VANCOUVER, Wash. – The Thin Green Line is People: Documenting Pacific Northwest Fossil Fuel Resistance is a culmination of years of community efforts to prevent the Pacific Northwest from becoming a fossil fuel transit corridor. The project, spearheaded by a WSU Vancouver environmental research team, aligns with Washington Gov. Jay Inslee’s call for environmental equity, where no single group or community faces disadvantages from climate crisis, pollution or environmental hazards. The new online, open-source archive collects and preserves critical documents in the struggle, including documents that highlight tactics used in the recent victories against the proposed Kalama, Wash. methanol terminal and the Jordan Cove terminal and Pacific Connector pipeline.
“Spectacular people’s history work,” said Bill Bigelow when referencing The Thin Green Line is People. Bigelow serves as a curriculum editor at Rethinking Schools, co-director of the Zinn Education project and is a frequent Huffington Post guest columnist.
The WSU Vancouver Council on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion provided $18,692 in start-up funding for the project. “This is a toolkit, roadmap and resource for a fossil-free future. The archive highlights the tactics and strategies that communities throughout the Pacific Northwest use to beat back Big Oil,” said WSU Vancouver associate professor Desiree Hellegers.
The community-based research team of professors from WSU Vancouver is committed to working with K-12 teachers. This accessible tool highlights the diverse voices involved in the struggle. Tribal chairs and elders, farmers, physicians and other experts are sharing their insights through written documents and public hearings to beat back Big Oil and prevent possible damage to our communities.
Part of a broad-based coalition, The Seattle-based Sightline Institute has dubbed the Pacific Northwest the Thin Green Line for its strategic place in holding the line against an unsustainable fossil fuel future.
To learn more about resources provided by The Thin Green Line is People: Documenting Pacific Northwest Fossil Fuel Resistance, visit labs.wsu.edu/thethingreenlineispeople/ or contact Hellegers at 503-927-1709.
About WSU Vancouver
As one of six campuses of the WSU system, WSU Vancouver offers big-school resources in a small-school environment. Both in person and online, the university provides affordable, high-quality baccalaureate- and graduate-level education to benefit the people and communities it serves. As the only four-year research university in Southwest Washington, WSU Vancouver helps drive economic growth through relationships with local businesses and industries, schools and nonprofit organizations.
# # #
MEDIA CONTACT(S)
Brenda Alling, Office of Marketing and Communication, 360-546-9601, brenda_alling@wsu.edu