Seattle
Mayor Harrell gave the State of the City address (KUOW). In it, he made these points relevant to climate:
- On transportation, he will be focused on fixing potholes, maintaining bridges, addressing climate with more roadway trees and electrification, and building sidewalks.
- On climate, he cited the passage of the Building Emissions Performance Standards and said they would focus this year on reducing household emissions, including accelerating the Clean Heat Program to install more heat pumps in lower income homes.
- On the budget, the Mayor plans to close the $250M budget gap with budget cuts, not new revenue. “While there are some who would suggest the answer lies in new revenue, the fact is that passing a new or expanding tax would not address the fundamental issues needed to close this gap in the long run,” Harrell said.
Sound Transit
Sound Transit has ordered 33 double-decker electric buses with inductive wireless recharging for the Stride Bus Rapid Transit that will run from Renton to Lynnwood along I-405. The buses are scheduled for delivery in 2026.
State
The State Legislature has just passed the cutoff date for bills to have passed the fiscal committee in the opposite chamber. All remaining bills must pass through Rules, have a floor vote, and possibly be reconciled. The session ends March 7. Here’s the status of some of the climate-related bills:
Passed both chambers, still need reconciliation:
- HB 1998, Legalize co-housing. Allows housing with shared kitchens and optionally also shared bathrooms wherever a 6-plex is allowed. Washington State Standard has more details.
Waiting on a floor vote:
- HB 1589, PSE Decarbonization. Directs Puget Sound Energy and the State Utility Trade Commission to set up a plan for transitioning PSE’s gas customers to electricity.
In Rules Committee:
- SB 5931, Salmon-safe tires. Ecology to recommend how to reduce the impact of the chemical 6PPD on salmon
- HB 6015, Reduce Parking Minimums. Reforms the rules on what counts as a parking space for the purposes of minimum parking requirements.
- HB 1433, Home Energy Score. Allows local cities to require home sellers to provide efficiency information for the home.
- HB 2131, Geo-network pilots. Allows pilot projects of networked ground source heat pumps for home heating.
- HB 1368, Electric School Buses. Funding for zero-emission school buses.
- HB 1282, Buy Clean Buy Fair. Enables the State to prefer clean materials and fair labor practices on public projects.
- SB 6058, CCA Linkage. Combine Washington’s emissions allowance market with California and Quebec.
- SB 6092, Emission reporting requirements for big business. Require big businesses doing business in Washington to report their emissions.
These bills are looking dead now (failed since the previous report):
- Transit Oriented Development
- Rent Stabilization
- Heat Pump Navigator
- Managing Refrigerants in Appliances
- ReWRAP Act
- Reducing GHG from anesthetics & pesticides
- Jaywalking reform
- Clean Schools Program
- Bottle Bills
Elsewhere
Colorado introduced bills that would improve air quality. One would increase penalties for repeated violations. Another would extend the ozone season for two extra months; this would limit activities, such as oil and gas exploration, that would increase ozone. And the Colorado Dept of Transportation would be required to come up with ways to reduce vehicle miles traveled. The bills are meant to improve air quality in the Denver Metro area, south to almost Colorado Springs and north to the Colorado-Wyoming line north of Fort Collins and Greeley.The Atlantic reported on two studies on the effects of air pollution. In the first report. economists report that the recession of 2007-2009 increased life expectancies in the US. “Out of every 25 Americans age 55, for instance, one appears to have received an extra year of life. On average, across all age groups, the recession reduced the American mortality rate by 2.3 percent.” The recession was only 2 years long, but the longer life expectancy lasted 10 years.. If you use standard accounting for the value of the longer life expectancy, it turns out that the recession paid for itself, “What Americans lost in income and purchasing power, they gained in life-years”; the value of the extra time to live was about the same as the reduction in earnings.