Greenspace Blog Office of Sustainability & the Environment

Greenspace

City of Seattle Blog

City of Seattle’s Environmental Justice Fund Awards $750,000 in Grants for 14 Projects Led by and Benefiting Those Most Impacted by Climate Change

by

2021 Grants Are Largest-Ever Amount Awarded and Continue Trend of Growth Each Year 

The City of Seattle’s Office of Sustainability & Environment (OSE) is pleased to announce $750,000 will be awarded through the Environmental Justice Fund (EJ Fund) to 14 community-led projects designed to benefit those most impacted by environmental and climate issues, including communities of color, immigrants, refugees, and Indigenous people.

“In Seattle, we are confronting the intersecting crises of climate change, COVID-19, and systemic racism by leading alongside the community and working directly with the community,” said Mayor Bruce Harrell. “The Environmental Justice Fund is a critical tool to directly support community-based organizations led by communities of color that are bringing innovative, aggressive, and bold local solutions to achieving environmental and racial equity.”

The Environmental Justice Fund was developed in 2017 as part of the City’s Equity & Environment agenda to provide grants to community-led projects that improve environmental conditions, respond to impacts of climate change and get us closer to achieving environmental justice. Since its launch, the EJ Fund has awarded three grant cycles of over $1.1 Million to 26 community-based organizations, whose projects are led by or are in deep partnership with communities of color impacted by environmental injustices.

“The Environmental Justice Fund plays a critical role in supporting community-driven projects especially amid the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Edwin Hernandez of Duwamish Valley Sustainability Association, a newly awarded Environmental Justice Fund grantee. “This funding will allow us to engage youth in exploring ways to accelerate a transition to renewable energy sources in the Duwamish Valley.” 

Overall, OSE received 44 proposals totaling nearly $2.8M. Proposals focused on a range of climate and environmental justice topics including food justice, workforce development, environmental education, renewable energy, and youth leadership.

“These 14 grantees represent the breadth of creative efforts that advance climate and environmental justice and are designed and led by frontline communities harmed first and worst by climate change,” said Lisa Chen, Equity & Environment Manager, OSE. “The EJ Fund advances the goals and strategies of the Equity & Environment Agenda by directly investing in community-led efforts that advance environmental equity in Seattle.”

Select EJ Fund grantees and select members of the Environmental Justice Committee served on the seven-member review committee to ensure continuity in a community-led process, a cornerstone of the Fund since inception.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has left many seniors feeling isolated, struggling to access critical services and culturally appropriate foods as well as reduced opportunities to connect with fellow seniors and community members,” said Senayet Negeusse, 2021 grant review participant and who’s organization, East African Senior Meal Program, was awarded a grant in 2020. “Funding from grant programs like the Environmental Justice Fund helped our organization weather the most severe impacts of the pandemic, and I’ve been thrilled to help continue the legacy of the EJ Fund by serving as a grant reviewer this year. I hope the City will continue to expand and manage this program for years to come.” 

Three of these organizations (Doorways Project, Y-WE, and Delridge Neighborhood Development Association) are past recipients of the EJ Fund. Funding these proposals deepens the relationship and investment in their work and within their communities.

“We were thrilled to be part of the 2019 EJ Fund cohort and support community workshops and habitat restorations with neighborhood youth at the Delridge Wetland Park,” said David Bestock of the Delridge Neighborhood Development Association. “With this year’s funding, we can expand our work to empower and equip local youth with a deep understanding of environmental justice and connection within the neighborhood.“

The increase in this year’s EJ Fund is a result of 2021 recommendations from the Equitable Communities Initiative (ECI) Task Force, adopted by City Council. This allocation increased the Environmental Justice Fund by $550,000, bring the total award amount available to $750,000.

The organizations receiving funding and their projects are:

  • Delridge Neighborhood Development Association (DNDA) – $56,012

DNDA’s project aims to provide paid opportunities for high school-aged, primarily youth of color from South Delridge to connect and build a relationship with their natural environment. They plan to lead youth in developing a deeper understanding of environmental justice and exposure to community and federally driven efforts within the neighborhood. They plan to empower youth to develop a project of their own choosing that relates to the environmental justice issues discussed in the program and work with youth to develop digital media skills. This program will focus on the historical ecology of our local landscape, traditional Indigenous approach to ecosystems, specifically looking at Roxhill Bog located in South Delridge.

