PROGRAM
OPENING PLENARY
Welcome!
Tom Crawford, Candace Penn & Barb Scavezze
About Tom (pictured above)
Tom is the founding member of Thurston Climate Action Team (TCAT), and currently serves as President of the Board of Directors. He organized the county-wide greenhouse gas inventory, and led a county-wide poll of residents’ attitudes toward climate change and clean energy. He has been active promoting local government action on climate change and clean energy, and is a founding member of the Thurston Thrives Climate and Clean Energy work group.
About Candace
Candace is the Squaxin Island Tribe’s Climate Change Ecologist and received her bachelors in Science from the Evergreen State College. Candace partnered with the Department of Fish and Wildlife to develop a monthly forage fish sampling program and also works with the Squaxin Island Tribe’s Hydrologist and GIS manager to design maps and future modeling scenarios in relation to climate change. She is a fully qualified scientific diver, works with partners to identify funding opportunities, manages our social media account, and makes time to work with tribal youth in the community. Previously, Candace worked for the sustainability in prisons project a program through the Evergreen State College where she worked side by side with incarcerated men and women. She worked with offenders to design plant propagation systems and construct green houses.
Barb is the Director of the Annual South Sound Climate Action Convention, and the Outreach Coordinator for Thurston Climate Action Team (TCAT). She manages TCAT’s Climate Action Coordinating Project, which is focused on improving communication, coordination and collaboration among local groups working on climate change and related issues. As a result, TCAT emails a weekly newsletter, revamped its website, and created a Coordinating Council composed of representatives from several local organizations that meet regularly.
Great Promise For Clean Energy: Top Ten Climate Solutions
Jim Lazar & Abby Ruskey
About Jim
Jim is an economist with more than 40 years experience analyzing electric utility rates and resource planning. He has had a global consulting practice, and current serves as a Senior Advisor with the Regulatory Assistance Project, which provides training and technical assistance to utility regulators and policymakers worldwide. He is the lead author of Electricity Regulation in the US: A Guide, Smart Rate Design for a Smart Future, and many other publications.
About Abby
Abby is a scholarly change agent for climate literacy and action. She catalyzes and co-creates state-of-the-art education, social change and policy tools and initiatives for community-to-global transformative impact. She recently worked with Governor Inslee’s staff, legislators and partners to secure $4 million in the 2018-2019 budget for K-12 climate literacy, with Drawdown and other scientists internationally to identify climate action at scale, and to launch the Climate Reality Project-Thurston County. She was the Executive Director of E3 Washington and the National Environmental Education Advancement Project, and President of the North American Association for Environmental Education, the world’s largest EE organization.
Keynote Address with Aji Piper
About Aji
Aji is a Washington native from Port Orchard, and one of the 21 youth plaintiffs suing the United States Government in a Landmark U.S. Federal Climate Lawsuit, and is also a plaintiff in another youth-driven lawsuit demanding that Washington’s Department of Ecology take action on climate change.Aji’s activism was sparked initially when he was driven to take part in protests and legislative hearings once he learned about oil trains coming through his city and along the coast.His contributions to his community include founding the Seattle Chapter of Earth Guardians, serving as previous President of Plant for the Planet, a nonprofit dedicated to fighting climate change through planting trees, and co-founding Future Voters for 350 ppm.
See Aji's Ted Talk about Suing the government over climate inaction:
MIDDAY PLENARY
Climate Justice & You
Jill MacIntyre Witt
Jill has made it her lifelong passion to help others connect their behaviors to protecting our planet. Jill is the author of Climate Justice Field Manual, a how-to guide for action, downloadable at climatejusticenow.earth. Jill lives in Bellingham, WA and organizes for 350 Bellingham and is a Climate Reality Mentor for Former Vice President Al Gore. Some of the environmental stewardship projects she’s been a part of include researching climate activists in Paris for COP21 and coordinating many successful environmental actions in Washington State. For example. she helped in her community along with the Lummi Nation to stop the construction of the proposed Gateway Pacific Terminal, at the time North America’s largest proposed coal export terminal. Jill currently works at Western Washington University as a Physical Education and Environmental Studies Instructor and Peace Corps Campus Representative and also serves as the faculty advisor for Students for Renewable Energy Club.
