2019-02(2)-01: Peace and Social Concerns: Mobility Minute
(excerpted from Draft minutes because RantWoman does not
expect changes and because RantWoman wants to be able to find this in the
future. Full text of minute and resources at botgtom of this post.)
Erica Schweizer and Malcolm Taran jointly presented a
minute, “Mobility Planning and Addressing Climate Disruption,” as well as a
short writing by Malcolm, “Nature,
Science, and Understanding Choices We Face.” They also acknowledged that Jonathan
Betz-Zall was instrumental in a lot of the work behind this minute, but could
not be present at today’s meeting. They
read the minute, then asked us to consider how public transportation does or
does not work for us, personally.
Discussion:
*
some find Seattle’s Metro, and Snohomish County’s Sound, transit systems
to be excellent, and believe them to be leaders in the nation. Others find European systems to be vastly
superior
*
some of us use public transit frequently, or even exclusively; some
forsee using it more, as the demands of age make driving a car less feasible;
others find catching a bus at night, in the dark, with a long wait, to be a
challenge it’s hard to live up to consistently; others find it convenient only when
going downtown (many bus connections) or to the airport; others find the
journey itself worthwhile, since it puts us in touch with our fellow citizens,
and forces us to engage in the relative slowness of bus-riding (and
bus-awaiting)
*
some public transit users are marginalized people; some people aren’t
able to consider using Lyft or Uber
*
even those of us who don’t live in the University District can come to
feel responsible for this neighborhood, by virtue of worshipping here over time
*
what is the purpose of this minute?
to endorse the principles of the UDM?
or the “nitty gritty,” of which some of us may be unfamiliar? Similarly, what position, if any, has the
Church Council taken on this issue?
(apparently, they are not taking the lead– UFM would be endorsing the
minute, and forwarding it on to the Church Council for them to season with
other churches)
*
given that we are not clear on all the requisite details, and that we
are comfortable approving the spirit and and principle of the minute, we came
to unity on approving the minute with the following revision: in paragraph 3, changing the third sentence from
“We endorse the methods and principles of the U District Mobility Project
(UDM)” to “We endorse the principles and spirit…”
Friends approved the “Mobility Planning and Addressing Climate
Disruption” minute with the above minor change
RantWoman will figure out how to post the full text of the
minute. But not tonight.
RantWoman greatly appreciates this minute for asking Friends
to think about the evolution of our area’s and our region’s transportation
infrastructure in relation to climate change.
RantWoman thinks this minute is highly germane to ongoing
discernment about how transportation changes in the U district will affect our
Meeting life.
RantWoman notes a comment about “nitty gritty.” RantWoman
thinks it would be neighborly and supportive of our community presence for more
Friends than RantWoman to take an interest in the nitty gritty of following who
is who and how projects are evolving. RantWoman even thinks that tending to
this would help build community and support appropriate stewardship of our own property.
RantWoman greatly appreciates that the draft minutes include
the varying thoughts of many Friends about experience with public transportation.
RantWoman greatly appreciates the change accepted in the text,
among other things because it nicely addresses overreach RantWoman has
previously raised concerns about.
RantWoman likes the idea of cirdulating this minute through
the Church Council of Greater Seattle and Faith Action Networkparticularly
because RantWoman would appreciate a greater sense of faith community
engagement about transportation issues, equity, lifestyle and community life.
University
Friends Meeting [UFM letterhead]
4001 9th Ave
NE
Seattle WA
98105
09 December
2018
Mobility
Planning and Addressing Climate Disruption
We members
of University Friends Meeting seek an Earth restored and promise to do our part
to create a more welcoming and livable future. This task upholds all of Friends’
traditional testimonies on Simplicity, Peace, Equality, Community, and
Integrity. We are called to examine every element of our lives and act to place
in harmony our impact on our planet and to establish justice in our relationships
with other people and with creation.
While we
consider and develop deeper-reaching changes in our ways of living, we can take
immediate action by working toward superseding the current automobile-oriented transportation
system with more beneficial and socially-responsible ways of moving ourselves
around. Transportation is the single biggest CO2 contributor
by our city. Due to civic demand, our city already provides some public
transportation alternatives, but many places are not conveniently served. We feel
called to advocate for more thoroughgoing sustainable upgrading of our
transportation system. University Monthly Meeting of the Religious Society of
Friends calls for equitable, sustainable transportation systems that work for
people of all ages and abilities. We encourage Friends to advocate policies
that uphold these testimonies through available civic processes. We endorse the
methods and principles of the U District Mobility Project (UDM). The UDM
exemplifies an actual project with a range of needed approaches and a diverse
range of needed solutions.We recommend that the Church Council of Greater
Seattle and other faith institutions join in the goals of this effort for their
neighborhoods. We will distribute this Minute to the Church Council of Greater
Seattle, City Council and Mayor Jenny Durkan, County Council and Executive Dow
Constantine.
