Guidelines for the Work of the FCWPP Local Responses to Global Challenges Working Group

The FCWPP Local Responses to Global Challenges Working Group assumes primary responsibility to identify, research, and recommend ways in which FCWPP might most effectively address issues such as environmental protection, multimodal transportation, population increase, and local control over state assets in Washington State. The overall mission of the Working Group is to bring Friends’ testimonies to public policy on these issues in Washington State. Individual members of a Working Group may deal with only one of the issues involved.

Goals:

• Maintain the environmental balance that supports the needs of all living creatures while also protecting public health and providing an improved quality of life

• Ensure an improved economic future by not wasting or compromising our environmental resources

• Provide local control over state assets to increase state resources

Objectives include, but are not limited to the following:

• Preserve and enhance environmental protections

  • Oppose ports for the transmission of coal

  • Advocate energy generation methods with the least impact on the environment

• Develop and guarantee multimodal options for transportation

• Establish a state financial institution

The Local Responses to Global Challenges (LRGC) Working Group will:

• Organize and make available research documents related to best practices and reform initiatives involving local and statewide responses to concerns such as those listed above

• Consult with the FCWPP Legislative Committee and the Legislative Advocate, providing the working group’s research materials to the Committee and the Advocate and seeking direction from the Committee and the Advocate about new issues of concern on a timely basis

• Provide a medium for hearing from those who may be aware of threats to environmental protections, or have expertise in that area or that of transportation options, population, or governmental finance

Normally, Friends will constitute the primary membership of the Working Group, but other may be included for their expertise. The Clerk of FCWPP and the Clerk of the Legislative Committee will be ex officio members of the LRGC Working Group. The Clerk of the LRGC Working Group will be an ex officio member of the Legislative Committee and have the option of being a member of the Executive Committee.

Meetings can be face to face and by conference call. Meeting Notes will be kept and circulated within the LRGC Working Group and to the Legislative Committee.

The LRGC Working Group will conduct an annual evaluation of its mission, practice, and effectiveness each spring or early summer.