CLOSING PLENARY
Communicate, Coordinate, Collaborate
Barb Scavezze
About Barb
Barb is the Director of the Annual South Sound Climate Action Convention, and the Outreach Coordinator for Thurston Climate Action Team (TCAT). She manages TCAT’s Climate Action Coordinating Project, which is focused on improving communication, coordination and collaboration among local groups working on climate change and related issues. As a result, TCAT emails a weekly newsletter, revamped its website, and created a Coordinating Council composed of representatives from several local organizations that meet regularly.
What We Can Do Right Here in Thurston County
About Beth (pictured)
Beth is a progressive, community organizer currently serving her first term as a state representative from the 22nd legislative district. Beth serves as the campaign director at Climate Solutions, a Northwest-based clean energy economy nonprofit. She also served as the regional co-director for the Power Past Coal campaign. She was the founding executive director of Washington Conservation Voters and served in that role from 1991 – 1995. In 1996 she was a field organizer for National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League (NARAL). She also served as a campaign organizer and later the development director for Audubon Washington. Beth has worked in public, private, and non-profit sectors, and has served in leadership staff positions in numerous political campaigns. Beth has a Bachelor’s degree from Indiana University in Political Science and Telecommunications.
About Stew (not pictured)
Former Chair of the Thurston Democratic Party.
RECEPTION
Closing Remarks from Congressman Denny Heck
About Denny
Congressman Heck serves on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, the committee in charge of oversight of the seventeen elements of the U.S. Government's Intelligence Community and the Military Intelligence Program. Congressman Heck is the only Member of Congress from the Pacific Northwest that serves on the House Financial Services Committee. He is a member of the Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit Subcommittee, and the Monetary Policy and Trade Subcommittee. Congressman Heck is a native Washingtonian and graduated from The Evergreen State College in 1973.
SESSIONS
A1. FOOD & CLIMATE CHANGE
Adopting a Whole Food Plant-Based
Lifestyle: What’s good for you is good for the planet
Lynn Reveal
This session will explore links between chronic disease and the western diet; look at the scientific basis of a whole food plant-based lifestyle and disease prevention and reversal; and touch on the connection between animal-based diets and climate change.
About Lynn
Three years ago, coming from a professional public health background focused on lung health, Lynn became certified as a facilitator in the lifestyle intervention program, CHIP (Complete Health Improvement Program), developed by the Lifestyle Medicine Institute in Loma Linda, Ca., and certified in an education program for the transition to a whole food plant-based diet sponsored by Dr. John McDougall in Santa Rosa, California. Her current efforts revolve around disseminating the knowledge that chronic diseases resulting from our western diet can be prevented, and, in some cases, reversed – with adoption of a whole foods plant-based lifestyle.
Wasted Food: Recovery & Prevention and the Link to Climate Change
Allyson Ruppenthal & Heather Willis
Each year in the United States we continue to send 52 million tons of food to the landfill, plus 10 million tons discarded or unharvested at the farms. Working towards sustainable and expanding programs that re-distribute wasted food is one way to tackle our global food waste task together. This session will discuss a food recovery project launched in Thurston County which partnered Thurston County Public Works, Washington State Department of Ecology, Thurston County Food Bank, and local food pantries within Thurston County. The session will also highlight how individuals can prevent food waste at home and explore the success a food recovery program of its kind can have in the community and overall environment.
RESOURCES
Wasted Food Recovery-Presentation.pdf
Eat First Sign for Fridge
Food Rescue Brochure.pdf
Food Rescue Handout .pdf
WasteLessFoodBooklet.pdf
About Allyson (pictured)
Allyson wants to live in a world where people are empowered to make educated decision, equality is universal, and emails are brief. She is an environmental professional and organizational leader with more than 15 years of experience. She’s been an environmental planner for the Washington State Department of Ecology, Washington State’s Deputy Director of Elections, a business manager for a brewery and winery, and is currently working for Thurston County Public Works as the Recycling and Waste Reduction Supervisor. When she is not at work fostering sustainability, you can find her baking pies, kayaking the Sound, and digging in her garden. To learn more about Allyson’s current recycling, waste reduction, and sustainability work efforts, please visit ThurstonSolidWaste.org.
