Let’s Work together
SAVE the Earth
Recycle, Repurpose, Reuse
Metro Parks Tacoma
APRI-Tacoma Heal Act Project:
Our Mission:
The A. Philip Randolph Institute Tacoma Chapter is dedicated to developing programs that will extend democracy to those who have been traditionally disenfranchised or discouraged from participating in the political system. Strengthening political alliances as needed to ensure democratic social change protecting social and economic programs. Improving the lives of all Americans.
Who we serve: Pierce County community living below the poverty level 8.78% of the population for whom poverty status is determined in Pierce County, WA (78.4k out of 892k people) live below the poverty line, a number that is lower than the national average of 12.6%.-Data USA
Our work in the community:
Share information about community and Government resources providing ways to engage in current projects impacting our community.
Voters Registration and education sessions year around to keep the community informed.
Free Food & Community Resources Market (everyone welcome).We serve over 200 people per month including the unhoused community.
Connect with several groups to educate our community on the Heal Act and the Climate Commitment Act.
Senior Care and connect (making sure they are not alone)
Project information(Heal Act) in simple language
Set up community meetings/Town-Hall/Cookout/Community Elders Council Sessions/Family Meetings.
Each month we will set-up at 4819 S.12 Street for a meaningful conversation providing information, food and hands on DIY materials.
Our main purpose and goal
Share what is the Heal Act (Information @ every session)
Connecting the community with Government Resources/Information.
Intergenerational conversations on how together we can make a difference
APRI-Tacoma Repurpose/Recycle/Reuse program & County Recycle dates
Free Food & Resources Market occurring onsite( In Washington, 1 in 7 people are food insecure at some time throughout the year) We serve over 200 people per month including the unhoused community.
Our sessions will connect the underserved community to key information & resources for a better quality of life. Health Equity Everyone deserves a fair chance to be healthy.
Healthy choices should be easy choices for everyone in Pierce County.
Shred Dates, Times, Locations within Pierce County
Zero Waste WA Newsletter
Mend it. Make it. Fix it. Share it! Need something fixed? Want to borrow a drill or learn to use a 3D Printer? Repair services, community fix-it groups, tool libraries, and makerspaces near you!
Current Legislative Information about the Heal Act updates from session what passed this session
Dept Ecology of WA Responding to climate change - Washington’s lead agency on climate change. The impacts of climate change are happening now and will continue to affect our communities and ecosystems for decades to come. Learn how we are already responding to and planning for future impacts of climate change in Washington state.
Action Alert from Citizens for a Healthy Bay
Washington Home Electrification and Appliance Rebates (HEAR) Program The State Home Electrification and Appliance Rebates Program provides grants to eligible third-party administrators to provide rebates and incentives to households and small businesses to purchase and install high-efficiency electric equipment and appliances. The Washington State Department of Commerce (Commerce) anticipates making funds available beginning in February 2024.
Climate Action Plan:
Metro Parks Tacoma has partnered with Verdis Group in a collaborative climate action planning effort that will develop a course of action for Metro Parks to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions, strengthen its social and built infrastructure, and increase its resilience to climate change. This process will involve developing a vision for Metro Parks Tacoma with input from the broader community, identifying strategies to reach that vision while overcoming any barriers that might exist, establishing a pathway to reduce greenhouse gas emissions using measurable inputs, and creating steps to reach its collaboratively defined vision.
Metro Parks has identified a task force with members ranging from Horticulture and Maintenance Staff, Environmental Education Staff, and Executive Teams, to external partners, and community members across Metro Parks Tacoma. The Task Force will participate in a series of workshops, each tackling a different section of the climate action plan.
Metro Parks Tacoma’s broader community will have several opportunities to participate in the Climate Action process and provide input that will inform the final plan. All opportunities for participation will be listed on this site as they arise. Please check back to see when those opportunities are available. https://engagepiercecounty.mysocialpinpoint.com/climate-action-plan
Climate Commitment Act (CCA):
What Is It and What is Happening
By Chuck Jensen
A part of Washington State’s approach to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, for which the largest single source, over 40%, is generated by transportation, was to create a cap on emissions as of 2030 and adopt a “cap and Invest” act to create a market-based approach to reducing pollution. The chart below portrays the anticipated effects.
SB 5126, the Climate Commitment Act (CCA), was passed in 2021. It is the "cap and invest" act similar to what was previously enacted in California. The “cap and invest” approach is founded on the “cap and trade” concept, described in the staff report summarizing the Act as, “Cap and trade is a market-based, economy-wide approach to reduce pollution, which is comprised of two key components—a limit or cap on carbon emissions; and tradable allowances.”
