EVENTS

March 5 – Teachers Open House at the REACH. 5pm – 7pm Tour the exhibits and learn about the education programs and resources offered by the REACH and its community partners, such as Sustainable Tri-Cities. Admission is free, RSVP required.

March 8 – Seed Swap.  Free event. 10:00am – 12:30pm. Anything Grows, 1625 Columbia Park Trail, Richland

WA Comprehensive Climate Action Plan (CCAP) Virtual Roadshows. The goal of CCAP is to directly reduce GHG pollution in our community. The CCAP Advisory Committee will advise lead agencies (WA Dept. of Commerce and Dept. of Ecology) on CCAP development, engagement, and content. STC president Bill Barlow is on the committee. Committee members will also serve to connect the CCAP lead agencies and the communities/groups that they represent. There will be opportunities for public review of climate action plan elements and draft versions of the CCAP. Scheduled events include Virtual Roadshows that started in February and will continue through October. Events for March:

March 11. Electric Power. 12pm – 2pm. Register Here

March 18. Buildings.  10am – 12pm. Register Here

March 31. Natural and Working Lands. 3pm – 5pm. Register Here

March 14 – STC monthly meeting. On Zoom at 12:30pm. Plan for Earth Day and more. Contact Lora.

March 15 – Friends of Badger Mt. AnnualCelebration. 4 – 6pm. Richland Community Center. Hors d’oeuvres, wine, friendship, appreciations, elections, exciting news and … honoring special guests. Please RSVP – space is limited. Email sharon@friendsofbadger.org

March 21 – The 23rd Sandhill Crane Festival. Highlights the spring return of Sandhill Cranes to the greater Othello area and the Columbia National Wildlife Refuge. Register and view program. Church of the Nazarene and McFarland Middle School 835 and 790 (respectively) S. 10th Ave, Othello.

March 22 – Community Education in Action workshop.  8:30am – 3:30pm “Unleash your creativity as we craft inspiring learning resources, shedding light on climate change through the lens of environmental and climate justice!  Register here.  ESD 123, Cascades Room, 3924 W Court St, Pasco.

 March 27 – Webinar by climate investor Tom Steyer . 4:00pm PT. “A longtime leader in the climate movement, Tom has spearheaded citizen campaigns, championed climate science, and advocated for bold legislation—even running for President to put climate first. Now, he’s leveraging decades of experience as a world-class investor to drive climate solutions in the private sector. He’s the author of Cheaper, Faster, Better: How We’ll Win the Climate War.  Come learn about the climate crisis and why local action is critical.”   Register Here

March 26 –TC Chapter Citizens’ Climate Lobby monthly meeting. 7pm. Reduce GHG emissions: work together to help save the IRA, and more. Contact Steve.

ACTIONS FOR MARCH

Public Comments for the Ecology Proposed Funding List for 2026 Water Quality Grants. Proposed list of projects. Comments are due on March 7, 2025.

Public comment opportunity for draft climate planning rules in the GMA: The Dept. of Commerce invites feedback on proposed changes to state rules around climate planning and growth management. Draft changes to Washington Administrative Code are available for review on Commerce’s rulemaking webpage. Comments can be submitted online . The deadline is 5:00pm Thursday, March 20. Commerce will hold two informal feedback sessions, both with the same content, to review the draft changes and answer questions:

March 4, 2025, 9:00am – 10:30am Register for Session 1
March 6, 2025, 4:00pm – 5:30pm   Register for Session 2

Commerce will host a public hearing later this spring to obtain additional feedback on draft rules.

Help pass WA state laws: The Washington 2025 Legislative session which ends April 27, is at the point where bills are in Rules committee, which will decide what moves forward. This is the time to send

messages to Rep April Connors and Rep Stephanie Barnard, if you are in the 8thLD, or Senator Curtis King if in the 14^th.  No one from the 16^th LD is on Rules.(Find your LD). Or call the legislative hotline   (1-800-562-6000).  In a week or so, bills will be voted on by all legislators.We are following the Climate Solutions, Environmental Priorities Coalition, and LWV WA. A few favorites:

1539   Addressing wildfire protection and mitigation. Create work group to recommend wildfire mitigation & resilience standards, create grant program for homeowners. Also see  SHB 1563 SB 5491 .

5466  Improve reliability and capacity of the electric transmission system in Washington state.

1819   Increasing Transmission Capacity. Requires electric utilities with over 25K customers to evaluate where reconductoring would yield meaningful improvements to the grid. Rep. Barnard is a co-sponsor.

1550 Electric Vehicle Batteries– Improving the end-of-life management of.

1607  Bottle Bill. Requires beverage brands to form a producer responsibility organization; fund and implement a 10 cent refund value redemption program for beverage containers.

5284 Recycling Reform Act – Establishes an extended producer responsibility program for covered

packaging and paper products.

Others we are following (they may not make it):

5359 – Accelerating the development of clean energy.

1491– Promoting transit-oriented housing development.

1847  Alternative Energy Sites: Prioritizing the development of distributed alternative energy resources.

WHAT WE DID in FEBRUARY

STC resource directory. Going live on the STC website soon! Find who is doing what for sustainable living in our region. There will be a separate resource page for sustainable living tips and articles.

Spring event planning. Attended and had a table at the Motherload film screening . Made plans for tabling at the March 5 Teachers’ Open House, Earth Day, and more. Let us know if you can help!

Climate policy advisory team (CPAT) State & Mid- Columbia region. BFCOG & Michelle Mercer, Benton Co. STC President Bill Barlow, Jim Coleman (BFHD) and Steve Ghan (TC CCL) are on the team, which includes a diverse representation of local stakeholders.  First meeting was Feb. 25, 2025.

WA Statewide Comprehensive Climate Action Plan (CCAP).  Continued to attend the advisory meetings that are setting short term policy and funding strategies for all sectors of social and economic levels within the purview of the State. See the Virtual Roadshows in Events, for how to be involved.

NEWS and THINGS to READ

Boots in the Basin. By Jenny Rieke. Pgs. 30-33. Includes Sustainable Scouting (Scouting America, formerly boy scouts), byBill Barlow March 2025Tumbleweird magazine.

 Weaponizing climate change. Carbon Fees for Social Justice. By Steve Ghan. Tumbleweird mag, pg. 19.

Yakama Power looks to alternative energy storage projects. Feb. 1, 2025. By Courtney Flatt

The Yakama Nation plans a 500-megawatt advanced rail energy storage project using gravity and rocks to generate power. To help it needs, the Yakama Nation is planning a new sort of battery using rocks.

For more news and events, see the Sustainable Tri-Cities website  www.alsctc.org/events

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