  • The Doorway Project – $64,450

The Doorway Project will expand their Bloom Urban Gardening Internship, a place-based educational internship aimed at developing critical consciousness around the relationship to land and self. This internship serves youth and young adults experiencing homelessness in the University District. Funding will support the growth of the program to host two internship cohorts per year.

  • Y-WE (Young Women Empowered) – $75,000

Funding will support the Y-WE’s Nature Connections (NC) program, with a focus on environmental justice and healthy food systems in marginalized communities of color. In this time, Y-WE Nature Connections will directly benefit young women in Seattle, primarily from communities of color and of immigrant and low-income backgrounds. Young women will engage in food systems learning and food production, gaining facilitation skills and leading community environmental health and food justice activities. In Y-WE Grow program activities at Marra Farm in the South Park neighborhood, participants will connect with the Earth in reciprocal relationship and gain practical gardening skills while increasing environmental justice knowledge, confidence, and commitment.

  • Basilica Bio – $61,050

Gardening Under the Microscope will expand current efforts at the Garfield Community Center Garden. In addition to maintaining the garden and producing food for the community surrounding them, Basilica Bio will continue to use the spaces as an avenue for their interactive mobile classroom. Participants leave each event with knowledge of important farming and gardening techniques and greater context for why developing local food systems is so important.

  • Beacon Hill Council – $75,000

This work advances ongoing efforts to mitigate air and noise pollution that impacts the Beacon Hill community, comprised of 32,000 residents of which 70% identify as BIPOC and 44% identify as immigrants and refugees. Specifically, funding will provide organizational capacity to educate, activate, and mobilize the Beacon Hill community members to be able to claim their voice and stories to testify in writing or in person to the proposed SeaTac Airport expansion of capacity to accommodate the increase from 47-66 M passengers, the doubling of international flights and the tripling of air cargo.

  • Duwamish Valley Sustainability Association (DVSA) – $75,000

The organization seeks to accelerate the transition to renewables in the Duwamish Valley, starting in South Park, by facilitating a youth-led process to design, engage, and implement a community-wide project to establish a decentralized biofuel and solar energy system. The project deliverable will be a roadmap towards a zero-waste energy system for South Park, which is scalable to the Duwamish. While building the roadmap, they will create a medium and long-term strategy plan for DVSA. This project also includes a skill building component for youth to position them to join the green workforce.

  • International Capoeira Angola Foundation – $30,000

This grant would launch the Nourishian Training pilot program to reconnect Black, Indigenous, and People of Color with the land and cultural traditions, building leadership within community to advocate for their needs, and leveraging the basic human need for nourishment and food as a tool for resistance and healing. The International Capoeira Angola Foundation views shifting power dynamics in health, education, and agricultural systems as a key aspect of advancing environmental justice. The goal of the pilot is to support twelve Nourishians in developing knowledge about how food choices are connected to health, community, and the health of the land.

  • Khmer Community of Seattle & King County (KCSKC) – $69,826

KCSKC will partner with Department of Neighborhoods to bring Khmer youth to the High Point P-Patch to learn how to grow food from the Khmer elders who currently steward the Market Garden plots of the P-Patch. This project will support intergenerational activities outdoors while teaching youth about localized food systems.

  • Muslimahs Against Abuse Center – $30,000

This organization seeks to launch a weekly series to educate and build awareness about food insecurity and poverty in with the East African community. They will facilitate workshops, cooking classes that provide healthy food alternatives, and create a guide to local food resources accessible to community. The organization will also establish a local food pantry that will offer culturally-relevant halal food as well as water and air filters for those who need it.

  • Raíces Verdes – $30,000

Raíces Verdes is a platform by and for BIPOC artists and storytellers dedicated to highlighting the stories of BIPOC people in connection with the environment in a multidisciplinary and living archive. Their mission is for Black, Indigenous, and other racialized people to reconnect to their ancestral “green roots.” This funding will create an Environmental Justice art series, a photo essay of the Seattle-area P’urhépecha diaspora, and video storytelling on food justice and Black liberation. Funding will also support a paid social media fellow and a small summit for BIPOC environmental justice storytelling.

