This article from ADVISEMENT entitled “Environmental Law and Climate Change” just arrived in my Inbox today. More than most, it underscores the fragile relationship between governance and safe-guarding our environment. A worthy read!
Tag: Politics
Indivisible Encourages Us To Contact Our Legislators Here in Washington State
Jolie Will has sent out the coming week’s legislative agenda so we can lend our voices to secure social justice:
Indivisible Sequim Legislative Action Alerts for the week of February 16
There are several bills before the Washington State Legislature that need your help by FEBRUARY 17. Please review the list below, pick one or all five, and follow the instructions and links to make your voice heard. Thank you! The Indivisible Sequim Legislative Action Team
1) Support HB 1710: Strengthen the WA Voting Rights ActThis bill will require that certain local governments that wish to change their voting policies must first vet those changes to ensure they will not negatively impact voters of color. Changes include: adding or changing at-large seats, redistricting map boundaries, changing language interpretation services for voters, and changing to voting center/ballot box availability.Email or call Representatives Berbaum and Tharinger in support of the bill HEREDEADLINE: Feb. 17 • 4:00 p.m
.2) Support SB 5892: Protecting our voter registration databaseThe Secretary of State was requested by the federal government to hand overthe state of Washington’s full voter registration database. Fortunately, hedeclined, however he seems to have concerns that rogue county auditors orother county election officials might disclose the information without hisknowledge or consent. This bill is designed to prevent these types ofdisclosures, making it a class C felony to do so.Email or call our Senator Mike Chapman in support of the bill HERE(Senate: On Floor 2nd Reading)DEADLINE: Feb 17 • 5:00 p.m.
3) Support HB 2464: Reporting requirements and law enforcement responses for private detention facilitiesThis bill requires private detention facilities to report serious or undesirable outcomes that occur in the facility to the Department of Health and the law enforcement agency with primary jurisdiction by the end of the next business day.Email or Call House Speaker Laurie Jinkins in support of the bill HERE(House: On Rules Review List For 2nd Reading)DEADLINE: Feb 17 • 5:00 p.m.
4) Support HB 1750: Guidelines for Voting Rights Act claimsIn 2013 the Supreme Court gutted the Federal Voting Rights Act in Shelby vs. Holder. In 2018 WA State passed the Washington Voting Rights Act to protect our state from voter suppression. This bill creates the standards for the courts to rule on voter suppression claims by creating a clear standard of protection to assess voter suppression and vote denial to ensure our communities’ votes are never abridged when attempting to make their voice heard. Email or Call House Speaker Laurie Jinkins in support of the HERE(House: On Rules Review List For 2nd Reading)DEADLINE: Feb 17 • 5:00 p.m.
5) Support HB 2210: Ranked-Choice VotingRanked-Choice Voting lets you rank candidates in order and your vote moves to your next choice if your top pick is eliminated. Ranked-Choice Voting’s big advantage is that it rewards candidates who can appeal to a wide range of voters, because winning requires building broader coalitions rather than relying on a small but intense base. This encourages positive, grassroots campaigning and empowers voters to vote their conscience freely.Email or Call Representatives Berbaum and Tharinger and House Speaker Laurie Jinkins in support of the bill HEREDEADLINE: Feb 17 • 11:00 p.m.
Our Final Call for Action, is more of a CHALLENGE. Once you have completed the above critical actions, we ask Indivisible Sequim members receiving this mailing to please take a few more minutes to forward this email to (at least) five local friends who may not be members. Ask them to help us support these issues. They are local citizens, Washingtonians, and voters. Their support on these issues is also gravely needed to help dig us all out of this black hole. THANK YOU.
Dino Alonso in Substack brings us focus on what’s happened in Minneapolis and elsewhere…
Dino is one of the more inspiring and thoughtful authors in Substack. He wrote the following today:
“I’ve been up much of the night and this morning, calling my friends and associates. We’re all in agreement this isn’t a sensational headline or another political football, but that it’s an actual existential boundary crossed in full daylight.