About Heather (not pictured)
Heather currently serves as a Recycling and Solid Waste Reduction Specialist for Thurston County Public Works. She focuses on increasing solid waste diversion for the county through: waste assessments and audits; stakeholder collaboration; program development, implementation, and continual improvement; and hosting community events and public presentations to increase recycling and diversion efforts
Heather holds a B.S in Sustainability in the Built Environment and a minor in International Development & Humanitarian Assistance from the University of Florida. Her background has taken her to Death Valley National Park where she last worked as a Sustainability Director, managing environmental compliance under the ISO14001 international standard. She has background in NPO work related to sustainable fisheries management, and advocating for education for youth in areas affected by social injustice; oyster restoration efforts and their impacts on the local community; messaging climate change to a wide demographic including guests in National Parks; and regulatory/compliance specific to environmental and risk management.
A2. ENGAGING YOUTH
Aji Piper & Abby Rusky
Pictured: Abby (l) Aji (r)
Are we engaging the youth, or are they engaging us? What are the keys to intergenerational communication, action and impact? Should learning and engagement be limited to the school room and day for K-12 and college age youth? What stories can we tell that break us out of our boxes and inspire new ways of thinking and doing? Aji and Abby’s creative collaboration aims to engage YOU to reveal new perspectives through questions like these. Youth of all ages are invited to participate!
About Aji
Aji is a Washington native from Port Orchard, and one of the 21 youth plaintiffs suing the United States Government in a Landmark U.S. Federal Climate Lawsuit, and is also a plaintiff in another youth-driven lawsuit demanding that Washington’s Department of Ecology take action on climate change.Aji’s activism was sparked initially when he was driven to take part in protests and legislative hearings once he learned about oil trains coming through his city and along the coast.His contributions to his community include founding the Seattle Chapter of Earth Guardians, serving as previous President of Plant for the Planet, a nonprofit dedicated to fighting climate change through planting trees, and co-founding Future Voters for 350 ppm.
About Abby
Abby is a scholarly change agent for climate literacy and action. She catalyzes and co-creates state-of-the-art education, social change and policy tools and initiatives for community-to-global transformative impact. She recently worked with Governor Inslee’s staff, legislators and partners to secure $4 million in the 2018-2019 budget for K-12 climate literacy, with Drawdown and other scientists internationally to identify climate action at scale, and to launch the Climate Reality Project-Thurston County. She was the Executive Director of E3 Washington and the National Environmental Education Advancement Project, and President of the North American Association for Environmental Education, the world’s largest EE organization.
A3. Sea-Level Rise: What Does Olympia Do About a Downtown Built On Fill?
Clark Gilman & Brenda Snyder
When you build a town at the mouth of a river you’ve challenged Mother Nature. She throws heavy Spring run-off and King Tides at us. She throws earthquakes and volcanic eruptions at us. The challenge before Olympia is to best manage the risks and complications brought by our decision to center our town where the Deschutes River meets Puget Sound. Olympia has engaged on Climate Change related issues for two decades. We have staff with a great deal of experience and expertise and we draw upon the best available science.
There are local political decisions related to the impacts of sea level rise expected as an impact of climate disruption. What is the public interest? What is our responsibility to private landowners who own property created by filling in the river delta? Who benefits and who pays for public investment?And, ultimately, what are ecological impacts of protecting downtown Olympia from sea level rise? Big questions. We’ve got a lot to talk about.
About Clark (pictured)
Clark serves on Olympia City Council. He is chair of Olympia’s Land Use and Environment Committee and represents the City on the Intercity Transit Authority and the Transportation Policy Board of the Thurston Regional Planning Council. Clark is a life-long advocate for labor, environment and social justice. He and his wife Marilyn have raised three children on Olympia’s Westside.
About Brenda (not pictured)
Brenda has an undergraduate in Landscape Architecture from University of Washington and a Master of Urban Design from University of California Berkeley. She currently works for a local civil engineering firm working on corporate/commercial projects. Her urban design thesis explores an alternative urban design strategy for sea-level rise within the coming century for the City of Olympia. She theorizes that a proactive, planned response by municipalities when faced with a gradual rise in sea-level is a significant opportunity for establishment of long term economic, social, and environmental resilience.
