Please join us on zoom for our August general meeting. We will discuss and plan a Fridays for the Future rally for September 23rd. We’ll also have a brief discussion of the on-going saga of the Nordic Aquafarm and an equally brief discussion about some of the great things in the Inflation Reduction Act.  Oh, and a silly poem about plastics. The whole agenda is pasted below the zoom information. Come meet other activists!

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https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84370554552?pwd=V2phMDBOUlNiS3hLL1BQSHNIVDFTQT09
Topic: 350 Humboldt General Meeting
Time: Aug 25, 2022 06:00 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada)
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Meeting ID: 843 7055 4552
AGENDA: 350 Humboldt General Meeting August 25, Six PM

Facilitator: Laura

Notes and Chat Monitor: Dan

Present:

Land Acknowledgement: “350 Humboldt would like to acknowledge that where we live and hold our meetings in Humboldt County is on unceded territory and the ancestral homeland of indigenous nations which include Tolowa, Hupa, Karuk, Mattole, Wailaki, Wiyot, and Yurok.

We thank indigenous nations who have been caretakers of the land. Additionally, we recognize that the well-being of all people is bound up with that of indigenous peoples, and we must all take action on the climate.”

Thus we are compelled to stand with the Yurok Tribe as they fight to preserve the salmon in the Klamath river. 350 Humboldt will write to Jim Wood, Mike McGuire and Jared Huffman asking for state and federal assistance in this water rights fight, which is exacerbated by climate change and drought and we will donate to support the Yurok Tribe in this fight. (See article appended.)

Check in.

1) Plan September 23rd Rally: Fridays for Future Climate Strike

2)  Update on the Nordic fish farm and the three sources of federal climate funding in the IRA law

3)  Committees

·      Book club – Deborah

·      Legislative – Dan

·      CAP – Deborah

·      Action and Outreach (and art) – Nancy and Gail

4)        Poem Laura or Dan

PLASTIC [W]RAP

Plastic all around us,
what can we do?
Let’s talk about pollution.
It’s up to me and you.

Plastic all around us,
it’s practical and fun –
But what are we to do with it
when we are done?

Put it in the ocean.
Put it in the sea.
Put it in the food we eat.
Put it into me.

Clean and durable.
That’s fantastic!
Cheap and sturdy.
Buy more plastic!

Throw it in the landfills.
Throw it in the sea.
Throw it in the garbage.
It’s all the same to me.

Household goods unbreakable
made from plastic!
Tableware disposable
that’s fantastic!

Straws and food wraps, bottle caps
Plastic bottles, grocery bags,
Cigarette butts with plastic fibers,
Furniture and clothing tags

Plastic. Plastic.
Mountains of plastic.
Maybe not a good idea?
Maybe not fantastic?

Killing turtles, dolphins, fish,
Oceans filling with debris
What about our own entrapment,
Plastic killing you and me?

Plastic all around us,
what can we do?
Consider the pollution.
It’s up to me and you.

Plastic, Plastic
No more plastic
There’s lots that we can do.
It’s up to me and you.

Bonus poem

Do/Do Not
Nisha Atalie
I sniff the blooming tiger lily,
two tongues sprung open
from one mouth.

I poison the river unintentionally.
I walk on the designated paths.

I splice the mountain, its body and mouth gaping.
I collect rainwater in a wheelbarrow.

I line the whale’s belly with gifts until
they rupture its stomach.
I water the strawberries.

Again I fill my gas tank with dead things,
generations spun together until shiny.
I feed the ducks fresh lettuce.

I maneuver the dead squirrel
on the road, mark the moment
when creature becomes meat.

I accept that my love is a
poisonous flower, routinely fatal.

I calculate the force of
loving in each glittering death.

All day on this land, in the
deep forest, the electric greens and
still-wet mud writhe with life.

The pond gurgles and whispers.
Everyone here knows to shudder
when they see me coming.

The mangos arrive unbruised
at the grocery store.
The wolves should start running.

Copyright © 2022 by Nisha Atalie. Originally published in Poem-a-Day on May 7, 2022, by the Academy of American Poets.