Evidence clear: Climate change must be addressed, say Senate Democrats

OLYMPIA – Senate Democrats will hold a news conference this week to announce legislation aimed at making Washington a leader in addressing climate change.

The news conference will be held at noon Wednesday, Feb. 7, in the Senate Majority Caucus Room on the third floor of the Legislative Building. Participants include:

• Sen. Erik Poulsen, D-West Seattle, chair of the Water, Energy & Technology Committee
• Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown, D-Spokane
• Jay Manning, director of the Department of Ecology
• Juli Wilkerson, director of Community, Trade & Economic Development
• KC Golden, director of policy for Climate Solutions, a Northwest nonprofit whose goal it is to accelerate practical and profitable solutions to global warming

In addition to the news conference, two other related events will occur on the Capitol Campus that day.

• Plug-in hybrids, or PHEVs, will be on display – and available to test drive – near the southeast entrance to the Legislative Building, following the news conference.
  • The Water, Energy & Telecommunications Committee will hold a work session at 3:30 p.m. in Senate Hearing Room 4 on plug-in hybrid technology with the following participants:
  • King County Executive Ron Sims, speaking about King County’s climate change initiatives
  • KC Golden, Climate Solutions, and Rich Feldman, Apollo Alliance, setting the stage on climate change and how PHEVs can help
  • Robert Babik, director of vehicle emissions issues, General Motors, speaking about PHEV research and the Chevrolet “Volt”
  • Steve Johnson, executive director, Washington Public Utility District Association, talking about how utilities will play a central role in reducing our dependence on oil
  • Jim White, utility expert, discussing electrical capacity and PHEVs
  • David Kaplan, V2Green, describing the potential of plug-ins and control technologies
  • Ron Johnston-Rodriguez, Port of Chelan, describing the port’s support for PHEVs and their converted vehicle, which will be on campus that day

Return to Sen. Poulsen's home page

Return to Sen. Brown's home page