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Synthesis is a quick read to give you the bits of our recent work, to amplify our partners' work, and to share important environmental stories.

With your help, we’ve surpassed our Call 4 Climate Action campaign goal of reaching 50,000 new or infrequent voters across the state and getting them to pledge to vote pro-environment on November 5! As of today, we have 56,243 pledges, with more pledges coming in as our volunteers ramp up their efforts heading towards Election Day. We’re thrilled to wrap up this campaign with a bang – Gov. Jay Inslee attended our final Call 4 Climate Action phonebank in October.

COUNTDOWN TO THE 2024 GENERAL ELECTION!

Only a few days left to return your ballot by the election deadline. Don’t procrastinate! Too much is at stake. Who we elect could change the future of Washington for generations. Let’s choose bold environmental champions like Commissioner of Public Lands candidate Dave Upthegrove and gubernatorial candidate Bob Ferguson to lead our state. Make sure you vote for the environment and for communities. Check out our endorsements here. [[link removed]]

CEO Alyssa Macy supported Native Vote Washington’s work to get out the vote by organizing a rapid response campaign called, #AuntiesVote, featuring earrings by Copper Canoe Woman and design support from Eighth Generation, as well as getting pledges to vote in the 2024 General Election.

Initiative 2066 is one of the most dangerous threats on the November ballot. If voters say yes to I-2066, it will spike annual energy bills by $150 or more in coming years. I-2066 also would set a dangerous precedent for right-wing interests to roll back clean energy progress. We must come together to defeat I-2066. Let us know you’re “in,” and voting NO on I-2066. [[link removed]]

Unfortunately, I-2066 is not the only deceptive and dangerous initiative on the ballot. Vote NO on all four statewide initiatives: I-2066, I-2109, I-2117, I-2124. These initiatives will cut taxes for big corporations and the wealthy, and shift the bill to middle- and lower-income families. Learn more here [[link removed]].

Not all news is bad news: Recent polls [[link removed]] from Seattle Times, Crosscut, and Northwest Progressive Institute make it clear that when voters learn more about these misleading initiatives and what they do to people and our environment, they realize voting NO is the right choice! Tell three friends: Vote NO on I-2066, I-2109, I-2117, I-2124.

The choice is clear: Dave Upthegrove is the most qualified candidate to lead Washington’s Department of Natural Resources. His opponent has a track record of siding with corporate polluters and acting against the people’s interests. [[link removed]] Washington’s communities, public lands, and forests are at stake. Mark your ballot for Dave Upthegrove for Commissioner of Public Lands by November 5.

A troubling attack on our democracy occurred last weekend: Hundreds of ballots were destroyed in ballot box fires in Vancouver, WA and Oregon. If you are a Washington voter and dropped off your ballot after 11 am on Saturday, October 26 at the Fisher’s Landing drop box in Vancouver, please check the status of your ballot at Voter.VoteWA.gov or by calling the Clark County Auditor at (564) 397-2345. If you suspect your ballot was affected, ask the Clark County Auditor to send a replacement ballot ASAP. There’s no place for election terrorism in our communities, no matter how you vote.

Meet the people behind the deceptive and dangerous ballot initiatives: Lyin’ Brian Heywood, a millionaire hedge fund manager who spent more than $6 million of his own cash to influence state laws to serve his ultra-wealthy friends. Jim Walsh, a MAGA Trump loyalist who denied the legitimacy of the 2020 election results, compared COVID restrictions to slavery and the Holocaust, and mocked the harms to our communities from climate change. We cannot let them win. Together, we must defeat I-2066, I-2109, I-2117, I-2124.

Carbon Friendly Forestry Conference, December 6, Cedarbrook Lodge Seattle: Attend WCA’s annual event centering advances in forestry and ecological forest management. We will also be presenting the $100,000 Bullitt Prize winners! Please join us in-person at Cedarbrook Lodge, Seattle. Register now. [[link removed]]

Our executive team is seeking a Strategic Plan Consultant [[link removed]] to help with WCA’s org-wide planning in the next few years. Know anyone who might be a good fit? Send them the application!

STAFF CORNER: Grace Doleshel (she/her)

Grace (she/her) is the Civic Engagement Organizer. She grew up in Enumclaw, a small agricultural town at the base of Mount Rainier National Park and now lives in Black Diamond with her fiancé and cats.

Growing up in a rural community, Grace spent almost all of her childhood outside. She has always felt very connected to everything in nature. She loved animals and plants and spent a lot of time teaching herself about them.

“The planet has always taken care of me, and in turn I want to be able to help take care of it.”

At work, Grace has recently been leading the Call 4 Climate Action campaign, which is WCA's voting campaign to reach 50,000 new or infrequent voters and encourage them to pledge to vote pro-environment in the November election. She has spent the summer tabling at community events across the state, mobilizing volunteers to phone bank and canvass, and talking to voters about the election.

"My favorite thing about my job is getting to connect with community. I feel that building community power is the most important tool we have in fighting the climate crisis and I love getting to work in a job where I get to help build that power and teach people how to use their stories for change."

RACIAL JUSTICE GLOSSARY

Equity vs. Equality

Equity: Working to understand and give people what they need to enjoy full, healthy lives.

Equality: Ensuring that everyone gets the same things in order to enjoy full, healthy lives. Like equity, equality aims to promote fairness and justice, but it can only work if everyone starts from the same place and needs the same things. Once everyone enjoys a similar level of health and well-being, we can focus on preserving fairness by giving everyone the same things: this is equality. As the Pan-American Health Organization puts it, “equity is the means, equality is the outcome.”

Washington Conservation Action

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