  • Serve Ethiopians Washington – $30,000

Through this project, Serve Ethiopians Washington will conduct community outreach activities to raise awareness on environmental justice issues affecting the East African community. The organization will host educational events on different topics, including indoor and outdoor air quality, to build awareness of the health impacts as well as identify community priority areas regarding environmental justice.

  • The Backpack Academy – $43,300

The Backpack Academy strives to ensure Rainier Valley BIPOC youth have access to up-to-date information about job readiness and workforce marketplace opportunities. To this end, they will launch a 6-month workshop series for youth ages 16-24 to learn about transportation mobility, carbon footprint reduction, and clean energy alternatives. Through the hands-on component to convert manual bikes to electric bikes, youth will learn engineering and green energy concepts and develop new skills.

  • Sawhorse Revolution – $35,362

Sawhorse Revolution will develop and pilot a “Y/our Green Impact Handbook” to teach high-school-aged youth furthest from educational justice about fundamentals of green building and design, introduce them to a variety of green jobs, and interrogate the intersections of environmental, social, and racial justice built into our landscape. Working with the Northwest Eco-Builders Guild, A&R Solar, and, crucially, a board of Black and Brown designers, builders, urban planners, and educators who are living this work, they will undertake the necessary research and program revisions needed to incorporate green design and construction practices into our full suite of programs. The curriculum will be piloted in a Sawhorse design/build program in mid-2022 and published/widely implemented by end of 2022.

  • Wa Na Wari – $75,000

Funding will support Wa Na Wari to focus on a comprehensive garden redesign that implements both a learning lab space and a spring to fall co-design workshop where local BIPOC community members have access to green space and community building opportunities amid the ongoing COVID pandemic. They will design young adult and intergenerational learning labs for soil remediation that are both culturally attuned and deeply scientific at the same time to seed deeper cross-cultural understandings.

2021 OSE Year in Review

by

Michelle Caulfield

Letter from Interim Director, Michelle Caulfield

Dear OSE Friends & Colleagues,

The start of a new year is always a time of reflection – an opportunity to consider the past year and look boldly toward the opportunities ahead. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, OSE hit the ground running in 2021, working with City departments and community stakeholders to advance equitable communities and reduce climate impacts. I am proud of our accomplishments and the way our team – along with City staff from every department – stepped up to meet unprecedented community need.  

In 2021, we awarded the most-ever in funds for BIPOC-led grantees through the Environmental Justice Fund. We saw the implementation of the new building energy code to eliminate most fossil fuel uses in commercial and large multi-family buildings. We launched the Transportation Electrification Blueprint, Seattle’s strategy for electrifying everything that moves people, goods, and services throughout our city. All the while, our food team continued to address rising food insecurity due to COVID and expanded Fresh Bucks to include more customers and more retailers.

OSE also supported the establishment of the City’s first-ever Green New Deal Oversight Board and worked with the Mayor to assemble $8.5M of Duwamish Valley investments to implement community priorities, a $14M package of investments to advance Seattle’s Green New Deal, and a Climate Executive Order to eliminate fossil fuels from existing buildings, expand transit access and Healthy Streets, and advance clean energy workforce development.

Looking ahead, the OSE team continues to advance climate and environmental justice priorities under the leadership of Mayor Bruce Harrell and in partnership with all of you. We are over-the-moon excited to leverage new federal investments and Seattle’s Green New Deal to make big climate and community resilience impacts in 2022 and the years to come. I am hopeful that 2022 will be another unprecedented year – but with a record level of progressive policies and investments to combat the climate crisis, protect natural ecosystems, advance environmental justice, foster healthy food systems, develop a more resilient and healthier communities, and keep Seattle green.

As we close out 2021, we want to thank you for all you do for sustainability and the environment. We wish you a wonderful holiday season and a very Happy New Year. As is our tradition, we leave you with OSE’s 2021 by the numbers, with thanks to so many organizations and community members whose partnership made these activities possible.

Thank you for your partnership.

