Whatcom Environmental Council

04/24/2026

Please Attend the City Council Meeting on Monday

We would love to fill the Council chamber with people supporting the Campaign. A number of us, including yours truly, will be making coordinated public comments that will conclude with presentation of the petition, as well as provide education on the history of our efforts, the threats the incinerat...

04/20/2026

WEC Comments on Intalco MTCA Order-Demolition
April 15, 2026

TO: Dept. of Ecology

In this letter, we are asking the Dept. of Ecology to ensure that the policy of the Model Toxics Control Act (MCTA) is carried out; and we have five other recommendations: 1) Sediment sampling should be expanded; 2) Address creosote pilings; 3) Address ACAZ use (preservative treatment); 4) Document extent of alumina in marine sediment; and 5) Require remediation for any contaminants found in soil and sediment sampling.

Read our letter here:https://0164f939-9076-4107-a45a-1f71fe9db344.usrfiles.com/ugd/0164f9_6366a430daa14682ad8660ec157fe568.pdf

04/15/2026

Whatcom Environmental Council April Newsletter

Read our news and latest updates.

04/10/2026

You can make sure this Cherry Point WIN Sticks

Dear Friend, Whatcom Environmental Council and its partners just secured a major legal win that will help protect Cherry Point and the Salish Sea. Our County Hearing Examiner ruled that Whatcom County failed to follow the law by allowing Canadian corporation AltaGas to expand its Cherry Point facili...

04/08/2026

We won!! A victory worth celebrating—for the place you and I call home.

Whatcom Environmental Council and its partners just secured a major legal win that will help protect Cherry Point and the Salish Sea—the most ecologically rich environment in our region.

Our County Hearing Examiner ruled that Whatcom County failed to follow the law by allowing Canadian corporation AltaGas to piecemeal expand over many years its Cherry Point facility for shipping liquified petroleum gas—a dangerous fossil fuel—without proper permits or environmental review.

This is happening right here in our own backyard—and it matters.

Legal appeals are costly, and we must continue monitoring AltaGas and the County to ensure compliance and oppose any appeal they may file in Superior Court. Will you give $25, $50, $100, or whatever you can afford to help us?

Cherry Point isn’t just an industrial area. It is also an aquatic reserve, created largely to protect one of the last remaining spawning grounds for a unique Pacific herring population—vital to endangered Chinook salmon, and in turn, to the orcas that define the Pacific Northwest.

AltaGas’s expansion facilitates increased tanker shipments of highly explosive fuels through Salish Sea waters—raising real risks for this fragile ecosystem.

When places like Cherry Point are at risk, the impacts ripple outward—through the Salish Sea and into the future of this region. And even as we celebrate this win, there is more to do, including another threat already underway.

We are now appealing the City of Bellingham’s Comprehensive Plan Update—because it encourages sprawl, increases greenhouse gas emissions, and puts Lake Whatcom, our drinking water, at risk from unsafe development too close to the lake.

Efforts like this, on behalf of all those in Bellingham, Whatcom County, and the Salish Sea region, are why we’re asking for your help now.

Will you step forward with a generous gift today to help protect our future—and the places and iconic species we all love?

Your support makes this work possible—today and for the long term. Thank you for standing with us.

Sincerely,

Rodd Pemble
Board President, Whatcom Environmental Council

P.S. Momentum is on our side. Winning this appeal will help protect Cherry Point, salmon, orcas, and the people of Whatcom County from another fossil fuel threat. And our appeal of Bellingham’s Comprehensive Plan Update seeks to rein in sprawl, emissions, and risks to our drinking water. Please make a generous gift to help safeguard this place we call home.

If you can, please Donate Now:
https://www.whatcomenvirocouncil.org/donate

04/04/2026

A Win for Whatcom Citizens and the Environment

Rodd Pemble, President

03/31/2026

ACTION ALERT

Save the Roadless Rule — and Washington’s public forests

Instituted in 1999, the Roadless Rule is about more than roads. It ensures wild, undeveloped national forest lands stay off limits to extractive activities that frequently accompany road construction...