I spent more than two decades inside the immigration system. As I mentioned in a previous response, I worked closely enough with ICE to know the difference between enforcement and domination. What happened here isn’t the hard edge of law doing difficult work. It’s restraint giving way, followed by a rush to explain force after the fact. Those are not the same thing, and anyone who’s worked inside institutions knows how dangerous that substitution is.
Renee Nicole Good’s death is first a human catastrophe. Three children lost their mother in minutes. A family shattered on a residential street. That alone should stop us. But it’s also something else. It’s a legitimacy test.
Legitimacy doesn’t come from uniforms, jurisdiction, or the seal on a press release. It comes from consent, restraint, and accountability. When armed agents kill an unarmed civilian, block medical aid, fabricate a public narrative, and walk away unnamed and untouched, legitimacy doesn’t wobble. It drains out.
This is how institutional rot actually looks. Not as chaos, but as procedure losing its moral anchor. Training shortened. Oversight treated as friction. Speed rewarded. Narrative management replacing truth. Force moving faster than accountability, then daring the rest of us to catch up.
I’ve watched institutions lose their bearings before. It almost never starts with cruelty declared. It starts with language changing. People stop saying, “We need to be careful,” and start saying, “We need to move.” Explanation gives way to assertion. Death becomes a communications problem instead of a moral rupture.
That shift matters more than any single incident, because it carries forward. What’s normalized becomes practice. What’s excused becomes precedent. What goes unchallenged becomes inheritance. Systems trained to act this way don’t self correct. They teach the behavior downward and outward until restraint feels optional and violence feels administrative.
That’s why this moment can’t be absorbed quietly.
A republic doesn’t survive on good intentions or internal assurances. It survives on boundaries that hold even when they slow things down. Especially then. If those boundaries fail here, in public, on a city street, the loss isn’t abstract. It’s civic. It’s moral. It belongs to all of us.
This isn’t about vengeance. It’s about refusing a future where power explains itself only after blood has been spilled, and even then, badly. Accountability isn’t hysteria. It’s the price of legitimacy.
If we can’t say that plainly now, then we’re not preserving order.
We’re surrendering it.”
A Comprehensive Article from Greenpeace: “Plastic Merchants of Myth: Circular Claims Fall Flat”.*
*PUBLISHED by Greenpeace U.S. DECEMBER 2025 GREENPEACE INC. 1300 Eye Street, NW Suite 1100 East Washington, D.C. 20005 – http://www.GREENPEACE.ORG
This is an incredible article. It is illuminating and packed with charts, summaries, and tables. Here’s the table of contents:
Executive Summary Circular Claims Proven False (2025 Update) Introduction: Unmasking the Merchants of Myth
1 Timeline of Deceit
2 Circles of influence
5 1. Mapping the Merchants of Myth: Members, Messages, Tactics
7 1.1.2 Petrochemical Industry 7 Propaganda techniques used by Petrochemical Industry trade associations
9 1.1.3 Consumer Products Industry
11 1.1.4 Organizations funded by the Plastics and Products Industries
12 1.2 Merchants of Myth: Main Deceptive Messages
14 1.3 Merchants of Myth: Primary Propaganda Tactics
16 1.4 Merchants of Myth: Circular Blame Game for Causes of Plastic Recycling Failure
21 2. U.S. and California Legal Requirements for Claiming Plastics Are Recyclable
23 2.1 U.S. FTC Green Guides Requirements
24 2.2 California Legal Requirements
25 how2recycle labels prohibited under the Truth in labeling Law
26 3. U.S. National Post-Consumer Rigid Plastic Waste and Recycling Assessment
29 3.1 Summary of Results
31 3.2 2025 U.S. Plastic Waste Generation by Type
32 3.3 U.S. Population Access to Curbside Recycling (Factor 1)
33 3.4 Percentage of U.S. MRFs That Accept a Specific Item (Factor 2)
33 3.5 Existing U.S. Recycling/Reprocessing Capacity (Factor 3): Assessment of U.S. Post-Consumer Rigid Plastic Waste Recycling/Reprocessing Facilities
35 3.5.1 Assessment Scope
35 3.5.2 Assessment Results
36 4. 2025 California Post-Consumer Rigid Plastic Waste and Recycling Assessment
41 4.1 2025 California Plastic Waste Generation by Type
43 4.2 Acceptance of Items in California Curbside Recycling Bins (Criterion 1)
44 4.3 Sortation of Items into Defined Streams in California MRFs (Criterion 2)
44 4.4 Recycling/Reprocessing Capacity for California’s Post-Consumer Plastic Waste (Criterion 3)
