TCAT Blog
It’s Time to Celebrate!
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…
Read MorePonderosa Pine Seedlings in Thurston County
In October, Jenna Mason Media donated three ponderosa pine seedlings to TCAT. The question of getting them planted was brought to TCAT’s Tree Action Group, and Rebecca McMillin-Hastings (Capital High School Climate Club President) volunteered to take on the project. Here is Rebecca’s story about her progress so far. Hi, I’m Rebecca McMillin-Hastings, president of…
Read MoreDiet, Health & the Environment
By Marilyn Sitaker | October, 2020 Most of us understand that what we eat has a major impact on our health. Studies show that 40% of deaths world-wide are due to diseases associated with poor dietary quality: heart disease, diabetes, stroke, and colorectal cancer. At the same time, the process of growing, processing, and distributing our…
Read MoreThe Fight for Environmental Justice Is Not Over!
By Samara Almonte | TCAT Digital Media Coordinator It’s a new year, and the fight for environmental and climate justice is only growing stronger. As you might recall, in June of 2020 TCAT published a newsletter centering Black voices and their experiences in the environmental movement, along with different educational resources on the topic. If you…
Read MoreThe Climate Justice Mural Project
By Carrie Ziegler, TCAT’s Community Engagement Organizer In these times of multiple overlapping crises upending our ability to live our daily lives, art has a unique, critical, and powerful role to play. It can help us to bring forth our full humanity, even as we struggle with what is sometimes unthinkable. This is true of…
Read MoreTCAT Steps Forward: Responding to the Thurston Climate Mitigation Plan
By Tom Crawford, TCAT President Now that the Thurston Climate Mitigation Plan (TCMP) is completed and in the hands of each of the partner jurisdictions (Lacey, Olympia, Tumwater and Thurston County), Thurston Climate Action Team has identified some specific actions contained in the TCMP it will work on and advocate for during 2021. I would like…
Read MoreClimate Solutions in a Nutshell
How planting chestnut trees in Olympia can sequester carbon, increase food security, and foster community By Chris Nolte When we plant a tree, we invest in our community’s future. With ecological catastrophe on the horizon, we need to be thinking strategically about how to plant as many trees as possible, as quickly and efficiently as…
Read MoreThe Complications of Online-shopping vs In-store Shopping
By Samara Almonte In our last newsletter, Lynn Fitz-Hugh shared with our readers different options for lowering your emissions during the Holiday season, especially when it comes to gift-giving. Although she strongly suggested looking towards acts of service (following COVID-19 regulations of course) as gifts to reduce your carbon footprint, we understand that there may still be…
Read MoreGetting to Action: Thurston Climate Mitigation Plan Update
By Tom Crawford, TCAT President At its November 5th meeting, the Thurston Climate Mitigation Plan’s (TCMP’s) Steering Committee learned about public comments on the draft plan, and reviewed a draft agreement and scope of work for Phase 3 of the effort. Public input on the plan was very high, and very positive. The Steering Committee…
Read MoreA Low Emissions Holiday
By Lynn Fitz-Hugh All of us are going to experience the holidays differently this year because of the COVID-19 pandemic. From Thanksgiving, to Christmas and New Year’s, big family gatherings may be trimmed down or not happening at all. There will be no office Holiday parties or even Christmas parties. Concerts and plays and other…
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