A4. Think Globally, Act Locally: Engaging Local Government for Climate Action
Michael Burnham & Tom Crawford
During this session, participants will learn about recent efforts in Thurston County to bring down our region’s carbon pollution, while at the same time preparing for the climate change impacts that are now unavoidable. Presenters will discuss the Thurston Regional Planning Council’s recent climate adaptation plan. They will then tell the story of Thurston Climate Action Team’s technical and political work which helped the cities of Lacey, Olympia and Tumwater, along with the Thurston County Commissioners, decide to work together on a regional climate mitigation plan. Using goals and targets set as part of TRPC’s Sustainable Thurston project, the mitigation plan will guide actions to reduce local carbon pollution. After getting an update on the current status of this plan, participants will craft their own climate action messages to local elected officials.
RESOURCES
About Michael (pictured above)
Michael is a TRPC Senior Planner received his Master of Urban & Regional Planning degree from Portland State University, and a Master of Science Journalism from Northwestern University. He has broad experience in environmental planning, communications and policy development. At TRPC, he works on environmental, housing, and transportation issues. Previously, as a journalist in the Pacific Northwest and Washington, D.C., Burnham wrote about politics, business, energy, and the environment. His articles were published by The New York Times, Seattle Times, Greenwire, Sustainable Industries, Scientific American, and other news organizations.
About Tom
Tom is the founding member of Thurston Climate Action Team (TCAT), and currently serves as President of the Board of Directors. He organized the county-wide greenhouse gas inventory, and led a county-wide poll of residents’ attitudes toward climate change and clean energy. He has been active promoting local government action on climate change and clean energy, and is a founding member of the Thurston Thrives Climate and Clean Energy work group.
A5. Getting To 100% Renewable Energy
Vlad Gutman-Britten & Jim Lazar
We can achieve a healthy economy with 100% renewable energy. Join experts Jim Lazar and Vlad Gutman to find out the potential for the region, the technologies we will need to rely on, and see some actual modeling of how a 100% renewable energy system might work to provide us with clean, affordable, and reliable energy.
RESOURCES
Teaching A Duck To Fly-Jim Lazar-Presentation.pdf
About Vlad (pictured above)
Vlad is currently working with Climate Solutions. He is responsible for guiding policy development and building an integrated communications, advocacy, and government affairs strategy to foster a clean energy economy in Washington. Before coming to Climate Solutions, Vlad was Senior Policy Director for the Washington Wildlife and Recreation Coalition, where he successfully secured tens of millions of dollars in state investment in habitat and recreation lands. A veteran campaign operative, he has run congressional and state legislative campaigns and worked on races ranging from mayoral to presidential. Vlad is a graduate of Northwestern University, where he received a degree in political science.
About Jim
Jim is an economist with more than 40 years experience analyzing electric utility rates and resource planning. He has had a global consulting practice, and current serves as a Senior Advisor with the Regulatory Assistance Project, which provides training and technical assistance to utility regulators and policymakers worldwide. He is the lead author of Electricity Regulation in the US: A Guide, Smart Rate Design for a Smart Future, and many other publications.
A6. Solar Energy: Practical Applications, Technological Advances and Policy Priorities
Kirk Haffner
From individual households, to shared community solar projects, to utility scale installs that are on the horizon, Kirk Haffner of South Sound Solar will discuss growing our local and regional solar economy. Solar faces opportunities and challenges, from the increase in energy storage, to utilities pushing back on net metering. Kirk has 10+ years’ experience in the solar industry, and will discuss practical applications, technological advances, and policy priorities, with the focus on what individuals and communities can do to further the renewable energy economy.
About Kirk
Kirk is a former award winning High School math and science teacher. After earning his Master’s in Physics, he became a manager at Intel where his focus was on product development and support. Now as president of South Sound Solar, he leads an experienced team of electricians, project managers, and sales technicians and assists in the design and planning of almost every project. As part of his commitment to education, Kirk is a regular presenter at local schools, organizations and colleges such as St. Martins University, Centralia College and The Evergreen State College.
