It’s good to be green

Sens. Jeanne Kohl-Welles and Erik Poulsen

Sometimes the most dangerous course of action is doing nothing.

If we do nothing, then global climate changes already making their mark on our weather, glaciers and air quality will harm our environment in irrevocable and dire ways.

Washington is especially vulnerable to climate change because of our dependence on snowpack for summer stream flows and because any rise in sea levels would threaten our many coastal communities.

If greenhouse gas emissions continue unchecked, temperatures will rise by as much as 10 degrees Fahrenheit by the end of the century, according to the Pew Center. Environmental damages would be compounded by economic repercussions caused when businesses fail, workers can’t get to their jobs and we all get sick.

We aren’t going to let this happen. By taking action now, we can begin to stop the harm and prevent more damage.

To this end, we have sponsored a number of bills in the state Senate to keep Washington green and growing. The omnibus measure, Senate Bill 6001, would accomplish a number of important milestones: We would start by reducing greenhouse gas emissions through the setting of statewide targets. Goal dates of 2020, 2035 and 2050 for achieving lower levels would keep us on track. By establishing a greenhouse gas performance standard for new natural gas and coal plants, we would cut back on these significant sources of pollution. Offering incentives to utilities to invest in cost-effective conservation and energy efficient technologies would mean savings to these companies and to us all over the long term. State government would be part of the solution by purchasing plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) for the state motor pool.

In Washington, we would establish a program through Senate Bill 5416 to grant tax credits to those groups cutting carbon dioxide emissions. Businesses and non-profit organizations would be eligible to qualify for tax credits when they voluntarily fund mitigation offset projects. Although the bill did not survive a legislative cutoff, its provisions could be included in other measures.

We can’t succeed by ourselves. Meaningful and lasting change requires state, regional and ultimately international cooperation. We’ll start by working with other Western states to craft a regional approach to emissions targets and an emissions trading program. And by creating the Office of State Climatologist, as called for in Senate Bill 6110, we can provide information about drought response, emergency preparedness, flooding and other climate-related impacts.

Don’t think that these remedies are unnecessary. The evidence is compelling that environmental changes are under way: Mountain glaciers in the North Cascades have lost 18 to 32 percent of their total volume in the past 25 years. The average mountain snowpack in that range has declined at 73 percent of the mountain sites studied.

The number of large wildfires — those covering more than 500 acres — in Washington has increased from an average of six per year in the 1970s to 21 per year in the past several years. The South Puget Sound shoreline is likely to experience from one to five inches of sea level rise per decade, the largest global warming-linked rise in the state.

These alarming trends aside, our local communities are sources of inspiration and action. Sustainable Ballard, a three-year-old non-profit built with the goal of becoming the first energy interdependent American community, is garnering attention: Al Gore has paid tribute to its groundbreaking work. Phinney|Greenwood Climate Change Action Now! is working to cut carbon dioxide emissions through promotion of simple and yet powerful changes in consumer behavior, such as using push mowers and lowering thermostats.

On the state level, passing the bills allowing tax credits can put Washington in the vanguard of states engaging in environmentally sound policies. And by passing the omnibus environmental measure and the greenhouse gas emissions mitigation measure we will establish Washington as a leader in tackling a problem that is wreaking havoc on our environment and, if ignored, has the potential to do the same to our economy.

Editor’s note: Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles, D-Seattle, is chair of the Senate Labor, Commerce, Research & Development Committee. Sen. Erik Poulsen, D-West Seattle, is chair of the Senate Water, Energy & Telecommunications Committee.

Return to Sen. Kohl-Welles' home page

Return to Sen. Poulsen's home page