45 4.5 Contamination Levels in Plastic Waste Bales Produced by California
46 MRFS and Compliance with Basel Convention (Criterion 4)
5. Conclusion: what we are calling for
48 Appendix A: U.S. EPA 2018 Sustainable Materials Management Report – Table 8 for Plastics
50 Appendix B. 2025 Survey of U.S. Materials Recovery Facilities for Plastic Waste Item Acceptance in Curbside Recycling Bins: Survey Methodology and Public Transparency
52 appendix C: Survey of u.s. post-consumer rigid plastic waste recycling/ reprocessing facilities
53 Appendix D: Survey of U.S. Post-Consumer Rigid Plastic Waste Recycling/ Reprocessing Facilities
55 Appendix E: Master Survey of All U.S. Plastic Waste Recycling/Reprocessing Facilities
55 REFERENCES
62 endnotes
Tell Your U.S. House of Representatives to Support the Microplastics Safety Act Today
This came in today from Environment America:
| It’s bad enough that researchers keep finding plastic trash blocking the digestive tracts of dolphins. Or “shocking” levels of smaller plastic particles, known as microplastics, in sea turtles.1Now scientists are finding microplastics in people too, and they’re growing increasingly concerned about the impacts on our health.That’s why we’re urging the U.S. House of Representatives to pass the Microplastics Safety Act, which would require the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to study the impacts of microplastic exposure on human health.2Add your name. Tell your U.S. House representative to support the Microplastics Safety Act today.Research suggests microplastics in people could lead to inflammation, lung and liver effects, and a disturbing list of other health problems. But the researchers need to do more. And given increasing plastic and pollution, we can’t wait long for the answers.Just as a turtle doesn’t know that it’s eating a plastic bag instead of a jellyfish, most of us don’t know that we’re ingesting plastic dust from plastic-wrapped tomatoes and peppers, plastic water bottles or even the air we breathe.3 Nor do we know what all this plastic is doing to our health. We’re guinea pigs in a massive science experiment that nobody authorized.Researchers have found links between microplastic consumption and health issues ranging from inflammation to rising rates of cancer and more.4,5 But they need to do much more research to determine how strong these links are — and how worried we should be.The Microplastic Safety Act would help fill this knowledge gap by directing the FDA to conduct a comprehensive study of the impacts of microplastics on our health. And this bill has something rare in Congress these days: bipartisan support.Will you tell your U.S. House representative to help protect our health from microplastics?The Microplastics Safety Act wont stop the flow of plastic waste and pollution into our environment and our bodies. But it could result in powerful new evidence for why we must stop this pollution — not only to save sea turtles and dolphins, but people, too.Congress has an opportunity to take a step in the right direction to help us all better understand how microplastics affect human health. Ignoring the threat of microplastics to our health is unacceptable.Urge your U.S. House representative to support the Microplastics Safety Act today.Thank you,Lisa Frank Executive Director 1. Rob Hutchins, “‘Shocking’ levels of microplastics found in sea turtle organs,” Oceanographic, January 4, 2025. 2. “Bynum introduces legislation to examine the impacts of microplastics,” Office of Congresswoman Janelle Bynum, July 17, 2025. 3. Grace Vickers, “Studies show how microplastics from packaging get into our food,” PIRG, July 21, 2025. 4. Nina Agrawal, “What Experts Want You to Know About Microplastics,” The New York Times, May 20, 2025. 5. Beth Dougherty, “Microplastics and Cancer: Your Questions Answered,” Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, March 7, 2025. |
Environment America, Inc. 1543 Wazee Street, Suite 410, Denver, CO 80202, (303) 801-0581 Member Questions or Requests: 1-800-401-6511 Facebook | Twitter | Instagram |
A Quick Look at Plastics in Building Materials
Here’s an excellent article from BEYOND PLASTICS that details where plastics are being used in building materials (only packaging accounts for more) and what alternatives are available in each case. The impact to our environment and our health is growing and plastics in building materials are expected to TRIPLE from 2019 levels by the year 2060. LINK
Jennifer McDermott from AP provides a clear wrap-up of the failure of the international effort in Geneva to curb plastics.