B1. Solutionary Rail: A Climate Crisis Solution to Electrify America’s Railroads, and Usher in a Clean Energy Future
Bill Moyer
How can railroads, the oldest form of mechanized mass transportation, be the key to unlocking solutions to some of our greatest challenges? Part action plan and part manifesto, Solutionary Rail is a book, a vision, and a launch pad for a new people-powered campaign to transform the way we use trains and the corridors they travel. We invite you to learn more about this sustainable transportation and energy solution and to jump onboard this innovative campaign.
About Bill
Bill is a the Project Lead for the Solutionary Rail Campaign, and a fourth generation Washingtonian, now living on Vashon Island. He co-founded the Backbone Campaign and has served as Executive Director since 2004. Bill and his Backbone colleagues have designed and produced hundreds of creative protests and trained thousands of change agents. They have helped transform mundane demonstrations into cultural happenings, with innovative tactics like spotlights to project messages onto buildings and kayaktivism during the sHellNo! campaign to stop Arctic drilling. Bill’s moral and strategic commitment to balance critique with proposal resulted in the innovative Solutionary Rail project. This people powered campaign works to transform a broken and dangerous railroad business model into a catalyst for social and environmental solutions. Solutionary Rail is hailed by many as an integral component of a just transition to a sustainable societyFor more information visit www.SolutionaryRail.org
B2. Legislative Session 2018 Overview of Climate Issues
Representative Beth Doglio & Senator Sam Hunt
What happened, what didn’t happen, and what we need from you!
About Beth (pictured above)
Beth is a progressive, community organizer currently serving her first term as a state representative from the 22nd legislative district. Beth serves as the campaign director at Climate Solutions, a Northwest-based clean energy economy nonprofit. She also served as the regional co-director for the Power Past Coal campaign. She was the founding executive director of Washington Conservation Voters and served in that role from 1991 – 1995. In 1996 she was a field organizer for National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League (NARAL). She also served as a campaign organizer and later the development director for Audubon Washington. Beth has worked in public, private, and non-profit sectors, and has served in leadership staff positions in numerous political campaigns. Beth has a Bachelor’s degree from Indiana University in Political Science and Telecommunications.
About Sam
Sam was elected to the Senate in 2016 after serving sixteen years in the House of Representatives. He is the ranking member of the State Government Committee and also a member of the Human Services, Mental Health, and Housing Committee. In addition, he chairs the Legislative Oral History Advisory Committee and serves on the Education Accountability System Oversight Committee, the Capitol Campus Design Advisory Committee, the Washington-Hyogo Friendship Council and the board of the Washington State Historical Society. A graduate of Washington State University, he was a school teacher in Pasco (where he served as Mayor Pro Tempore) and Montesano. He also worked for the US Senate Appropriations Committee, Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction, Staff Director the Washington Senate Majority Leader, Governor Booth Gardner, and as legislative director at the Department of Information Services.
B3. Action At Home: 10 Exceptionally Good Reasons to Move Beyond the Doom and Gloom to Action Here at Home!
Abby Ruskey
To achieve, much less supersede, the goals for rapid and substantial reductions of greenhouse gas emissions and sequestration of carbon set by the Paris Agreement, strategic scaling of existing and emerging technologies and practices is imperative, yet a substantial gap exists between what is necessary and current reality. The session presenter, a local resident, climate literacy leader and U.S. Partnership for Education for Sustainable Development Fellow, has been working with scientists at Project Drawdown, the Stockholm Resilience Institute, University for Public Service, Budapest and Future Earth to identify the “sweet spot” for rapid implementation of Drawdown. Good news! Thurston County communities are at the ideal population level to get the most greenhouse gas reduction + economic “bang for the buck” providing there is also alignment with larger scale solutions and policies such as those led by Governor Inslee and other Washington climate leaders, and a strong amplification of individual, household and neighborhood efforts. Come learn about this important research, where you are on the scale of “urgency and agency” as you contemplate individual and collective actions in your own life beyond the Climate Convention.
