The National Association of Realtors is putting $200K into four City Council campaigns in support of Tanya Woo (D2, running against incumbent Tammy Morales), Joy Hollingsworth (D3, running against Alex Hudson), Bob Kettle (D7, running against Andrew Lewis), and Maritza Rivera (D4, running against Ron Davis). This money represents a substantial share of what the campaigns have already raised, and will likely be used for advertising that promotes the same messaging as the campaign. If all four candidates win, it would represent a swing right. The Washington Observer, which reported on this story, notes “If the Realtors’ slate and Saka were to win, it would represent a four-vote swing to the right compared to the current council. If all four of their opponents were to win, along with Maren Costa in District 1, the council’s ideological makeup would sort of shift to the left.”
Sound Transit
Sound Transit is hiring three new metaproject czars as one step to implementing the recommendations of an outside group of experts. This group issued a (Seattle Times paywall) report in May that warned of the possibility of many more delays and overruns unless Sound Transit starts making changes. Sound Transit Board Members Claudia Balducci and Kent Keel had asked for the group to be convened after a $6.5B shortfall was revealed two years ago.
State
The proposed new eastern Washington hydrogen hub was one of 7 winners for Federal funding to start up hydrogen production. Hydrogen could be a clean energy source for industrial processes that currently use fossil fuels to generate heat (e.g., steel, glass, cement manufacturing). Because it is very difficult to transport hydrogen, it could be that the hydrogen hub will end up hosting some new clean energy industry in eastern Washington , in addition to producing green hydrogen using electrolyzers. The Pacific Northwest Hydrogen Hub (Washington, Oregon, Montana) is expected to create more than 10,000 jobs, 8000 in construction and 350 manufacturing hydrogen.
The Washington Transportation Commission is looking into raising tolls significantly for express toll lanes on I-405 and SR–167 (KING5). Tolls statewide have been doing poorly since the pandemic, there’s been significant cost increases in construction, and the State has had to dip into other funds in order to make bond payments. This is an effort from the State to find more funds to pay for improvements. Note that these are for the express toll lanes only, othr lanes of the same roads will be unchanged.
The Seattle Times ran an opinion piece from Jon Talton, WA’s Climate Tax is Vexing Motorists, But the Price is Worth It.
Elsewhere
Minnesota passed a new bill requiring their DOT to take climate goals into account when planning new transportation projects. The new law requires the State and local jurisdictions to do an analysis of greenhouse gas emissions from new projects. Projects that have increased emissions, or that are found to be not in line with the State’s goal of decreasing emissions will have to reduce emissions elsewhere in order to proceed. So they may have to pair a road improvement with an improvement to transit infrastructure or service, or to add bike lanes or pedestrian enhancements that are likely to reduce VMT and emissions. Among many other things, they are building some new intercity rail as a result. Listen to the excellent podcast on (bypassable paywall) Volts with David Roberts, or see this from Transportation For America: How Minnesota Set an Example for Climate Legislation.
Reducing cars in downtown areas: New York City last year closed off 11 blocks around Fifth Avenue to vehicle traffic for the holiday shopping season. Businesses within the pedestrianized area had an increase of 6.6% in shopping revenue compared to similar streets nearby that were not closed. The Mayor is looking at extending this year round to increase accessibility of Fifth Avenue for people walking. And Stockholm has decided to ban gas and diesel cars from a 20-block zone of its downtown starting in 2025. Other cities have set up low emission zones, but Stockholm’s plan goes further and prohibits polluting cars. Exceptions will be made for hybrid vans, cars for disabled people, and emergency vehicles.
A report from the Rhodium Group that looks at investment nationally in clean energy projects shows a big increase in investment in manufacturing, particularly for EVs. It also shows a big uptake in individuals purchasing EVs, and a good increase in solar as well as storage, but much more modest growth in heat pumps. A good article on these issues from the New York Times (paywall): The Climate Fight Will Be Won in the Appliance Aisle. For heat pumps, they are a bigger share of the home heating market, but the market as a whole is depressed because it is sensitive to interest rate hikes. The bottom line for heat pump affiancados might be that the IRA may require more help from states and utilities to make significant progress.