LNG stands for liquid natural gas.

Here's a video from October 2008 of a No LNG rally at the State Capitol in Olympia, Washington.

Fuse is a progressive advocacy organization focused on changing public policy. FUSE has released a legislative report card. It includes a lot of room for improvement.

Now that the Legislative Session is over, we wanted to take a step back and evaluate how the Legislature performed on bills that sought to advance progressive values this year. There may be a short special session, but the agenda is expected to be narrow.

Fuse has compiled this scorecard with input from other groups in the progressive community.

Overall Issue Grades

The Budget: D

The Environment: D

Good Government: F

Social Justice: A

Consumer Protection: C-

Healthcare: C

Labor: D-

You may have already read Brad Shannon's article in the Olympian. Senator Karen Fraser's effort to prevent the Triway Rezone by amending House Bill 1379 ("Regarding moratoria and other interim official controls adopted under the shoreline management act") has been obstructed. But there are further efforts being undertaken to protect the Isthmus against inappropriate development. So, there is still hope. Have hope.

To whom does this view belong?

"The Earth, like the Sun, like the Air, belongs to everyone... and to no one."
- Edward Abbey

Could it be that this view, like the Earth, the Sun, the Water, and the Air, "belongs to everyone, and to no one"?

Happy Easter!

This past Tuesday found me again speaking before the Olympia City Council. During the prior week's meeting I had commented about harmful economic activities and the need for all levels of governmental institutions to be responsive to the problem. I believe that radical changes to polices and practices are necessary to ameliorating the harmful relationships that exist between human societies, and between humanity as a whole and the planet (including wilderness, wild plants an animals, the built environment, basically the environment in the broadest sense of the term.)

I wanted to follow up on what I mentioned as one possible way that I believe we can achieve a government that is more responsive and sympathetic to finding genuine and true solutions to the problems of harmful economic activities. I want to find solutions to social and environmental degradation.

The solution that I mentioned during my public comment testimony to the Council was electoral reform. I suggested two different types of electoral reform, although there are many other ways to approach the topic. The two I mentioned were IRV and publicly financed elections. The following is a brief synopsis of what I said last Tuesday at the City Council meeting. My testimony came at about 1 hour, 16 minutes, and 40 seconds into the meeting. Here's a link to the Council Meeting Video where you can find the January 20th, 2009, which is available online: olympia.granicus.com/ViewPublisher.php?view_id=2

I testified a couple of times at last week's January 6th City Council Meeting. The first testimony I gave was in opposition to a proposed property tax exemption for market rate housing (as defined by "what the market can bear"—commonly translated as luxury or up-class housing). I was the only person to provide oral testimony opposing the luxury housing property tax exemption, and only one of two to provide testimony in opposition. The other was Thad Curtz, a summation of whose excellent written testimony can be found on this blog.

You can find video of my January 6th, 2009 City Council Meeting testimony at the Council Website: olympia.granicus.com/ViewPublisherRSS.php?view_id=2. The first part of the testimony I gave in opposition the property tax exemption for luxury housing, is 1 hour 18 minutes 0 seconds into the meeting video. The second part of my public comment testimony comes sat 2 hours 25 minutes 02 seconds into the meeting video.

Part one of my testimony was centered around my opposition to property tax exemptions for market rate housing (defined as "what the market can bear"), which commonly translates into luxury housing.

In part two of my testimony, during the period of extended public comment at the end of the meeting, I discussed in more detail the problems relating to harmful economic activities, especially as they relate the financial and material wealth generating activities of those amongst society's rich and powerful. Part two included some other topics too, read on.

Oh, and I tried to be clear and to limit ranting. But I may not have been successful on those fronts, so if you care to, please bear with my writing.

From Democracy Now!: Antonia Juhasz interviewed by Amy Goodman:

October 07, 2008

The Tyranny of Oil: Antonia Juhasz on “The World’s Most Powerful Industry—What We Must Do to Stop It”

Along with so-called clean coal technology, both of the major presidential candidates also supporting expanded offshore oil drilling. We speak to Antonia Juhasz, author of the new book The Tyranny of Oil: The World’s Most Powerful Industry—And What We Must Do to Stop It. [includes rush transcript]

Guest:

Antonia Juhasz, author of the new book The Tyranny of Oil: The World’s Most Powerful Industry—And What We Must Do to Stop It. Her previous book, The Bush Agenda: Invading the World, One Economy at a Time.

AMY GOODMAN: Along with so-called clean coal technology, both the major presidential candidates—Barack Obama, John McCain—are also supporting expanded offshore oil drilling. Last month, the Democratic-led Congress let expire a twenty-six-year-old ban on offshore oil drilling.

Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin is now pushing to also allow for drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Palin’s campaign slogan has become “Drill, baby, drill.”

Here are some photos from the Monday, October 6, 2008 No LNG Rally at the Washington State Capitol Campus Legislative Building.

No to LNG Washington State Capitol Campus Rally

LNG Means:
• More Global Warming
• More Big Oil Profiteering
• More Wars

We want renewable energy.
Power Vote

http://www.powervote.org/

About the rezone proposal, tonight's deliberations, and some recent interactions on OlyBlog:

I have recently been labeled and accused of such things as zealotry, fanaticism, extremism, and being unwilling to compromise (by people who post on OlyBlog.) This is a response. And let me tell you - I strongly object to being labeled with those terms. But if I am a zealot because I care about the environment, then that is OK with me. In fact, I wouldn't have it any other way.

What is the normal course of progress? What does progress mean to you?

Ever since Peter's testimony last week, I have been thinking about the normal course of progress, and what it means in the context of the proposed Isthmus Building Height Rezone.

I am sorry, and with all due respect, I do not consider spending $50,000 in public money, on a study for a private luxury condominium development project (a development that has very dubious public interest merit) to be in the normal course of progress.

Okay - so the City spends $50,000 on a project that will of be of potential direct benefit to those who need it least. Meanwhile; regular, ordinary, average, normal Americans are losing their jobs and their home mortgages.

I don't consider spending $50,000 of public money on a private luxury condominium development to be good public policy. I don't consider the rezone proposal, the proposed Larida Passage, or the City's facilitation of the rezone to be anything like what I would consider to be the normal course of progress.

Also check out a poem I just weblogged: Empty Store Fronts.

- Whitlock

p.s. So then what is the normal course of progress, what would it look like? I am going to be thinking about that, and I'll get back to it. In the meantime, please discuss.