His electric vehicle, he laughed, is “one step up from a golf cart,” and goes 50 – 60 miles in winter between charges. As the weather improves, he anticipates that number to rise, and run between 80 – 90 miles. He charges it one or two nights a week and says he’s good to go.

“It’s been a blast,” said Gilman.

Above: The interior of Ingrid Gulden's 2012 Tesla Model S vehicle at the South Sound Climate Action Convention. 

Ingrid Gulden also invited the public to sit in her 2012 Tesla Model S vehicle. Sixty of the nearly 600 electric cars registered in Thurston County in 2016 were Teslas. 

“We love it and drive it to San Francisco four times a year,” she said. For long trips, Tesla provides support for finding chargers as part of its dashboard navigation software. Cold weather and winds affect the mileage, but a Tesla gets about 250 miles on a charge, she said.

So, if you’re in the market for an electric vehicle, now may be the time. 

New plug-in car purchases and leases are currently exempt from Washington's sales tax, but that will end next month. To avoid paying the sales tax, and save a couple of thousand dollars, you have to take delivery of the car by May 31.

The federal rebate, up to $7,500, depending upon battery size, will also phase out for each company after they sell 200,000 electric cars in the U.S. Curtz says General Motors and Tesla are the first companies expected to reach that point late this year.

Above: Thad Curtz leads a discussion about electric vehicle options before the group headed out to take a look at several on display at the South Sound Climate Action Convention in Lacey on April 14.

Editor's Note, April 21: Article was corrected shortly after it was originally posted to reflect that General Motors and Tesla will be the first companies expected to sell 200,000 electric cars in the U.S. later this year, not in 2019. 

Editor's Note, April 23: Article was reposted because it apparently did not get delivered via the RSS feed.

For more information, go to electrifythurston.org. Their website includes answers to frequently asked questions, provides up-to-date information about electric vehicles available from Western Washington auto dealers, online referrals to local dealers with electric vehicles, and can provide information on installing residential charging equipment.

Juliana v. U.S. Youth Addresses Climate Convention

Above: Aji Piper, 17, spoke at the South Sound Climate Action Convention held in Lacey on Saturday. Piper is one of 21 youth suing the United States government in a landmark federal climate lawsuit, Juliana v. United States.

By Janine Gates

Little Hollywood

www.janineslittlehollywood.blogspot.com

“What are you going to do? You should know or at least figure it out. What are you going to do now to protect future generations?” Aji Piper, 17, Seattle, asked the audience.

As the keynote speaker at the day-long South Sound Climate Action Convention held in Lacey on Saturday, Piper posed the question to over 200 participants, including local officials and state legislators, but he wasn’t waiting around for an answer.

Piper is one of 21 youth suing the United States government in a landmark federal climate change related lawsuit, Juliana v. United States.

Following multiple rulings issued in favor of the youth plaintiffs and the organization supporting them, Our Children’s Trust, the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon earlier this week set October 29 as the first day of the trial. 

The trial will be held in Eugene and is being billed as the “trial of the century.”

Piper learned about climate change, ocean acidification, wildfires, deadly public health outbreaks and coal trains when he moved from Port Orchard, Washington to Seattle.

He wanted to do something about it all so he started planting trees and getting active in local protests. He co-founded Future Voters for 350 ppm.

“I should be able to be a kid…I needed to feel a stronger impact from my actions. I needed a solid course of action...so, I took them to court,” he said, as he explained his journey as a young climate activist.

In 2011, Piper was also a plaintiff in another youth-driven lawsuit demanding that the Washington State Department of Ecology update its emission regulations based on the latest climate science, saying the agency was required to do so through the Public Trust Doctrine, which says the government has a duty to protect natural resources for future generations.

Technically, he is the future, and while a strong ruling favored his case, nothing has happened to enforce it and the case has been refiled.

The difference between the state and federal cases, he said, is that the federal government has known about the dangers of fossil fuel use and the destructive forces of climate change for about fifty years.

“By acting against that information, they have violated our rights and the Public Trust Doctrine.”

According to a press release from Our Children’s Trust, Juliana v. United States is not about the government’s failure to act on climate. Instead, the 21 young plaintiffs assert that the U.S. government, through its affirmative actions in creating a national energy system that causes climate change, has violated their constitutional rights to life, liberty, and property, and has failed to protect essential public trust resources.

The case is one of many related legal actions brought by youth seeking science-based action by governments to stabilize the climate system.

Above: Averi Azar, a student in the Masters of Environmental Science program at The Evergreen State College in Olympia, staffs a table about the program during the South Sound Climate Action Convention. She is pursuing her masters thesis about sea star wasting disease.

Engaging Youth in Climate Change Conversations

The South Sound Climate Action Convention was held at the Lacey branch of South Puget Sound Community College and was organized by the Thurston Climate Action Team.

It featured a wide variety of speakers and presenters who geared their talks and workshops around climate change issues such as youth engagement, food sustainability, waste reduction, renewable energy technologies and options, carbon pricing initiatives and other legislative issues.

Aji Piper co-facilitated a morning workshop on how to engage youth in climate change conversations and related what actions and strategies work for him.

“Don’t make it boring, youth don’t want to sit in meetings…we sit enough at school. I didn’t get involved in climate change to stand outside of official buildings and shout....While those are tried and true approaches, and not to discredit those, but we’ve been doing those for years.”

Piper related a 2009 campaign he liked which encouraged the Royal Bank of Canada to divest from the Alberta tar sands projects. The strategy of banners and bumper sticker messages with the one ultimately unfurled on the side of the bank that said, “Please help us Mrs. Nixon.com,” created buzz.

His comment encouraged workshop participants to generate a range of actions and ideas that included die-ins, music, the creative arts, light projections on buildings, and the creation of large puppetry.

Olympia musician Holly Gwinn Graham strongly encouraged early childhood arts education in the school system.

“They are ready to be involved, to hear the truth. They’re ready to be creative and be part of something beautiful. It teaches kids to be politically active and use different forms of expression, encourages conversation, communication and intergenerational and non-familial connections with people,” she said.

Piper acknowledged that there is room for all kinds of artistic expression. 

“I grew up playing outside in the forest with my little brother and there's a difference...it's why I don’t do social media....I sing a lot. I get a song stuck in my head and start humming it, or my brother does. Singing and performing is different than speaking, just like poetry is different than an essay,” he said.

Above: Aji Piper received a standing ovation for his keynote speech addressing his involvement with climate change issues at the South Sound Climate Action Convention in Lacey on Saturday.

For more information about the South Sound Climate Action Convention and a list of participating organizations, go to southsoundclimateconvention.org

To learn more about the Thurston Climate Action Team, go to https:/janineslittlehollywood.blogspot.com/2018/02/carbon-free-thurston-efforts-underway.html