About Abby
Abby is a scholarly change agent for climate literacy and action. She catalyzes and co-creates state-of-the-art education, social change and policy tools and initiatives for community-to-global transformative impact. She recently worked with Governor Inslee’s staff, legislators and partners to secure $4 million in the 2018-2019 budget for K-12 climate literacy, with Drawdown and other scientists internationally to identify climate action at scale, and to launch the Climate Reality Project-Thurston County. She was the Executive Director of E3 Washington and the National Environmental Education Advancement Project, and President of the North American Association for Environmental Education, the world’s largest EE organization.
B4. EMPOWERING WOMEN, FAMILY PLANNING & CLIMATE CHANGE: GLOBAL VIEW & LOCAL ACTION
Educating Girls and Family Planning are among the top 10 solutions in the Book, Drawdown, The Most Comprehensive Plan Ever proposed to Reverse Global Warming.
Population & Climate Change:
The Dynamic Duo
Worldwide, climate change and population growth have been closely related. The use of coal, oil, and gas that fueled climate change is also the basis for rapid growth of population. Currently, climate change is directly impacting mortality and increasing migration. Population growth is overlooked as a factor in climate change; basically, the more people, the greater use of fossil fuels. Family planning programs are a cost effective way of addressing climate change by lowering fertility. Thus, programs to empower and educate women and girls and to provide family planning, thus enabling women (and couples) to have the children they want, are important not only to improve the lives of all but also to address climate change.
Roy received his PhD in Sociology (Population Studies and Human Ecology) from The University of Michigan. He has taught and done research at Yale University, Hacettepe University (Ankara, Turkey), Population Council (New York City), Princeton University, and Illinois State University, focusing on fertility, population dynamics, and community relationships . While at the Population Council, he designed studies to evaluate family programs in several developing countries. With his wife, Carolyn Treadway, he moved to Lacey to be nearer daughters and grandchildren in Seattle. His interests now focus on local actions to address climate change.
Dining For Women: Your Local Action for Change
Amber Huffstickler
Amber holds leadership in Dining For Women’s Olympia chapter; as a young professional with experience in development work, Amber gravitated toward Dining For Women due to its well-rounded, sustainability-oriented vetting process of grantees. With limited income to invest in positive social change, she was impressed with Dining For Women’s capacity-building philosophy and trusted that her contributions would make a difference. She has been active in the local Olympia chapter since 2011. Amber holds a BA in International Development & Social Change and a MA in Teaching from Clark University. She is currently an active leadership team member with the Community Café Collaborative (www.thecommunitycafe.org) and Associate Consultant with the Athena Group (www.athenaplace.com) in Olympia, WA.
Mass Extinction Due to Climate Change Looming
Kim Adelson
Kim is Treasurer of the Black Hills Audubon Society, and regularly writes a column on climate change for The Echo, BHAS’ bimonthly newsletter. She was a college professor for 30 years. She has an M.A. in evolutionary biology and a doctorate in psychology from the University of Pennsylvania. Kim got the “birding bug” about 20 years ago, when she and her husband decided to turn hikes into treasure hunts. Kim moved to Washington 4 years ago, fulfilling a life-long dream to do so. She is passionate about preserving our beautiful habitat and the wildlife in contains.
Electrical Vehicle Owner’s Forum
Moderated by Thad Curtz
Thad is a retired Evergreen faculty member, and the Vice-President (and Secretary!) of a local non-profit, Electrify Thurston, which focuses on supporting the electrification of transportation in Thurston County. Our website at www.electrifythurston.org provides extensive information about the range of plug-in cars that are currently available in Washington, including details about estimating your costs and emissions driving on our local electricity from PSE.
