Four residents of the Olympic Peninsula, two from Port Townsend and two from Port Angeles, will walk from Seattle to Tacoma this weekend as part of the Walk to Protect & Restore Our Salish Sea, July 7-9
The walk is described on the Olympic Climate Action website
“To protect what we love and cherish as sacred, to stand together like the trees and lift each other up and the “each other” includes our grandchildren’s grandchildren, the orca and salmon people, the tree and bird people and all the other animal people of our Salish Sea. To stand in solidarity with Salish Sea tribes to ensure their treaty rights are honored and respected and for other nations to have their unceded territories and natural laws honored and respected.”
Specific targets of the walk are opposition to fossil fuel expansion in the Salish Sea and support of the Southern Resident Orcas, including the return of Tokitae (a.k.a. Lolita) to her native waters
The walk will end with a rally at the site of the proposed Puget Sound Energy liquid natural gas plant in Tacoma.
March organizers mention some of the proposed fossil fuel expansion projects and the risks they pose to neighboring communities:
“We walk to be free of Kinder Morgan’s plan to bring nearly 1 million barrels of oil per day to our shores [which would increase shipping in the Salish Sea by an astounding 700%].
— To stand in solidarity and to ensure that the Puyallup Nation and Tacoma residents do not have the threat of an 8 million gallon Liquefied (un)-Natural (fracked) Gas (LNG) facility with a 3.5 mile incineration zone located a half mile from their homes.
— To make sure that Saanich Nation and Malahat Nation do not have to live within the incineration zone of a Liquefied (un)-Natural (fracked) Gas (LNG) facility.
— To stand in Solidarity with No LNG pipelne on Lummi Nations land.
So that our Salish Sea can be a place for all life to thrive once again and be free from the threats of Climate Change.”
Peninsula residents doing the entire walk are Cherri Mann and Debra Ellers of Port Townsend, and Ingrid Carmean and Ed Chadd of Port Angeles. Others from the Olympic Peninsula will be participating in parts of the walk. Mann, Blair, and Chadd are part of the North Olympic Orca Pod, a local group dedicated to representing the Southern Resident Orca population through costume appearances and public education. Members represent individual orcas to educate people about the endangered Southern Resident Orcas and their home waters of the Salish Sea.
Ed Chadd, on behalf of Olympic Climate Action
Citizens addressing the threat of climate change on the Olympic Peninsula
Clallam County, Washington State, U.S.A.
Filed under: Puget Sound | Tagged: Puget Sound |