Acting on
this Minute is a step toward putting ourselves in right relationship with the
Earth. This step should be one in a continuing series of diverse actions.
MobilityMinute v.2.3.odt Wed. 21 Nov. 18
p.1 o f 3
Summary of context
Action
on this task is needed due to the seriousness and scale of the problems facing
the Earth. We are“called to examine every element of our lives and act”
significantly due to the actions of humans.
Significant
changes in environmental and economic policies are needed.
As
we may know, the cautious or modestly reserved consensus of the world’s climate
scientists is that the world is not on track to meet the minimal goals of the
Paris Climate Accords of 2014. Further, the world has less than about twelve
years to have in place large reductions in CO2
emissions, to avoid evident cascading feedback loops
leading to vastly more cost and undesired consequences than acting now, massively.
Greatly more severe consequences would affect strain on community, peace and
refugee migration, strain on human rights and health, exacerbating disparity,
as well as environmental degradation, unpredictable climate, and severe weather
damage.
With
transportation as the major CO2 contributor by Seattle, significant improvements leading to
reduction
can be an effective action toward beginning answering need. A better future is
possible, but it will require significant changes, dedicated effort, creative
cooperation, and well-directed resources. Significantly meeting needs will take
years, so the time for significant progress is now.
U
District Mobility Plan
“Our
desired outcome is a holistic, multi-modal station area mobility plan for the U
District.”
“The
plan is a result of both extensive and intensive community engagement.” They
also collaborate with civic, city, and transit agencies. The station area plan
is just one in an array of mobility projects for the U District area.
Principles:
Give
top priority to pedestrian movement.
Design
for pedestrian access to the station.
Provide
an efficient, flexible bus network.
Create
a safe and attractive street environment for people of all abilities.
Complete
the bicycle network.
Address
the multimodal challenges on NE 45th Street.
[“U District
Station Area Mobility Plan-Summary.pdf”, docs.udistrictmobility.org]
MobilityMinute v.2.3.odt Wed.
21 Nov. 18 p.2 o f 3
Address the multimodal challenges on NE 45th Street.
[“U District Station Area Mobility Plan-Summary.pdf”,
docs.udistrictmobility.org]
MobilityMinute v.2.3.odt Wed. 21 Nov. 18 p.2 o f 3
References
City of Seattle, Office of the Mayor, “Seattle Climate
Action, April 2018”, Apr. 2018.
http://durkan.seattle.gov/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/SeaClimateAction_April2018.pdf
City of Seattle, “Seattle Climate Action Plan”, 2018.
https://www.seattle.gov/environment/
climatechange/
climate-planning/climate-action-plan
Transportation is the leading source of Seattle's
contribution to climate change [climate chaos, or more
accurately, anthropogenic climate disruption], accounting
for two-thirds.
Fesler, Stephen, “University District Mobility Plan would
pedestrianize the Ave and NE 43rd Street”, The
Urbanist, Oct 31, 2018,
https://www.theurbanist.org/2018/10/31/university-district-mobility-plan-wouldpedestrianize-
the-ave-and-ne-43rd-st/
Goodman, Amy, interview with Dr. Anderson, Tue. 09 Oct.
2018. DemocracyNow.org.
Kevin Anderson, Zennström professor in climate change
leadership at the Centre for Environment
and Development Studies at Uppsala University, Sweden, and
chair of energy and climate change at the
Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research at the University
of Manchester in Britain.
https://www.democracynow.org/2018/10/9/climate_scientist_as_un_warns_of
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, “Summary for
Policymakers”, 2018.
http://report.ipcc.ch/sr15/pdf/sr15_spm_final.pdf
U District Advocates, “U District Station Area Mobility
Plan” (plan summary of
udistrictmobility.org/plan), Sep. 2018.
http://docs.udistrictmobility.org/U%20District%20Station%20Area
%20Mobility%20Plan%20-%20Summary.pdf
World Resources Institute, “8 things you need to know about
the IPCC 1.5C Report”, Oct. 2018.
https://www.wri.org/blog/2018/10/8-things-you-need-know-about-ipcc-15-c-report
Worldwide Fund for Nature, “Living Planet Report”, biyearly.
WorldWildlife.org, (WWF.org in US and
Canada).
Sample summary: Business Insider, “Half of the world’s
animals have disappeared since the 1970s”,
Sep. 2014.
https://www.businessinsider.com.au/wwf-audit-half-of-the-earths-animals-have-disappeared-
sincethe-
1970s-2014-9
[2018 estimate is 60 percent.]
MobilityMinute v.2.3.odt Wed. 21 Nov. 18 p.3 o f 3
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