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League of Women Voters of Snohomish County

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lwvsnohomishcounty@gmail.com

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(425) 334-8922

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P.O. Box 1146
Everett WA 98206

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League of Women Voters of Snohomish County

1 month ago

Vicki Roberts-Gassler, President-Elect will be speaking around 10 a.m. at the 350 Everett - 2019 People's Climate March, Rally & Music event in downtown Everett! Come on down and join the community for meaningful engagement and FUN! ... See MoreSee Less

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League of Women Voters of Snohomish County

1 month ago

2019 People's Climate March & Rally in Snohomish County (downtown Everett) - Co-sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Snohomish County, in support of the 350 Everett annual Earth Day events. ... See MoreSee Less

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League of Women Voters of Snohomish County shared a post.

2 months ago

Here an important story for shaing with others! Let's rebuild a stronger democracy by ending gerrymandering. ... See MoreSee Less

League of Women Voters of the U.S.

3 gerrymandering cases
2 sets of legal arguments
1 day (tomorrow!)

Here's what you need to know:

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League of Women Voters of Snohomish County

2 months ago

Action Alert -- Environmental Issue - Local

Dear League Members,

Please take immediate action to OPPOSE Snohomish County's intention to greatly increase the supply of fracked gas in the county! We are hoping to exceed 1600 comments before the end of day tomorrow!

Here's the link to comment actionnetwork.org/letters/sno-co-planning-require-an-environmental-impact-statement-for-the-north...

LWVSC has signed on to the following letter as well which fully explains the danger of increasing this pipeline.

RE: Mitigated Determination of Nonsignificance – N Seattle Lateral Upgrade

In regards to the recent Mitigated DNS decision by Snohomish County, we would like to submit the following comments on the North Seattle Lateral Upgrade.

The mitigation measures required by the County do not address the climate impacts of the project. Williams’ assertion that the full capacity of the new pipeline would not be used, and therefore the project resulted in much lower greenhouse gas emissions than previously calculated should not be accepted by the County, acting as lead SEPA agency for the project. Once the NSLU is constructed, there is no recourse by the County should Williams and PSE in fact use the pipeline’s full capacity. Meanwhile, global atmospheric methane gas levels continue to rise, reaching 1,867.2 parts per billion in Novermber 2018.1 Methane has an outsized impact on the pace of global warming, with 1 ton of atmospheric methane causing the same warming as 87 tons of CO2.2
However, recent research indicates that climate change can be dramatically reduced by rapid reduction in fossil fuel use.3 Public policy choices made will significantly impact our future ability to maintain a stable climate and viable environment for our children and grandchildren. It is for these reasons, Snohomish County should rescind the Mitigated DNS decision and require both an upstream emissions analysis to be conducted for the project by an independent third party, as well as require an Environmental Impact Statement.

1. NOAA. (2019.) Recent Global CH4. Earth System Research Laboratory Global Research Division. www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/ccgg/trends_ch4/
2. Alvarez et al. (April 24, 2012.) Greater focus needed on methane leakage from natural gas infrastructure. Proceedings of the Natural Academies of Sciences of the United States of America. www.pnas.org/content/109/17/6435
3. Smith, et al. (Jan 15, 2019.) Current fossil fuel infrastructure does not yet commit us to 1.5 °C warming. Nature Communications. www.nature.com/articles/s41467-018-07999-w

The County should not allow PSE and Williams to cause the environmental and climate damage that will result from this unnecessary project, which locks our region into increasing emissions for decades to come. In Williams’ January 23 correspondence with the County, the company stated that “The existing NSL is expected to continue to meet non-peak day and hour
demand even with projected growth in Snohomish County, as well as King County, over
the next 20 years, including 75,000 new homes for existing, new and in-migrating
Residents.” With this being the case, other avenues for addressing peak demand periods should be pursued, including contracts with industrial users including clauses for usage reduction during peak periods due to residential use.

Environmental impacts of the NSLU extend beyond increased greenhouse gas emissions; the damming of 15 streams, partly during spawning season, will negatively impact our declining local salmon population. At a time when Salish Sea orcas are starving due to decreased salmon runs, this project continues to deteriorate habitat of threatened species like Chinook, Coho, and Sockeye salmon.

Significant safety concerns exist as well, with homes located as little as 11 feet from the pipeline, and the western part of the route running through a densely developed area. As recent gas explosions in Los Angeles (March 17, 2019,) Boston (September 14, 2018,) and Prince George, BC (October 9, 2018) has shown, methane gas use comes at a terrible cost. The existing pipeline should continue to be regularly inspected and properly maintained by Williams and PSE, as we move away from fossil fuel based energy.

Finally, on February 20th, the Snohomish County Council passed a resolution to achieve 100% clean electricity by 2030 and 100% clean energy by 2045 for government operations. We commend the County Council for taking steps to achieve carbon drawdown. However, these goals are at odds with the North Seattle Lateral Upgrade, which would remain in use by residential, commercial, and government customers- and a significant source of carbon emissions- for decades.

King County, meanwhile, has issued a moratorium on fossil fuel infrastructure, and has set a goal of countywide emissions reductions of 25% by 2020 against a 2007 baseline. With the NSLU feeding methane gas to end use consumers in both Snohomish and King Counties, the project is directly at odds with climate policy in both Counties. It is therefore questionable why County planning would allow permitting to be issued on this project.

We respectfully request that the County rescind the Mitigated DNS and require a third party upstream emissions analysis and Environmental Impact Statement. ... See MoreSee Less

Require an Environmental Impact Statement for the North Seattle Lateral!

actionnetwork.org

In October, the Snohomish County Planning Department issued a Determination of Nonsignificance for the North Seattle Lateral Upgrade fracked gas pipeline expansion in south Snohomish County. This project harms already threatened salmon in 15 streams during spawning season, at a time when our Salish....

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League of Women Voters of Snohomish County

3 months ago

Happy Birthday League of Women Voters!
99 years and growing stronger ... See MoreSee Less

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