Dear Friends and Neighbors,
Happy Latine/Hispanic Heritage Month! Each year, from September 15th to October 15th we take time to celebrate the histories, contributions, and cultures of people whose ancestors came from Mexico, the Caribbean, and Central and South America. Here in Washington, there’s much to celebrate, starting with the remarkable and steady growth of Latino representation in the Washington State Legislature over the past few years. Now we have joined forces to bring our individual experiences, as well as our collective voice to the table to make a real difference in the lives of Latino working families by creating the Washington State Latino Democratic Caucus.
As students head back to school and summer comes to an end, I spent the last month meeting with members of our community as well as traveling to Denmark to learn about resource efficiency solutions for the agriculture sector. Read on to learn more about what I have been up to this month!
Port of Tacoma Tour
Last month, I toured the Port of Tacoma, one of the largest deep-water container ports in North America. The Port of Tacoma handles roughly 80% of the marine cargo between Alaska and the Lower 48 states and is a vital economic resource for the Tacoma area.
During the tour, I was able to see the hard work union longshoremen do to load and unload cargo as well as learn more about the Port of Tacoma’s remediation sites that were funded in the state’s Capitol Budget. Those sites are the Earley Business Center, which the Port has been working with Ecology to remediate for a decade and the Arkema Manufacturing Site. While there has already been fairly extensive remediation at the Arkema Manufacturing Site, Ecology is working to build a containment wall to ensure that contaminated water does not enter the Hylebos Waterway. I look forward to continuing to work with the Port to ensure that it remains an economic driver for our community for years to come and to ensure that past ecological harm is remediated.
Denmark Agriculture Symbiosis Tour
Getting the most out of our resources allows us to continue to grow economically while also caring for the environment. As climate change threatens our communities and our population continues to grow, it is important that we are able to find ways to provide increased workforce opportunities without accelerating the changes to our climate. For years, Denmark has been a world leader in efficiency, especially in the food and beverage industry. From 1990 to 2018, the Danish food and beverage industry reduced energy intensity in production by more than 50%. Earlier this month, I joined colleagues from the Legislature for a tour of the Danish agricultural sector to see how we can incorporate some of their best practices here in Washington.
One of the things that impressed me the most was the way that Danish companies worked together to use excess waste to each other’s benefit. At the Kalundborg Symbiosis, companies work together to ensure that surplus resources from one company can be used by another company. More than 20 different streams of excess resources flow between companies, lowering resource and energy consumption, boosting profit, and increasing resiliency.
We were also able to visit several green biomass sites as well as the Danish Cattle Research Center for the latest on how to reduce methane production in dairy products. Finally, a visit to Royal Unibrew allowed us to see some of the energy efficient process that have allowed them to decrease emissions by 28% while increasing production by 30%. I look forward to working with my colleagues on the House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee to help implement and incentivize some of the practices that we saw in Denmark.
Car Pros Kia Tour
Last week, I toured Car Pros Kia on South Tacoma Way and learned more about their operation. It was a great chance to learn from sales and service staff about what they do. We discussed employment, growth opportunities for locals, EV sales, industry challenges, and how we can support local businesses in the Legislature.
Thank you for reading my newsletter. Hearing from you is the most important part of my job. Please do not hesitate to keep reaching out throughout the interim with your thoughts and ideas.
Sincerely,
Sharlett Mena
State Representative
29th District