Welcome move on emissions
Published 3:31 pm Friday, May 22, 2009
The effort to make meaningful reductions in U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, which appeared finally to have a breeze at its back, has encountered some stiff headwinds lately.
While last week’s announcement at the White House of a broad agreement to reduce automobile emissions was groundbreaking, and a House committee’s approval of an ambitious bill to curb climate change was precedent-setting, storm clouds of opposition are gathering momentum. The House bill, for example, even if it survives a floor vote this summer, faces an uncertain fate in the Senate, where even Democrats from states that produce or use large amounts of coal are gearing up to water it down.
Here in Washington, Gov. Chris Gregoire’s proposal to join other Western states (and Canadian provinces) in a regional cap-and-trade system died in a Legislature stymied by a multi-billion-dollar budget shortfall. Nothing that might carry a cost, public or private, stood much of a chance this year in Olympia. The effort to cut harmful emissions from vehicles and industrial plants would have to wait, at least until the economy recovered.
Undeterred, Gregoire moved ahead Thursday, issuing an executive order that does some of what the Legislature refused to do to reduce the emissions most scientists believe are contributing to global warming and climate change. She exercised welcome leadership in doing so.
Gregoire’s order directs the Ecology Department to begin working with the state’s largest industrial carbon dioxide emitter, a coal-fired power plant in Centralia, to cut its emissions in half by 2025. The plant’s owner, TransAlta, actually welcomed the move, saying the timeline is realistic and that it appreciates the certainty it now has on emission targets.
Automakers voiced similar praise, for similar reasons, for the new fuel-efficiency targets announced last week.
Recognizing that the majority of our state’s greenhouse gas emissions come from cars and trucks, Gregoire also set in motion a process for large counties, including Snohomish, to work toward reducing vehicle miles traveled. The best way to do it is through effective growth and transit planning, creating walkable communities where people live and work, and that are connected by frequent, reliable transit choices.
It’s a start, one that allows more time for a workable federal cap-and-trade system to develop while important progress continues here at home. It also keeps alive the forward-looking push for our state to remain at the leading edge of green innovation, a push that will mean jobs and a strong economy for years to come.
