LTE: Lawmakers must pass environmental agenda

When we humans destroy the biological diversity of God's creation and degrade the integrity of earth by causing changes to its climate through global warming, these are of course environmental issues, but they are not just environmental issues.

Fundamentally, at their core, they are moral and ethical issues and the responsibility of everyone. Global warming is also a justice issue because the climate change that results from global warming always disproportionately and adversely affects the poorest and most vulnerable people in our local communities and throughout the world.

We can do something about this situation.

The environmental community is spearheading a local solution to global warming campaign during this 2008 session of the Washington state Legislature. The four priorities heading into our state's legislative session are:

• Local farms, healthy kids (House Bill 2798/Senate Bill 6483), a bill that addresses childhood health and nutrition as well as the loss of farmland.
• Local solutions to global warming (House Bill 2797/Senate Bill 6580), a bill that would require cities to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through more compact, transit-friendly land use and development.
• Washington climate action (House Bill 2815/Senate Bill 6516), a bill that addresses the federal government's inaction on global warming.
• Evergreen cities (House Bill 2844/Senate Bill 6469), a bill that addresses stormwater runoff, air quality, lack of bird habitat, and treeless neighborhoods.

Please go to the "Priorities for a Healthy Washington" Web site at www.environmentalpriorities.org for more information, and please call your legislators and ask them to support and fund this important legislation.

Sister Mimi Maloney and Sister Katherine Gray
Olympia