From UUC's Climate Action Team:

Our October 11 Second Sunday Plate will go to 350Seattle. Last week's article focused on 350Seattle’s mission, its values, and its organizational structure. We held up the Civic Action Team as an example of people-powered work done by 350Seattle.

The bill to Make Polluters Pay is another example of the work you’re supporting when you give to and/or volunteer with 350Seattle.  

While Big Oil has been deceiving the public for years and has been continuing to rake in huge profits, public dollars foot the bill and we all bear the brunt of climate-fueled disasters. Households pay more for fuel/energy, healthcare, insurance, and food. Frontline communities are hardest hit because essentials are a larger percentage of their household income.

Vermont and New York have passed similar measures. These Climate Superfund Acts aim to “ensure that the largest fossil fuel companies, which have contributed significantly to the climate crisis, pay their fair share of the costs associated with climate adaptation and resilience.”

Taking on Big Oil requires analysis of the Vermont and New York experience. It requires establishing 

• clear targets (certain threshold of carbon pollution), 
• a clear method of payment by Big Oil that is not passed on to the consumer,
• specific use of the funds for climate resilience.

It also requires people-power: building diverse coalitions and coordinating a state effort with a unified message. That message includes

• putting at the forefront accountability, decades of climate denial, and comparing to lawsuits against Big Tobacco (we’ve done this before, we can do it again)
• defining local climate impacts, such as the recent wildfires
• coordinated educational approach: op-eds, letters to the editor, press conferences.

It requires identifying key legislators and what it takes to pass a bill. The campaign must also prepare consistent, rapid response messaging to counter the opposition.

Nonprofits are feeling the squeeze of higher costs and decreased donations. Please give what you can. Volunteer if you can. You’ll know you’re making a difference.