This hardly comes as a surprise, but Jennifer McDermott makes clear the main issues that were presented in Geneva and where the failures occurred. We know only too well why they failed. Here’s her article: Link.
An update from the program “Only One” forwarded from my friend Dennis Ledden
| In what could be the final round of negotiations for a Global Plastics Treaty, governments might as well be wrapping things up in plastic. A strong outcome could make this a once-in-a-generation opportunity to rein in plastic pollution and deliver binding rules to hold polluters accountable. But all seems status quo out in Switzerland where the UN meetings are taking place, and without strong leadership and commitments, the Treaty could end up toothless — full of promises but short on impact. Here’s a quick look at what’s happening in Geneva:♳ What’s at stake This round of UN negotiations will determine whether the Treaty:Caps virgin plastic production, or lets it keep rising uncheckedBans harmful additives and single-use plastics, or merely encourages voluntary changeIncludes strong enforcement and global funding, or leaves countries on their ownThat’s why we’re calling for a treaty that is legally binding, ambitious, and fair — one that puts people and planet over profit. Headlines you should seeTotal infiltration: how plastics industry swamped vital global treaty talksLobbyists from the plastics and fossil fuel industries have flooded past meetings, threatening to derail meaningful progress. World in $1.5tn ‘plastics crisis’ hitting health from infancy to old age, report warns Plastic pollution is fueling a global health emergency and costing the world economy over $1.5 trillion each year — driven by a 200‑fold surge in production since 1950, with amounts projected to nearly triple by 2060. Plastic-clogged ‘Thinker’ sculpture highlights pollution crisis as UN treaty talks beginA towering “Thinker” sculpture outside the UN was buried in plastic waste to spotlight the growing threat plastic poses to human health and future generations as treaty talks began. Add your name The future is as yet unwritten. With public pressure, we can still shape a treaty that curbs plastic production and delivers justice for communities impacted by pollution. Share the petition today and stand with us in calling for a strong Global Plastics Treaty. |
| For a cleaner, healthier planet,The Only One Team |
We have only one planet and only one ocean, and there is only one way to do this: Together. Sign up or log in here Connect with us! |
Keep the Faith, Hope, and Embrace Non-Violent Action!!!
These are indeed dark and deeply disturbing days we’re having to witness. Faith and hope are always welcome allies, but we’ll also need non-violent action in the days to come to stem the tide of brutality and injustice that’s being foisted upon the people by the current administration. There isn’t room here to iterate the wrongs being committed.
FWIW (For What It’s Worth) I have found a great source of comfort in reading the many wonderful articles to be found in Substack.com. It’s more than people ranting and raving about what we’re up against. There are also writings that bring comfort, inspiration, and perspective. One among many is Dino Alonso. This website/application is a truly excellent model – it doesn’t cost a dime to subscribe. If/when you find an author, or you yourself wish to contribute as one, you will find a host that is more interested in disseminating ideas than making money. Blessings on you and yours!
Indivisible And Partners Announce ‘NO KINGS’ Nationwide Day of Defiance on Flag Day, During Trump’s Birthday Parade
That’s Saturday June 14th. Check your local Indivisible chapter for exact time, but they’re usually at Noon. This administration is actually openly proposing doing away with Habeas Corpus, better known as “Innocent until proven guilty”, a cornerstone of this democracy. This is in addition to doing away with “Due Process” and the constitution. Who’s next? Silence is NOT an option!