-Michelle 

Michelle Caulfield, Interim Director
Office of Sustainability and Environment

OSE’s 2021 By the Numbers: 

  • Grant proposals received for the 2021 Environmental Justice Fund cycle: Dollars requested: $2.8 million. Dollars granted: $750,000
  • Dollars of COVID emergency grocery vouchers distributed before sunsetting the program in July: $25.4 million. Households served: 14,000
  • Appointments made to the Green New Deal Oversight Board: 15
  • Members of the GNDOB Inter-Departmental Team, to support the Green New Deal from inside City government: 21
  • Number of people who attended the Environmental Justice Committee’s panel on Tribal and Native Perspectives on the Connection of Energy and Climate Justice: 173
  • OSE staff members interviewed on live TV, talking about electrifying “everything that moves people, goods, and services” & educating viewers about Seattle’s first-in-the-nation Transportation Electrification Blueprint: 1
  • Equitable Road Pricing Strategies Workshops with BIPOC Community leaders: 7
  • Fresh produce boxes distributed to SPS students to help meet food insecurity needs: 221,000
  • Fresh Bucks customers enrolled to receive $40/month: 12,000. Percent of those customers from priority RSJI communities: 75%. Community-based organizations contracted to support that enrollment:
  • Dollars secured from King County’s Conservation Futures Tax to acquire property in South Park to expand an existing park, increase river access, and site a building for community-supportive services (in collaboration with SPR and OPCD): $2,000,000
  • Affordable housing units that will be created in South Park with OH’s purchase of 2 properties, advancing the priorities of the Duwamish Valley Action Plan: 100+
  • Small businesses in South Park and Georgetown provided with COVID support through a reallocation of OSE general funds: Percent of these businesses that are BIPOC-owned: 92%
  • Listening sessions held with stakeholders and BIPOC community members to inform tree protection updates (with SDCI): 12
  • Percent energy reduction in municipal buildings since 2008: 5%. Percent above target: 3.5%
  • City-owned buildings occupied by CBOs providing community services with completed energy efficiency upgrades: 3 (South Park Neighborhood Center, NeighborCare at Columbia City, and Daybreak Star)
  • Percent of Seattle’s largest buildings compliant with Tune-Up law: 91%
  • Number of Seattle buildings that will save significant energy via a tune-up: 660
  • Benchmarking & Tune-Up technical assistance inquiries handled to help owners comply: 3,325
  • South Seattle College Sustainable Building Science Technology benchmarking outreach interns sponsored: 4
  • Households the City helped convert from oil to heat pumps since the Clean Heat program inception in 2017: 850. Gallons of oil per year avoided: 425,000. MTCO2e avoided: 63,000
  • Followers on OSE’s Twitter: 2,003. Total tweets throughout the year: 400. Impressions from those tweets: 435,000
  • News articles placed about OSE’s work or featuring OSE staff members: 35. Average per month: 2-3
  • Number of state legislative climate-, environmental- and food-related bills reviewed by the OSE team: 50
  • Major climate Executive Orders passed: 1
  • Number of OSE staff members thankful for your service and wishing you a Happy New Year: All of us!

Reflecting on My Time as an Intern with OSE

by

Hello, my name is Aditi, and I was the communications intern for the Office of Sustainability and Environment for this past summer and fall. As my internship comes to a close, I wanted to reflect on what I did and learned over the past six months.

One of the biggest responsibilities I had during this internship was managing our social media accounts, and I focused on Twitter in particular. I think communication from the government to the people we serve on a platform that is accessible and easy to follow is very important and can help bridge the gap that can often exist between them. Paring down important information and communications to 280 characters can make it easier to digest and help us focus on what’s significant.

During this internship, I started a series on twitter that I called the OSE Happy Series. Every so often, I tweeted out some uplifting climate news or stories that emphasized and encouraged hope in the future of our planet. Climate change is scary, but there is still so much we can be and are doing right now, and I believe that fearmongering and nihilism only slows progress. I think important to remind people to be hopeful that we can still work to combat the climate crisis, and that it’s not too late. That’s why I really wanted to tweet out little bits of positivity whenever I had the chance.

I also wrote for this blog, which really allowed me to strengthen my writing skills. The posts that I am the proudest of are Reflecting on the Big Day of Play and Reflecting on the PNW Heatwave (they both start with the word reflecting… and so does this one… I must really like that word). I was able to put more a more personal touch on those and write about topics that particularly interested me. I also thoroughly enjoyed being able to chat with Alyssa Patrick for the former blog post.

