Submitted by Ayn Gailey.

Action alert for the San Juan Islands and Salish Sea. This action takes less than a minute to complete and is a simple way to show support for efforts to protect Southern Resident killer whales, salmon and human health. If you care about the Salish Sea and its future, please take a moment to sign in on House Bill 1652 before Monday, Jan. 19, at 12:30 p.m. And if nothing else, consider it a small act of good civic karma.

Washington’s waters and communities are being impacted by pollution from ocean‑going vessels. Current rules allow ships to burn heavy fuel oil as long as they use exhaust gas cleaning systems — known as scrubbers — to meet air‑emission requirements. But scrubbers are not a real pollution solution. They simply dump toxic pollutants from the air into the ocean, where they threaten public health, fisheries and critically endangered Southern Resident killer whales and salmon.

This bill would require ships to use low‑sulfur fuels while in Washington waters, eliminating the use of scrubbers and reducing harmful air emissions like black carbon, which contributes to asthma, cardiovascular disease, cancer and adverse birth outcomes.

Sign in PRO on House Bill 1652 at https://mailchi.mp/sanjuans.org/action-alert-low-sulfur-fuels.