The Roadless Rule is an administratively enacted protection. This means, unlike congressionally designated wilderness areas, it can be overturned by an administration that favors extraction over conservation. President Trump and his lackeys have chosen to do exactly that.

Source: Guest writers Allie Carr, WEC board member Rick Eggerth, Nick Engelfried, Laura Rainey, Ned Vasquez, Cascadia Daily News, March 22, 2026 (see first comment for link.)

Take Action! See second comment for the link to sign the Sierra Club Comment Letter, and Help Protect our Wild Forests from Trump

Photo by Laurie Caskey-Schreiber

03/27/2026

BIG PICTURE FRIDAY
Our Civilization’s Disease Has a Name: Windigo
By Jeremy Lent

"Indigenous wisdom offers a diagnosis of what ails our world — and understanding it is the first step toward a cure.

Something is devouring our world. Forests collapse. Species vanish. Billions live in grinding poverty while a few hundred individuals accumulate wealth beyond imagination. People attribute this to bad policies, corrupt politicians, or individual greed. But what if the problem runs deeper — embedded not in particular decisions, but in the very essence of our civilization?

In a chapter of my new book Ecocivilization, I explore this question through a powerful Indigenous myth: the Windigo.

Windigo (also known as Wetiko) is the name given by the Ojibwe to a cannibalistic monster driven by insatiable hunger. The more it consumes, the more ravenous it becomes. It can never be satisfied, because its appetite is not directed toward nourishment but toward devouring for its own sake. For the Ojibwe, the European invaders who arrived on their lands seemed animated by just such a force. Faced with conquistadors who killed, enslaved, and betrayed in pursuit of gold, they recognized a kind of spiritual derangement, a hunger that turned everything it encountered into an object for exploitation..."
(See Comments for more)

03/19/2026

Tiny House Happy Hour this evening, Thursday, March 19, 2026 @ Structures Brewing at 5:00 PM at 601 W Holly St - an evening of conversation about the future of small-scale housing in our community.

We’ll hear short presentations from tiny house builders, people living in tiny homes, and you can ask questions to a Bellingham City Councilmember.

This event is a chance to get a clearer picture of the different types of tiny homes, how they can expand housing options, and why they matter in a city where affordability, flexibility, and housing choice are increasingly important. Whether you’re curious about tiny homes as a homeowner, renter, neighbor, or advocate, this will be a useful and accessible introduction.

https://www.facebook.com/events/898583036385356/

03/15/2026

Whatcom Environmental Council March Newsletter

Photo: Paul Anderson

03/02/2026

County Council Begins Final Review of Draft Comprehensive Plan, Requests Feedback from Community
Whatcom County’s Comprehensive Plan update is entering its last stage, as the County Council prepares to begin its final review of the draft plan. Over the coming months, the County Council will discuss and potentially amend individual chapters of the draft plan with the goal of adopting an ordinance approving the full Comprehensive Plan in mid-May.

Council’s proposed review schedule includes additional opportunities for community members to provide public comment on draft chapters during Special Committee of the Whole meetings. A public hearing is also planned prior to final action on the Comprehensive Plan ordinance. Please note that the following review schedule is tentative and subject to change.

March 3 at 9am - Special Committee of the Whole - Discussion and public comment on Comp Plan Chapter 1 Introduction, Chapter 2 Land Use, and Chapter 3 Housing
March 10 at TBD - Committee of the Whole - Continued discussion of Comp Plan Chapters 1, 2, and 3
March 17 at 9am - Special Committee of the Whole - Discussion and public comment on Comp Plan Chapter 4 Capital Facilities, Chapter 5 Utilities, Chapter 6 Transportation, and Chapter 7 Economic Development
https://www.whatcomcounty.us/m/newsflash/Home/Detail/5398

02/25/2026

Reminder: Get Social with WEC, February 25th at Brandywine Kitchen!

Upcoming Event: WEC invites you to Get Social and join us Wednesday, February 25th from 3:00 - 5:00 pm at Brandywine Kitchen, 1317 Commercial for our next social gathering, and an update (20 minutes + Q&A) on two major projects we are working on: Alta Gas Conditional Use Hearing at Cherry Point (mor...