Being an intern and working what was functionally my first office job during a global pandemic was a rather unique experience, but I am so grateful that I was still able to connect with the others in the office remotely, and even meet up with some of them at Gasworks Park once. I met some really impressive and amazing people in OSE. Some cool things happened at OSE and the City of Seattle while I was interning with them, like the executive order announcement on November 1st, Fresh Bucks launching electronic benefits, and the $1.7 Million budget announcement for oil-to-heat-pump conversations for low- and middle-income households. My experience with this internship has given me vital experience in government and public service, which is what I want to go into after I graduate from UW this spring.

I am so grateful for this experience, this office, and all the amazing people that I was able work with. Thank you!

Reflecting on Big Day of Play

by

Last month, the City of Seattle held our annual Big Day of Play, with both in-person and virtual options for community members to attend. After being fully virtual last year due to the pandemic, the community was happy to find a way to connect to each other while being respectful of people’s health and safety.

Big Day of Play is put on by Seattle Parks and Recreation every year to celebrate the diversity in our communities and encourage an active and healthy lifestyle. The event, held at the Rainier Community Center, consisted of many community partner booths and Rainier Avenue Radio hosting performances on a stage.

Our Office teamed up with the Seattle Human Services Department and Seattle Public Utilities at a booth to promote hydration and spread awareness about the safety and cleanliness of Seattle’s water. The Sweetened Beverage Tax Advisory Board believes in promoting water as a counter to soda, based on research that the more water people consume, the less sweetened beverages they will drink. The booth was very popular, likely due at least in part to the 2,000 water bottles given away, which also got people interested in the message of clean water and hydration. The booth was also in partnership S’well, a reusable water bottle company, and Lonely Whale, a PR direct action non-profit focused on reducing single-use plastic.

Alyssa Patrick, the OSE staffer that was at the booth at Big Day of Play, says it is important to acknowledge justified fear and distrust of the government from mistreated communities, and that by being at this event, we are honoring their reasons for distrust while providing information and making access to various resources easier. She said the water bottles in specific were helpful in spreading their message about hydration and health because the action of giving is more personal and interactive than simply talking at people. The hydration booth was also an opportunity to tell communities about new water bottle filling stations recently installed in several Seattle schools thanks to funding from the Sweetened Beverage Tax.

This year was Alyssa’s first year at Big Day of Play, and her favorite part was feeling truly in partnership with community organizations and feeling like the community was able to have a say in what they wanted and needed. She was glad to be able to work and connect with the community and other departments in person. The event was energizing, exciting, and community oriented, and the hydration booth was a great interdepartmental effort to promote the importance of drinking water and living a healthy lifestyle.

Mayor Durkan Proposes $1.7 Million in 2022 Budget to Fund Oil-to-Electric Heat Pump Conversions for Low-and-Middle-Income Households

by

Investment supports efforts to reduce pollution to meet climate goals, prevent soil and groundwater contamination, and improve air quality

In her 2022 budget address, Mayor Durkan announced $1.7 million to support residents in converting from dirty and expensive heating oil to clean electric heat pumps, including funds to provide no-cost heat pumps for approximately 125 low-income households. The budget also funds inclusive outreach and engagement with Black, Indigenous, and People of Color communities that have borne the worst impacts of climate change, environmental hazards, and systemic racism.   

In 2019, Seattle passed the Heating Oil Tax, which sets a.24 cents per gallon tax on oil service providers with a goal to fully phase out the use of oil heat by 2028. Delayed due to COVID-19, the heating oil tax law will go into effect in April 2022 and create a funding source that helps pay for electric heat pumps for low- and middle-income households currently heating with oil.  

“We can’t wait any longer to stop burning fossil fuels. Our climate and our communities need action now,” said Jenny Durkan, Mayor, City of Seattle. “With these funds, we are seeking to backfill lost revenue from the delayed oil heat tax and accelerate Seattle’s efforts to phase out polluting fossil fuels and provide residents in need with cleaner air, lower bills, and air conditioning for our increasingly dangerous summer heat.”  

Eliminating the use of fossil fuels is a critical component to meeting Seattle’s climate goals and stemming the worse impacts of climate change. Heating oil represents 16-18% of total carbon pollution in the residential sector and 9% of carbon pollution in the total buildings sector. It is estimated that more than 400,000 MTC02e will be reduced over a 10-year period by phasing out heating oil to clean electricity. 

