A. Here are some petitions to sign and letters to write. It won’t take more than a few minutes and every action we take counts in the climate crisis. Below the petitions are opportunities to write postcards to voters in important elections
Redwood Coast Coalition for Climate and Environmental Responsibility
In Humboldt County, 54% of greenhouse gas emissions come from transportation. Building more housing close to jobs, services and retail will allow us to lower emissions by driving less and using mass transit and active transportation more. This approach can not only improve our quality of life but also work towards protecting our communities from sea level rise and wildfire.
We call on the leaders of Humboldt County and its seven incorporated cities to develop more housing as quickly as possible in our existing pedestrian-friendly, transit-oriented neighborhoods. This includes dense, walkable housing development in the future McKinleyville Town Center, in downtown Arcata and the Gateway District, and on parking lots in downtown Eureka. We call on our leaders to adopt new policies which encourage this kind of development, and get rid of policies which get in the way. We call on our leaders to build up, not out, to create safer, more attractive, more people-friendly, more climate-conscious, and more affordable communities for everybody who lives here.
Click here to sign the petition!
NO COAL IN HUMBOLDT
https://www.nocoalhumboldt.org/2021/12/03/oppose-federal-funding-for-north-coast-coal-trains/
Please join us in writing to the Department of Transportation urging them to deny a loan application from Mendocino Railway (aka the Skunk Train) for funding from the Railroad Rehabilitation and Improvement Financing (RRIF) program. Mendocino Railway has indicated they are interested in acquiring all or a portion of the Northwest Pacific Railroad, which if rebuilt would be used to transport coal through the Eel River Canyon to Humboldt Bay. If successful, Mendocino Railway’s acquisition of the line would also destroy existing and future segments of trail along the rail right of way.
CENTER FOR FOOD SAFETY
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STAND.ORG
To protect our communities and the climate, e-commerce companies need to act now to clean up their act and decarbonize their fleets – and that’s where the Stand community comes in.
These corporations care deeply about their public image, especially during the busiest season of the year. With enough pressure we know we can push them to clean up their act.
MULTIPLE ENVIRONMENTAL GROUPS
The petition asks the President and the Secretary of the Department of the Interior to use existing laws to implement a managed decline of federal oil and gas production onshore and offshore. It aims to reduce production by 98% of current levels by the year 2035 in order to avoid disastrous climate change and harm to people and the environment.
The full text of the draft petition is here: https://bit.ly/3xhMY64
A fact sheet about the petition is here: https://bit.ly/3cLiJek
BLM
The Bureau of Land Management is seeking public input on draft guidance to promote the use of wind and solar energy on public lands. The proposed update would reduce acreage rental rates and capacity fees for existing and new wind and solar energy authorizations on public lands. Once finalized, the updated guidance will provide enhanced financial and regulatory predictability for solar and wind energy projects authorized on public lands.
Once an appropriate rate and method to reduce rental rates or capacity fees is determined, the BLM will finalize and implement the new guidance through the Manual of Rent for Rights of Way, Section 2806.60. The BLM has paused annual billing for wind and solar authorizations until this policy is finalized.
The public is encouraged to concentrate its review and comment on the BLM’s proposed reductions to rent and fee rates under the Energy Act of 2020 provisions. The draft manual can be found at https://on.doi.gov/3DoYe22. Comments should be submitted no later than February 2, 2022 to [email protected] with the subject: Comments on Draft update to BLM 2800 Right-of-Way Manual.
Source: BLM
SIERRA CLUB
The oil and gas industry has been accelerating the export of fracked gas to overseas markets. Transporting LNG by rail gives the industry another pathway to get its risky, dangerous products to market — at puts communities at greater risk. If there was a railway accident, it could lead to an inextinguishable fire that local emergency responders are ill-equipped to handle, putting communities bordering the railway route — often communities most impacted by pollution — in harm’s way.2
The federal agency involved is proposing a temporary ban — ending on June 30, 2024 or until a new rulemaking takes its place — on moving LNG along our railways. This is an important pause of LNG by rail, but it needs to be a permanent halt. Now is the time to make your voice heard.
Take action to bring back the ban on moving fracked LNG by rail!
CA Natural Resources Agency
The public is invited to consider the following in crafting their response to the draft Pathways to 30×30:
· Does the Conservation Framework establish overarching priorities and core commitments that can support long-term successful implementation of 30×30?
· Is the Conservation Definition clear, understandable, and operational?
· Does the Conservation Definition capture the variety of conservation approaches in California?
· Are there Strategic Actions that are unclear, missing or erroneously included?
· Pathways to 30×30 will build on existing great work being done across the state, much of which is already captured in Appendix B. Please provide information about other existing conservation plans for inclusion in this list.
