On June 24, Skagit County Commissioners passed “A Resolution Establishing a Program and Task force for Sustainability and Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation.”  The county wants to seat a 12-member task force by August 1.  Applications are available on the county’s website and we encourage people to apply.

Read the resolution here.Skagit County Climate Resolution

Skagit Beat the Heat will march again in Anacortes’ July 4th parade. Join us at the north end of O Ave by 10:30 AM. Look for the electric car or the earth flag.

We will be walking with our banner leading the way, bracketed by the American flag and the Earth flag. We invite folks to carry signs, dress up, or do something to show what people can do to stop global warming. We’ll need people to walk as the SKAT bus, hold the clothesline, push manual mowers, ride bikes, hand out brochures and “vote for SKAT” flyers, or just walk with us to show solidarity. It would also be great to have more children join us this year so see if you can coax a few to come - after all, it’s their future.

Let’s show Anacortes that America needs to reclaim its leadership role and work to stop global warming!

Good news!  The Board of Skagit County Commissioners will hear a presentation and vote on  the Climate Action Resolution Tuesday, June 24, 11:15 AM. A 15-minute public comment period follows at 11:30 AM. Application forms for persons interested in joining the Climate Action and Sustainability Task Force, due to be seated by Aug. 1, will be available at the meeting and later on the county website. You are welcome and encouraged to attend the meeting, but if you cannot make it, you can view the presentation online live and afterward at www.skagitcounty.net/tv21/. Read the proposed resolution here.

Skagit County Climate Action Resolution

Our monthly film series is moving to the Anacortes Public Library (1220 10th Street at the corner of M Street).  Upcoming movies will be presented on the last Friday night of the month at 7 PM in the library’s community meeting room.  Movies are free to the public and open to all ages.  Bring a friend and we’ll bring the popcorn.  Upcoming films (description provided in printable schedule below):

King Korn June 28, 2008 at 7 PM

Who Killed the Electric Car? July 25, 2008 at 7 PM

The Power of Community - How Cuba Survived Peak Oil  August 29, 2008 at 7 PM

Kilowatt Ours and Appalachian Treasures  September 26, 2008 at 7 PM

Beat the Heat “Friday Night at the Movies” schedule

Wren Schultz is a local guru of public transit options for travelling the I-5 corridor between Whatcom and King Counties.  He’s put his knowledge to work in the new North Sound Transit Guide and Trip Planner now available online at http://www.northsoundtransitguide.com/home.php.  The site provides routes and connections for travelling the North Sound region between Blaine and Seattle and destinations in between.  To help others navigate the often confusing and frustrating world of bus routes, train connections, and schedules, Wren in his spare time created a website for fellow riders and to make commuting easier for new riders interested in using public transit.  Try out the trip planner, which gives you multiple choices of routes and providers based on entering a starting point and end point for your trip.  Wren is a long-time public transit user and frequently commutes from Skagit County to the Seattle area - maybe you’ll meet him on the bus on your next trip.  He hopes to improve the site including tips and answers to frequently asked questions sharing the expertise he’s gained through the years.  

Give it a try, share the website with your friends, and consider supporting the site as a sponsor (see link on the homepage).  You might also be interested in these related sites:

Whatcom Council of Governments Kiosk Project:  http://resources.wcog.org/projects/kioskmap.pdf

WA DOT Transportation Choices website at http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/Choices/bus.htm

Washington Transportation Links (APTA): http://www.apta.com/links/state_local/WA.cfm

Skagit Beat the Heat invites high school students in Skagit County to apply for a $500 grant that will be awarded for the best proposal and plan to slow global warming in our community.  Applications are due June 2! Download one now, or call 360-293-4048 for more information.  2008 Student Grant Application

One of our country’s leading civics textbooks has this to say about global warming: “Science doesn’t know whether we are experiencing a dangerous level of global warming or how bad the greenhouse effect is, if it exists at all.”  This text is used in high school Advanced Placement classes around the country.  It claims that “the scientific community is divided over the issue.”  PLEASE SIGN a petition demanding that Houghton Mifflin pull these books from classrooms and revise them to give our children unbiased and factual information on global warming.      http://www.fusewashington.org/page/s/HoughtonMifflin

We need a volunteer to staff a table at the Mt. Vernon High School Science Fair, May 15, 6-8 PM. This would be a great opportunity to expand our reach, connect with young people, and share info on our student grant program. Call Ron Larson, 299-8350 or Evelyn Adams, 293-4048.

We also need a volunteer to staff an info booth at the Skagit Valley College Sustainability Fair on Saturday, May 17th, 11-2 PM. We’ll be in the Multipurpose Room, which is located just behind the parking lot along East College Way. Our Energy Committee will have displays and we need someone to man a general info table on climate change. A great way to connect with people and spread the word! Call Eric Shen, 299-8553 or Evelyn Adams, 293-4048.

There’s a new rebate program available for PSE residential electric customers.  It doesn’t make financial sense to keep an old fridge or freezer in your garage or basement – not when it uses up to four times the energy of newer models. And throwing it away isn’t a good long-term plan for the environment.  To help residential electric customers save energy, Puget Sound Energy is offering a $30 rebate with free pick up and recycling for old refrigerators and/or freezers.

This offer is available for up to two units per residential address. A qualified unit of any age must be currently owned by you (the rebate recipient) and be in working condition with an inside measurement of 10 cubic feet or more.   Please allow 4-6 weeks after the pick-up of your unit(s) to receive your rebate check.

Call to schedule a pick up.  PSE has contracted with JACO Environmental, an appliance recycler, to pick up and properly recycle the units.  Visit  http://www.jacoinc.net/weborder/ProgSelZIP.aspx or call 1-800-577-0510 to schedule a pickup.  Offer is available on a first-come, first-served basis until funds are exhausted. This is a tariffed service and is subject to change or termination without prior notice.   For other information on PSE appliance programs visit:   http://www.pse.com/solutions/foryourhome/pages/rebatesOnAppliances.aspx?tab=1&chapter=1

A 28 minute presentation by Al Gore at TED in Monterey, CA.  View it online at: http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/243

“In Al Gore’s brand-new slideshow (premiering exclusively on TED.com), he presents evidence that the pace of climate change may be even worse than scientists were recently predicting, and challenges us to act with a sense of “generational mission” — the kind of feeling that brought forth the civil rights movement — to set it right. Gore’s stirring presentation is followed by a brief Q&A in which he is asked for his verdict on the current political candidates’ climate policies and on what role he himself might play in future. “