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Folks,
A terrifying emergency is unfolding on the Hawaiian islands as we speak. Winds from a nearby hurricane have whipped up wildfires on Maui that rapidly overwhelmed the island’s infrastructure. |
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News reports indicate that the fires have taken down cell phone towers and rendered 911 emergency services inoperable, making it difficult for people to find help as the fires spread. People resorted to jumping into the ocean to escape the flames, and now the storm winds have carried the fires to other islands and forced evacuations on the Big Island as well.
It’s a nightmare scenario of multiple disasters converging on a space where people have nowhere to run, and no way to call for help – and it is the completely predictable and preventable result of unchecked global heating.
Confronted with this reality, it is reckless and frankly immoral for any elected official, particularly one vested with the power of the federal government, to continue promoting fossil fuel extraction.
In his 22 years in office, my opponent Larsen has taken millions in corporate PAC money from fossil fuel companies, defense contractors, and airlines – all industries whose lust for profit is burning up our planet and rendering it uninhabitable.
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I’m a lifelong climate activist and political organizer who has spent decades pushing for change inside the Democratic Party. As a longtime resident of Western Washington, I’ve met thousands and thousands of people – some lifelong Democrats, some independents, and even some Republicans – who are all sick to death of leaders who don’t care about our lives or listen to our concerns.
Even as I write this, a wildfire raging in our own district has been burning for weeks, threatening thousands of residents and critical infrastructure that supplies 30-40% of Seattle’s electrical power. |
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Climate change isn’t coming – the crisis is here, and we have to act NOW to stop it from getting worse.
In his recent keynote address to the Green Party National Convention, celebrated climate scientist Peter Kalmus sounded the alarm: |
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“At the deepest level, [the lust for money] has corrupted the people with power in our society so that we do not actually live in a rational society. As parents, as citizens, as humans, and as Earthlings, our backs right now are against the wall because of global heating. We must rise up together.
We must save what can still be saved. We must rise up, then take power back from the corporate sociopaths who would continue burning down our Earth's habitability for profit until nothing is left.” |
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I’m running for Congress to do just that – to save what can still be saved. And I need you with me in this fight.
There is still a LOT we can do. We can block new drilling projects. We can mobilize the full power of the federal government to build renewable energy infrastructure. We can create millions of new jobs and revitalize communities that have been abandoned by extractive industries.
In this deeply progressive district that has ZERO chance of falling into Republican hands, we don’t have to settle for a conservative Democrat funded by Big Oil.
We can make history next year AND send a clear message to the fossil fuel industry by electing the first ever Green Party representative to Congress.
I’m still in this fight – for my kids, for your kids, and for all of us. Are you?
In solidarity,
Jason |
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