CNRA is also providing a sneak-peek into CA Nature, a suite of interactive mapping and visualization tools compiling statewide biodiversity, access, climate, and conservation information to advance 30×30. CA Nature is envisioned to provide data and tools needed to help inform local, regional, and state conservation decisions. Modifications and updates to these apps and data, the creation of new tools, and the release of additional data are currently underway and will be made available in future releases. A fully functional version will be released in conjunction with the final Pathways to 30×30document in 2022.
There are multiple ways you can send your comments and feedback:
· Email: [email protected]
· Upload Comments to Online Portal
· Letter via postal mail:
California Natural Resources Agency
715 P Street, 20th Floor
Sacramento, CA 95814
· Voice message: 1 (800) 417-0668
CNRA also announced the formation of a 30×30 Advisory Committee, tasked with providing innovative ideas and input on implementation strategies for achieving 30×30.
The committee will engage in a virtual meeting on January 12, which will be open to the public and accessible by Zoom, a phone dial-in option, and YouTube livestream.
30×30 Advisory Committee Virtual Meeting
Wednesday, January 12, 2022
3:00 – 5:00 p.m.
B. WRITE LETTERS TO VOTERS
Write letters and sign petitions on your own or join the 350 Humboldt “chat and write” letter-writing group Sunday evenings at 7pm. Here is the zoom link:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86943045708?pwd=clVqWVJZNEFQSVl0QWd6VCtOZGtWZz09
ENVIRONMENTAL VOTER PROJECT HAS A NEW POSTCARD CAMPAIGN
We’re thrilled to announce that the Environmental Voter Project has officially launched a new volunteer postcarding program! Sign up for an online orientation session here!
As you may know, EVP has not previously run volunteer postcarding campaigns because no experiments had shown that they had a statistically significant impact on voter turnout. That is no longer the case — new data now reveals that postcarding can increase turnout, and so we’re excited to launch a postcarding pilot this winter, with the hope that we’ll expand our postcarding efforts throughout 2022.
We’ll be sending postcards to environmentalists in Tempe, AZ who voted in 2020 but are unlikely to vote in their March 8th city primary election.
POSTCARD CAMPAIGN TARGETS FLORIDA VOTERS
Florida: Postcards and Letter Writing to Voters
Virtual Postcard Writing · Hosted by Broward for Progress (browardforprogress.org)
https://www.mobilize.us/mobilize/event/417759/
Join us for Postcards to Voters. We’re writing to Florida voters and need your help! Last cycle we sent almost 100,000 postcards out. Will you join us? 15 minutes a day can make a huge difference!
NEW POSTCARD CAMPAIGN FOR WISCONSIN VOTERS
From Activate America (Formerly Flip the West)
We are writing to likely Democrats in Wisconsin to let them know Democrats delivered on their promises with the new Infrastructure and Jobs Act. Wisconsin is widely considered to be the most vulnerable state in the Democrats’ “blue wall” for presidential elections. Then-candidate Joe Biden narrowly won the state in 2020 after Donald Trump won in 2016. But Republican Senator Ron Johnson is increasingly out of touch with reality.
Many voters do not pay attention to their elected officials’ voting records. Join Activate America (formerly Flip the West) as we write to Wisconsin voters and let them know how Johnson is voting against their interests.
You may also chose to write a similar message to voters in key CA congressional districts in Spanish or in English.
https://www.mobilize.us/mobilize/event/387648/?
PROGRESSIVE TURNOUT PROJECT CAMPAIGN
Write postcards to first-time voters in ten states with key Senate races in 2022. Help us make sure Democrats stay engaged and make voting a habit in Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
We’ll send you postcards, addresses and instructions. You provide stamps and mail the cards to voters before the Jan. 7, 2022 deadline.
Voters who receive handwritten postcards are significantly more likely to vote. In 2020, our volunteers sent 21 million postcards to voters in 14 swing states, and we saw incredible results!
Postcards to Swing States is a project of Progressive Turnout Project. For more information, visit us at turnoutpac.org/postcards or send us an email.
THIS POSTCARD WRITING GROUP FOCUSES ON CITIES
We wanted to let you know that we just helped start a new postcard program focused on making sure progressive voters who care about climate change turnout in local elections this November in some key cities with relevant climate policy at stake. It’s www.PostcardsforClimate.com.
It’s unrelated to Postcards to Swing States but has a similar setup.
Would you be willing to write some of these postcards? The sign-up form is accessible from the website.
The current campaign is for New Orleans. We have an FAQ with more details: www.PostcardsforClimate.com/faq.
POSTCARD WRITING TO VOTERS ORGANIZED BY HUMBOLDT ACTIVIST FREDERICA AALTO
Here is Frederica describes what they are doing:
I am administering a postcarding network in Humboldt County (presently over 300 writers) and we supply postcards and stamps to writers, which are available for cost at several convenient pickup locations. Have anyone interested in joining us contact me. We mostly postcard for ROV (Reclaim Our Vote), which is non-partisan, but have also postcarded for Activate America (which used to be called Flip the West), which is partisan.
She can be reached at: [email protected]