By Barbara Scavezze 

I was thrilled to watch the City Council meetings of Tumwater, Lacey, and Olympia as they each voted to accept the Thurston Climate Mitigation Plan (TCMP). And on Tuesday, February 9th we expect the County to do the same.

City Council members listened intently as community members spoke up for strong climate action at their meetings. We also signed petitions, wrote letters, spoke to individual council members, and created artistic messages through the Chrysalis Project. TCAT’s Tom Crawford and Lynn Fitz-Hugh inspired and supported our community action by building public awareness and providing us with excellent resources.

From the very beginning, TCAT staff and volunteers have been involved in the TCMP planning process, serving on advisory committees, providing informational resources, and recommending action items to be added to or removed from the priority list. TCAT initiated Thurston County greenhouse gas inventories in 2013, which became an important foundation for the TCMP discussions. In an interview for The JOLT about TCAT’s work, Tom Crawford said “we have played a role in encouraging and motivating and providing informational resources that have helped the cities and the county make this plan.”

Let’s pause and celebrate that our City Council members are making significant progress toward meaningful climate action by accepting the TCMP! And be grateful that our community cares so deeply about this issue.

And then let’s get to work making sure that the plan is fully funded and implemented. Our elected officials need our continued support and advocacy to make difficult decisions. TCAT has identified several initiatives for immediate action, outlined in this article: TCAT Steps Forward: Responding to the Thurston Climate Mitigation Plan – Thurston Climate Action Team (TCAT). 

This article was featured in our Feb 9th newsletter, which you can read by clicking here!