“Buildings are responsible for more than 1/3rd of Seattle’s climate pollution and rising,” said Christine Bunch, Climate & Energy Advisor, Seattle Office of Sustainability and Environment. “We estimate that there are between 15,000 and 18,000 households in Seattle heating with oil. Converting them to Seattle’s clean electricity will reduce our climate pollution by the same amount as taking 90,000 cars off the road for an entire year.”  

In addition to reducing carbon emissions, converting households from oil to clean electricity also has these benefits: 

  • Reducing pollution, overall energy use, and heating bills through the equitable adoption of clean heating technologies such as heat pumps.  
  • Air-conditioning and air filtration that will be important as we experience longer summers,  hotter temperatures, and more wildfire smoke due to climate change. 
  • Preventing future oil leaks from underground storage tanks that can contaminate the soil and ground water, and that can be hazardous to human health.  
  • Reducing future environmental damage, cleanup costs, and economic burdens to households. 

In future years, this programming at both the Office of Sustainability and Environment and Office of Housing will be supported by revenues from the Heating Oil Tax, which has been delayed until April 2022.  

“Providing no-cost conversions from heating oil to electric heat pumps has made a huge difference in the lives of the homeowners and families we have served so far,” said Emily Alvarado, Director, Seattle Office of Housing. “Not only do these conversions keep residents healthier and more comfortable throughout the year, but the associated energy savings also help low- and middle-income households afford to stay in their homes. This is especially important for households of color who are at the greatest risk of experiencing displacement, housing instability, and negative health outcomes from climate change and other environmental factors.” 

Since 2017, the City has provided nearly 775 rebates and since 2019 has converted 65 low-income households at no cost, to clean electric heat pumps. The City offers a $1,500 instant rebate on qualified heat pumps installed by a participating installer. A list of installers can be found at www.NoMoreOilHeat.com  Mayor Durkan released her proposed 2022 budget and transmitted to council on Monday, September 27. More here: www.seattle.gov/budget

Environmental Justice Fund Application is Now Open

by

Image Text: Environmental Justice Fund

The application process is now open for the Environmental Justice Fund, a grant opportunity that supports community-led projects that improve environmental conditions, respond to impacts of climate change, and get us closer to achieving environmental justice. The deadline to apply is Monday, September 13 at 4pm. 

Application Link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/EJF2021

This year, up to $750,000 is available for grants thanks to City Council’s adoption of the Equitable Communities Initiative Task Force recommendations which allocated an additional $500,000 to the Environmental Justice Fund. The Equitable Communities Initiative Task Force is a diverse group of people of color and community leaders representing a cross-section of industries, including environmental justice, who came together to spearhead the process of developing recommendations for a $30 million investment into our BIPOC communities. Funds will be administered by the Bullitt Foundation. Projects will be awarded no less than $25,000 and no more than $75,000 for an 18-month period beginning January 2022.

Selected members of Seattle’s Environmental Justice Committee play a critical role in the oversight of the fund. The Committee’s goal is to deepen the influence of communities of color in City environmental programs to ensure that the stories, experiences, and policy priorities of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color shape Seattle’s environmental work. The Committee is guided by the Equity & Environmental Agenda, a roadmap to advance race and social justice within Seattle’s environmental work. 

To learn more about the Fund, the review process, qualities of a strong proposal and to ask questions, join an upcoming virtual information session. RSVP here for first session that will take place on Monday, August 16 at 3pm and RSVP here for the second session taking place on Wednesday, August 25 at 12pm.  

Application: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/EJF2021

Reflecting on the PNW Heatwave

by

We have finally made it out of the record-breaking heatwave that passed through the Pacific Northwest this past weekend, hitting Seattle hard and sending temperatures soaring to an ultimate high of 108 degrees on Monday. This dangerous heat is indicative of a pattern of extreme weather due to climate change and underscores the urgency to adapt to what could become a pattern in the coming years, combat harm to the environment, and put as much of a damper on climate change as possible. The effects of the heat can also help us more clearly see the disproportionate ways in which climate change aggravates inequalities already present.

