A Better Port Future

I chose the name of this blog intentionally some years ago. Understanding that the health and the safety of the community was being managed with abandon by local and regional agencies, at the behest of industry, I wanted to believe that something better was possible. Inspired by the success of Granville Island in Vancouver, British […]

Shifting winds

It can be easy to feel like we are alone in the fight against fossil fuel projects in our communities. It can be frustrating and demoralizing to realize that industry’s voice carries more timbre and validity in the houses that we, the people, pay for. Take heart. The winds are shifting. This story https://www.wbur.org/earthwhile/2021/03/19/weymouth-compressor-ferc-precedent-enbridge-natural-gas shows […]

WA-Critical Call for Support

Public Broadband Act has passed the House and is headed to the Senate. Check out this link for more information. I hope to be putting more calls to action here. It’s easy to be dismayed and disgusted with elected officials. After the last four years, I think we have a clearer vision of what happens […]

LNG Refinery: Increased dangers

I haven’t been very vocal on this medium these last several months, even though I have been doing things that are important to the protection of our lands, waters, and winds. I wanted to make sure that you were aware of some of PSE’s recent actions, so that you can take the necessary steps to […]

Chemical exposure 24/7/365

Do not be fooled, Tacoma. This isn’t just steam. There are a number of toxic chemicals being emitted here. They may be within “acceptable” amounts, but the “acceptable” designation does not account for accumulative effects on human and nature’s health. No one is measuring these in real time. Nor are they measuring all industry together. […]

Change in seasons

Wrapping up 2020 will be wholly unlike any end of year narrative that we have had in quite some time. We are ending a decade, fighting a virus, fighting with each other, watching the planet change in devastating ways, and trying to keep some semblance of what has been deemed ‘normal’ for a very long […]

Call to action: Comments due 9/21

Shared here is my letter to the City of Tacoma regarding proposed expansion at the SeaPort Sound Terminal, home to over 20 tanks full of toxic and dangerous petrochemicals. The proposed expansion seeks to add 8 more tanks, increasing capacity and throughput of more dangerous petrochemicals, even while our world burns and we lose critical […]

Performative Political Platforms

Castle ruins and economic tea leaves

My instagram is full of images from Scottish castles, some in ruins, some held together. It is a bittersweet routine for me, having visited Scotland twice where I developed a deep and abiding love for the air, land, water and people of Alba. I deeply respect the craftsmanship of these massive structures, built over long […]

The exploitative economy

We live in a world where, for the last 400 years or so, economic models were based on exploitation. Exploitation of natural resources, exploitation of people, exploitation of markets. Somewhere along the way, this exploitation was normalized and the mechanisms for exploitation are heralded, lauded, and revered. The inhumane impacts of these economic models have […]

Survey Results

Here are the survey results. What are we going to do? I can do a better survey with a little less bias and more flexibility in the way the questions are designed for answers. What should we do with this information? There were only 155 responses, which isn’t a bad showing, but we need a […]

one job

I have one job this winter…well, beside my 9-5 and non-profit work. I need to write at least a lit review for a thesis about economic models. No more messing around.