I have it from Commissioner Desari Strader of the Washington County Board of Commissioners that the Board is discussing a Washington County Sustainability Plan, which will probably go through in one form or another.  After four months of the Cool Washington County campaign doggedly working to generate emails to the Board, collect signatures on a petition, hold a rally outside the County Building, gain publicity in local papers, and more - all in the face of most members of the Board continually ignoring us or, at best, telling us to go away and bother someone else - I can tell you this taste of victory is great.  Of course, some  might say the initiation of the Sustainability Plan after four months of work on our part is coincidence; local governments in the Northwest are moving more and more toward sustainability, and Cool Washington County can take no credit for a recent poll that showed residents of the county are becoming more environmentally conscious, and probably prompted the Board of Commissioners to take this issue more seriously.  However, I don't think this is coincidence.  It's simple: an urgent global issue + citizen action = government response.  We are making real progress at last.  And Commissioner Desari Strader, who helped bring this about, deserves our thanks. 

To be sure, the fight's not over yet.  We have to make sure that the final Sustainability Plan has substance to it - that it meets or beats the goals the goals of the Cool Counties Declaration.  To this end, the Cool Washington County Petition is still collecting signatures - so if you live in Washington County, and you haven't signed it already, DO IT NOW!  And enjoy the feeling of being one step closer to victory.

-Nick