Extreme heat can be very harmful and often life-threatening. It can lead to heat exhaustion, and eventually severe illness and death due to a much higher possibility for heatstroke or cardiovascular disease. There are inequities in how different communities within Seattle are affected by extreme temperature. While those who are well-off can buy an AC or fan, or at the very least stay indoors, many people do not have that luxury. Unhoused people do not have any of these privileges, making them much more vulnerable than others. There are also people across the city that cannot afford different safety mechanisms to survive the heat.

Another aspect of the heat that contributes to inequality is that urbanized areas in this city (where there are more buildings, parking lots, and pavement) hold onto heat for longer and therefore put residents in danger for greater periods of time, while people in higher income neighborhoods with more greenery and trees are less in danger from extreme weather. This was recently highlighted in a heat mapping project, a joint project from King County and the City of Seattle.

The city of Seattle and King County are working to combat climate change in various ways. The city is pursuing key goals, such as electrifying transportation as much as possible, continuing a shift to clean energy for new and existing buildings, and pursuing other environmental protection policies. Meanwhile, King County is working on ways in which we can mitigate the effects of extreme weather, and perhaps slow warming. There are multiple tree-planting initiatives, “greenspace protection” under the Land Conservation Initiative, improvement of bus stop and park layout, especially in areas with priority groups that are more at risk, and more.

We may start to see weather like this happening more often, so while we are fighting the root cause of the heatwaves and snowstorms, make sure you are keeping safe and healthy as much as you can. During heatwaves, it is best to stay inside, keep very hydrated, and keep yourself informed about conditions.

Cities are the Engines to Drive a Green and Just Recovery

by

Cities are the engines that can drive a green and just recovery from COVID-19. On Monday, May 10, Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan joined a group of leading global and city leaders to meet with U.S. Special Envoy for Climate, John Kerry, to work together to secure a sustainable and equitable future for all, followed by a panel discussion hosted by the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), a not-for-profit charity that runs the global disclosure system for investors, companies, cities, states and regions to manage their environmental impacts.

The virtual meeting, convened by C40 Cities, provided an opportunity to discuss collaborations on climate initiatives and continue momentum around a renewed sense of international climate cooperation. Mayor Durkan briefed Secretary Kerry on the climate policies and projects being delivered in Seattle and our commitment to inclusive climate action in line with the 1.5°C goal of the Paris Agreement. Speakers also shared ideas on how to build national government support for city climate action and ambition on the road to COP26.

Mayor Durkan also participated at the CDP North America workshop panel, “Breaking Through Barriers: How We Can Deliver on the Decade of Action”, and was joined by Marilyn Waite, Program Officer, Environment, William & Flora Hewlett Foundation and Jeannie Renné-Malone, VP of Global Sustainability, VF Corporation. 

Panelists discussed the many successes and challenges encountered along the way, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic, as cities, businesses, and philanthropies work to fundamentally reshape our economy for a fossil-fuel free future.  

Here in Seattle, many City staff and departments were redeployed to support community members access basic health care and safety needs. Our greatest successes have come when we center community and work to build Seattle back better by ensuring those who have been most burdened by COVID-19 and climate change are the ones who will benefit most from our clean energy transition.  

For example, Mayor Durkan lauded that the City was able to give out $500,000 in Environmental Justice Fund grants (the most-ever!) to community-led organizations who are designing projects that will advance climate justice and directly benefit those most in need. Seattle is also working to establish a Green New Deal oversight board with community members and labor representatives to ensure a just transition and create better pathways and funding mechanisms to support good paying jobs in the clean energy economy.   

“Our economic recovery is tied to our climate and equity goals; We can’t meet our climate goals unless we are centered and realize the ways environmental injustice has happened so we can build our city back better”

Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan

In February, Mayor Durkan signed legislation making Seattle’s building energy code one of the strongest on climate in the nation. The updates to the energy code will require nearly all new commercial and large multifamily buildings to use clean electricity for space and water heating and maximize building efficiency and on-site renewables. In addition, the same criteria applies when existing buildings are substantially upgraded or space or water heating equipment is replaced.  

And in March, Seattle released its new Transportation Electrification Blueprint, a first of its kind, comprehensive City-wide plan that outlines how the City will move toward a clean and equitable transportation system. Through this work, we will electrify everything that moves people, goods, or services in and around our City in order to reduce climate emissions and air pollution, increase electric mobility options, and create a pipeline of green jobs and workforce diversity. 

