Who We Are
350 Tacoma is a volunteer-led group of local activists working along the Salish Sea in Western Washington. Our mission is to make Tacoma a cleaner, healthier, more sustainable, more equitable place to live and work. We recognize that climate justice is intrinsically tied to social justice, and we must support justice movements focused on racial, gender, immigrant, economic, disability, sexual orientation, and other social issues, in order to further our climate goals.
We acknowledge that most of our work takes place on the lands of the Puyallup and Coast Salish Peoples. We raise our hands for the love, connection, and stewardship of these lands and waters since time immemorial, and continuing today. We strive to be good guests and good caregivers to the natural world around us, and do the work with intention and humility.
We are building a future that’s just, prosperous, equitable, healthy and safe from the effects of climate change. We are building a diverse multi-issue movement to create the people power needed to rapidly transform our economy and society. Much of our work is done in collaboration because we are stronger together.
Movements are powered by the People. Every person’s individual medicine adds to the movement in a unique way that can’t be replicated by anyone else. Cooking, making art, taking photos, sharing skills, planning events, and just being present are all necessary. When everyone does what they can, it adds up to an unstoppable force for change.
Where We Come From
350 Tacoma was founded in 2017 in response to multiple fossil fuel projects proposed in Tacoma which were threats to our health, safety, and natural environment and would increase greenhouse gas emissions that exacerbate the climate crisis.
Through a massive mobilization of residents and advocacy organizations, we were collectively successful in defeating plans for a proposed methanol plant that would have been the largest in the world!
At the same time, Puget Sound Energy (PSE) had begun the permit process for their “Tacoma LNG” fracked gas refinery and eight million gallon storage tank on the tideflats. Learn more about the Indigenous-led campaign against PSE and the current status of refinery operations.
Today we continue to advocate for better local policy and land use codes, hoping to stop polluting projects from targeting our communities. We are in our eighth year of hosting restoration and trash clean up events. The beautiful office space we started leasing in 2019 has blossomed into a Community Hub, used for free by many local grassroots groups for environmental and social justice activism, cultural activities, and mutual aid offerings.
Our roots grew in the soil of people-powered collective action, collaboration, creativity, embracing art as an avenue for change, and connecting to the land through stewardship.
Our Connection to Other 350 groups
350 Tacoma is a part of the 350 network which extends to 188 countries. Each group is a separate, autonomous organization embracing different tactics and priorities that make sense for the communities involved. We share a desire to oppose fossil fuel projects, take money away from companies causing harm, and find equitable solutions that work for all.
“350” refers to the fact that 350 is the safe upper limit of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, measured in parts per million (ppm). Beyond that, the planet is in a state of climate crisis. As of early 2026, we surpassed 429 ppm.
350.org was founded in 2008 by a group of university friends in the United States along with author Bill McKibben, who wrote one of the first books on global warming for the general public, with the goal of building a global climate movement. Early efforts were global days of action that linked activists and organizations around the world, including the International Day of Climate Action in 2009, the Global Work Party in 2010, Moving Planet in 2011. 350 quickly became a planet-wide collaboration of organizers, community groups and regular people fighting for the future. Later actions included campaigns against Keystone XL and Dakota Access in the United States, stopping fracking in hundreds of cities and states in Brasil, joining historic grassroots mobilizations before and after the Paris Climate Agreement was signed, and pushing hundreds of universities, foundations, cities and churches to divest from fossil fuels.
There are twelve different 350 groups in Washington state. We work together on issues that affect us all under the banner of 350WA.org. One of the biggest campaigns of 350WA is the Civic Action Team (CAT) which is focused on advocating for legislation. Each year during the Washington state legislative session, people who sign up to receive CAT emails are sent two alerts per week with easy actions you can take to push for essential climate and social justice-focused legislation in Washington. When we act together, our voices are amplified!