Hundreds flocked to Esther Short Park for the 19th annual Peace and Justice Fair on Saturday, undeterred by the yellow haze and smoke that made your eyes water and the back of your throat burn slightly.
The fair showcases, among other things, the work of social justice groups, faith communities and environmental activists, in addition to live performances and re-enactors portraying historical figures like Jane Addams and Harriet Tubman.
The smoke and haze, caused by wildfires throughout the Pacific Northwest, reinforced the sense of climate urgency felt by many.
“You have to be asleep at the wheel to not look at what’s going down,” said Edie Cotton, one of the fair co-founders.
The event, born out of anti-Iraq war protests in 2003, has grown steadily over its nearly two-decade run.
“We kind of got tired of marching against things,” said Mike Ellison, another of the fair’s co-founders. “So we came up with the idea of a day of celebration for all the work groups in the community to do to promote peace and justice.
“We decided we wanted to have a day to celebrate instead of a day to protest,” he continued.
Returning to the fair this year after a COVID-19 hiatus were electric vehicle owners displaying their cars, offering test rides, answering questions and discussing what going electric means to them.
Connie Hays, one of the people showcasing their cars and an electric vehicle driver since 2016, does not miss fuel-powered cars.
Her 2020 Tesla Model Y has a range of 312 miles; it costs $4.50 to recharge its battery, less than the average cost of a gallon of gas in Washington.
Road trips, which may seem impossible for electric vehicles, have been easy, Hays said.
She has taken four, 3,000-mile road trips, and her Tesla app maps the best route, telling her the best places to stop and take 15 minutes to recharge — the perfect amount of time for a pit stop.
One of the biggest incentives for purchasing an electric vehicle comes in the form of the Inflation Reduction Act, which includes an extension of a tax credit for electric vehicles that is worth up to $7,500, starting Jan. 1.
“People are more curious about electric vehicles now that the government is going to be giving the $7,500 credit,” Hays said.
Not all vehicles qualify for the tax credit, however. Only models that undergo final assembly in North America are eligible.
To find out if a car you’re considering buying qualifies for the credit, look up the vehicle identification number online at www.nhtsa.gov/vin-decoder. The “Plant Information” field at the bottom of the page says where the car was built.