Green Worker Spotlight: Moving Toward a More Just and Healthy City

by

The COVID-19 pandemic has made worse many existing inequities across our communities. As we work to build Seattle back better, we have an opportunity to build a more just, healthy, and beautiful city.

Under a Green New Deal framework, we are working to eliminate our city’s climate pollution by 2030, advance environmental justice, and create good, green, well-paying jobs. We are doing a Green Worker Spotlight on three individuals who are not only rising to the climate challenge, but also continuing to lead their communities in solutions for all.

Edwin Wanji – Sphere Solar Energy
Recent solar workforce diversity reports show a lack of diversity in the industry. At Sphere Solar, Edwin’s team is working to make energy accessible and clean, and paving the way for people of color and immigrants in the solar industry to serve all members of the community, especially for vulnerable populations. This includes energy, water and waste infrastructure, transportation sector, supported by an inclusive and diverse workforce.

Solar Sphere has successfully delivered international relief projects in Haiti and Kenya, and are supporting a solar project with a local faith-based organization, leveraging grant funding resources from the local utility, and providing education and training for the historically BIPOC congregation.

Solar Sphere is working to advance a green economy from the clean energy, community resilience, and environmental justice standpoint, and hopes to increase capacity for providing strategic advisory support at the local, national and international level. Learn more here: https://spheresolarenergy.com/

Masra Clamoungou, Black Farmers Collective and Small Axe Farms

The COVID-19 pandemic has amplified the need for improved natural resources and access to healthy food and green space where communities can grow culturally-significant foods and medicines.

Farmers and farmworkers play a fundamental role within the green economy by being aware of the ways that natural systems interact and through responsibly managing the use of these systems and resources to produce nourishment for human communities.

Black Farmers Collective is working to reclaim Black and Indigenous relationships with the land, improve BIPOC communities’ food sovereignty, and guide discussions about racial inequality. Learn more here: https://blackstarfarmers.org/

Stuart Vázquez, Eco-Lógica

Bringing information and education to support communities who have been most impacted by environmental injustice get involved in green living is critical for living a more sustainable lifestyle.

Eco-Lógica is the first and only bilingual magazine about environmental and sustainability education totally free in the Puget Sound area. Learn more about Eco-Lógica here, and leave a comment below about how your job helps protect the environment! https://ecologicamagazine.com/

Apply to Join the Green New Deal Oversight Board

by

The City of Seattle expanded on its history of progressive climate action by enacting the Green New Deal Resolution to help create jobs and advance an equitable transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy by prioritizing investments in communities historically most harmed by economic, racial, and environmental injustices.

Seattle City Council voted to form the Green New Deal Oversight Board (CB 119604) to advance the work of establishing a Green New Deal for Seattle. The Seattle Green New Deal Oversight Board is composed of representatives who are passionate about advancing an equitable transition to a clean energy economy, centering frontline communities and workers most impacted by climate change. 

How to Apply:
If you are interested in collaborating with a team of community leaders working on bold and transformative solutions to climate change and racial and economic inequity, we encourage you to APPLY HERE by April 16.

For more information, questions, or assistance with the application process please contact equityenviro@seattle.gov or call (206) 487-0007. 

The Oversight Board will work towards developing a workplan that includes:

  • A definition of what constitutes a policy, program or project that advances a Green New Deal for Seattle
  • Proposals for new policies and programs to advance the Green New Deal for Seattle;
  • Support in planning and implementation of City actions to make Seattle climate-pollution free by 2030;
  • City budget and legislative recommendations;
  • Engagement with departments and existing committees, boards, and commissions.  

The Green New Deal Oversight Board will be made up of 19 members appointed by the Mayor and City Council for a renewable, 3-year term.

  • Eight positions designated for community representatives directly impacted by racial, economic, and environmental injustices (including two tribal members and two individuals between the ages of 16 and 25 at the time of their appointment).
  • Four positions designated for representatives of labor unions.
  • Three positions designated for representatives of environmental justice organizations.
  • Three positions designated for representatives with experience in greenhouse gas reduction and climate resiliency strategies relevant to cities.
  • One position designated for an individual specializing in workforce training.

APPLY HERE by April 16.

For more information, questions, or assistance with the application process please contact equityenviro@seattle.gov or call (206) 487-0007.