It goes on to note that the bill mandates the Department of Ecology to implement a greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions cap and invest program to reduce GHG emissions consistent with the statewide emissions limits passed a year or two earlier. The program must track, verify, and enforce compliance through the use of compliance instruments. It sets a price on carbon with a cap and trade and invest program setting a declining limit on emissions over time and creating market-tradable allowances, all resulting in an escalating price on carbon.
The major polluters in the state would purchase "allowances" in a regular auction, and the proceeds would go to various programs in the state, including renewable energy projects, reducing emissions from buildings and transportation, and adapting to the effects of climate change — such as supporting the relocation of tribes as the sea rises. It also establishes a regulatory program to reduce air pollution in areas where people are breathing particularly unhealthy air and provides other benefits for overburdened communities.
The "cap" was designed to be lowered, so that those polluters would have fewer and fewer allowances to purchase over time, thereby reducing state emission levels.
According to the staff report in 2021, nine US states participate in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, a cap and trade program established in 2009. California began operating a cap and trade program in 2013, and it is linked with a program in Quebec, Canada. European countries have operated a cap and trade program since 2005.
The program has had several consequences. First, the income has exceeded expectations, so the state is looking at possibly "rebating" some of the funds back to the citizens, such as a $100 rebate per vehicle for vehicle owners. Also, there has been an increase the retail price of gas, which has prompted an initiative drive (I-2117) to repeal the entire act. That initiative, if successful, would appear on the 2024 ballot.
Others in Olympia have hinted that the legislature should pass a bill in the next session to "stop the price gouging" by the oil industry, such as what was done in California.
There are many more details about the CCA than this article can convey. See the Washington State Department of Ecology page about CCA here, for some additional information.
HEALTHY ENVIRONMENT FOR ALL (HEAL) ACT
Landmark Environmental Justice Policy in Washington
Where you live, your income, race, or language ability should not determine how healthy and safe you are. But tragically in our communities, health and well-being varies significantly according to who you are and where you live. People across Washington who are suffering worst from pollution—often people with lower incomes, communities of color, Indigenous peoples, and linguistically isolated folks—pay with their well-being and shortened lives.
In 2021, after years of hard work and dedicated community mobilization, we were able to celebrate the passage and signing of Senate Bill 5141: the Healthy Environment for All (HEAL) Act. The HEAL Act represents the collective expertise of our coalition and our direct connections to frontline communities in Washington State. The law is not just a tool our communities can use to create change, but also a unique model for community co-governance that we can look to as we accelerate a Just Transition toward climate and environmental justice.
St. Leo’s Parish and the L’Honey Project
Our community partners at St. Leo’s Parish in Tacoma have taken on a beautiful project in their creation care work by caring for honeybees across Pierce County. Pastoral Assistant for Social Justice, Rick Samyn, shares a little bit about the project with us and invites the Earth Ministry/WAIPL community to join St. Leo’s Parish in this project with the message below.
“To care for Creation, the first step is to fall in love with Her. For the past 12 years, St. Leo staff and parishioners have cared for the humble, hardworking honeybee. This creature, among the humblest of God’s Creation, is easy to admire for her industry – providing humankind with the sweetness of honey and the purity of her wax. She is lovable in her complex beauty and resourcefulness. Her contributions to human society are so immense for such a small creature. Most lovable indeed!
Of all God’s creatures, she goes about her work, caring for her family and providing sweetness and light to the world without causing any harm. She is a wise teacher, if only we would listen to the lessons of her kind, we could be wise in the eyes of God and God’s Creation.
At the L’Honey Project we labor to care for and manage about 43-48 hives at five different locations in Pierce Country. We partner with L’Arche Farm & Garden, Franklin Pierce School district, Care for Creation Network/Archdiocese of Seattle, Earth Ministry, Jesuit West Province, and others to find meaningful ways to use our connection with the honeybee to promote care for Creation. We strive to help others discover the beauty of Creation, to fall in love and care for Her.
One way we reach out to others is through the sale of our hive products that we make at the parish. We also offer educational presentations to the community and volunteer opportunities which also helps us to discover ways we can all get involved to preserve our planet and advocate for her care.”
For more information or to explore ways to partner to protect our planet, please contact Rick Samyn at: Voice/text (253) 229-4114 or email: larchelhoneybeekeeping@gmail.com