Collaborative Art as a Catalyst for (Climate) Action
Carrie Zeigler
Carrie creates multi-faceted art and action projects involving hundreds and thousands of people, with the goal of inspiring positive environmental and social change. Learn more about Carrie’s Earth Art at www.CarrieZiegler.com
Carbon Pricing Initiatives: Lessons Learned from I-732
Mike Mazza & Vlad Gutman-Britten
Lessons from the I-732 Campaign -Presentation.pdf
Mike is an engineering professional with interests in economics, energy, psychology, and sustainability. After spending many years in the technology industry, he now focuses on accelerating the transition to a more sustainable, low-carbon economy. Mike currently serves as Board Chair of Carbon Washington, a grassroots organization focused on accelerating the transition to a vibrant clean-energy economy. CarbonWA was the primary sponsor of Initiative 732, the nation’s first statewide carbon tax proposal to go before voters, in November 2016. For more information, visit http://carbonwa.org
Vlad is currently working with Climate Solutions. He is responsible for guiding policy development and building an integrated communications, advocacy, and government affairs strategy to foster a clean energy economy in Washington. Before coming to Climate Solutions, Vlad was Senior Policy Director for the Washington Wildlife and Recreation Coalition, where he successfully secured tens of millions of dollars in state investment in habitat and recreation lands. A veteran campaign operative, he has run congressional and state legislative campaigns and worked on races ranging from mayoral to presidential. Vlad is a graduate of Northwestern University, where he received a degree in political science.
No Coal, No Gas, No LNG! Building a Movement to Get PSE Off Fossil Fuels
Jessica is an associate organizing representative for the Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal Campaign and the main organizer for the Carbon-Free PSE initiative. She completed a Ph.D. in sociology at Northwestern University focused on the use of human rights law in climate change activism and first joined the Sierra Club as a volunteer in 2014, campaigning for Illinois’s clean energy future. A love affair with the mountains brought Koski to Seattle in June 2015. She enthusiastically joined the Carbon-Free PSE campaign shortly thereafter, and is grateful to be part of the movement for a just transition to a clean energy grid.
Victoria hails from Long Island and grew up with an appreciation for the beaches that are vital to the character of lover New York. She has been an organizer in the Pacific Northwest since 2014, and has developed a love for the people and landscapes in Washington. Victoria is based in Seattle and works on stopping new fossil fuel infrastructure in the Puget Sound region. She has a B.A. in English and anthropology from Tufts University in Boston; and completed a post graduate organizer training program. She loves to run, hike, and travel.
Climate Reality Invites You: How to Join the Educational Movement of the NEW Climate Reality Project
Rhonda Hunter & Susan Woodward
Come see how slideshow presentations by a team trained by Al Gore’s Climate Reality Project can be customized for specific audiences to bring attention to local climate change issues. Consider how you might use CRP’s Thurston County Speaker’s Bureau and learn how to join the Bureau!
About Rhonda (pictured above)
Rhonda is member of Climate Reality Project: Thurston Chapter, an ecosystem biologist by training and an educator by vocation. She retired from Washington Dept. of Ecology as Environmental Education Manager for climate & water. Presenting Climate Reality slideshows statewide and locally, she has also worked on Divestment campaigns and helped hold the ‘Thin Green Line’ by testifying at multiple public hearings against fossil fuel export facilities. She leads a faith-based Climate Shepherds group and taught a 4-week Climate 101 class.
About Susan
Susan is chair of Climate Reality Project – Thurston County Chapter of Vice-President Al Gore’s organization for activating grassroots education and action on climate change. She is a former journalist for such publications as the Los Angeles Times and a member of The Olympian’s 2018 Board of Contributors. Her first passion is expressing her love for our living planet and opposition to her corporate destruction. In her day job, she is Executive Communications Specialist at MultiCare Health System in Tacoma.
Steh-Chass (Deschutes) Estuary: Estuaries as Carbon Sinks
Sue Patnude & Candace Penn
Discover how a restored Deschutes estuary could help mitigate the impacts of climate change on the South Salish Sea. Candace will also be talking about how Tribal culture is one with natural resources and how climate change might impact resilience.
About Sue (pictured above)
Sue has been working to restore the Deschutes Estuary for 18 years. She is a co-founder of DERT and a strong advocate for a healthy Puget Sound and Salish Sea. Sue’s career has been focused on protecting and restoring the environment recently through work with DERT and in the past with Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, Department of Ecology and positions in local and regional government. Sue lives on a small farm in the Upper Chehalis Watershed with her husband Tom Hyde and Jax the Prima-Dogga. She works on Environmental policy consulting through her own business from home. Sue is also a board member for Center for Environmental Law and Policy.
About Candace
Candace is the Squaxin Island Tribe’s Climate Change Ecologist and received her bachelors in Science from the Evergreen State College. Candace partnered with the Department of Fish and Wildlife to develop a monthly forage fish sampling program and also works with the Squaxin Island Tribe’s Hydrologist and GIS manager to design maps and future modeling scenarios in relation to climate change. She is a fully qualified scientific diver, works with partners to identify funding opportunities, manages our social media account, and makes time to work with tribal youth in the community. Previously, Candace worked for the sustainability in prisons project a program through the Evergreen State College where she worked side by side with incarcerated men and women. She worked with offenders to design plant propagation systems and construct green houses.
Active Transportation: Healthy, Wealthy and Climate-wise
Karen Messmer & Chris Hawkins
Transportation is a major contributor to carbon emissions in our community. How can we work together to reduce transportation emissions, and how can you take an active role personally to reduce emissions? Find out answers to these questions and about bonus benefits of carbon-free and low carbon transportation from local active transportation advocates.
RESOURCES
Active Transportation Resources.pdf
About Karen (pictured above)
Karen has thirty years involvement in active transportation advocacy and government and thirty years experience administering and implementing energy efficiency programs.
She was a member of the City of Olympia Planning Commission for eleven years and on the City Council for four years. She is actively involved in the Thurston Thrives Community Design Action Team and represents that group on the Thurston Thrives Coordinating Council. She has been a Citizen Representative on the Transit Authority Board for seven years. The mission of Intercity Transit is to provide and promote transportation choices that support an accessible, sustainable, livable, healthy, prosperous community.
About Chris (not pictured)
Chris works as the Community Engagement, Evidence & Partnerships Manager for the Thurston County Public Health & Social Services Department, where he helps lead education and outreach efforts in active living and environmental health. He engages partners to improve community health across the county through collaborative efforts brought together in the Thurston Thrives initiative. Chris holds a Masters degree in community and regional planning from the University of British Columbia. He is a regular bicycle commuter and tries to accomplish most of his transportation and recreation by human power.
Zero Net Carbon: Buildings as Climate Action
Chris van Daalen
Chris will share news and strategy from his work with Shift Zero: the Zero Net Carbon Building Alliance founded last year so that green building organizations could speak with the power of a collective voice. The alliance recognizes climate change is the most urgent threat to the planet’s ecosystems and people, yet we are not scaling up zero-energy buildings fast enough to meet this threat. Fortunately there are now cost-effective means to build and retrofit zero net carbon buildings, and the Alliance has launched several initiatives to this end which Chris will describe, including PACE legislation to finance energy-efficient buildings, creating a Road Map to a Zero Net Energy Building Code, and the 20 by 2020 Building Challenge.
RESOURCES
Buildings as Climate Action TCAT-Presentation.pdf
About Chris
Chris is a veteran environmental activist in Olympia since 1995 who has worked with the Capitol Land Trust, Thurston Blue-Green Alliance and the NW EcoBuilding Guild. In 2011, Chris created the Code Innovations Database to document successful permitting and policy innovations that make it easier to build green, which recently led him to co-found Shift Zero: the Zero Net Carbon Buildings Alliance now with 30 green building organizations speaking with the power of their collective voice to scale-up ultra-efficient zero net carbon buildings.
Convention Catering
Award -winning chef and owner of The Mouse Trap , Austin Navarre, was the creator behind the 2018 Convention menu. He is Executive Chef at Chelsea Farms Oyster Bar, winning them their first James Beard Award for sustainability in their Smart Catch program Spring of 2017. He is co-owner of The Mouse Trap, and The Perch restaurant.
At The Mouse Trap we proudly offer worldly cheeses, specialty accoutrements, and a curated library of value wine/beer/cider. We are available for private events, full scale catering, and work closely with our community to create a sustainable network for Thurston county by incorporating consistent tastings.
Additional thanks to: The Bread Peddler, Parsons Family Farm, Top Rung Brewery, Grape Expectations, Liberty Ciderworks, BitterSweet Chocolates, Gotti Sweets, Batdorf & Bronson Coffee Roasters, Parsons Family Farm, and Sofie’s Scoops Gelato