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State’s draft of climate action plan open for public comment

Published 1:40 pm Thursday, July 10, 2025

By Eliza Aronson

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Jude Apple, the research coordinator at Padilla Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve, slowly sinks into the mudflats while walking through the bay’s massive eelgrass meadow on June 13. Eelgrass has unexpected superpowers such as fighting climate change, cleaning seafood and preventing erosion. (Photo by Santiago Ochoa/Cascadia Daily News)

EVERETT — The Washington Department of Commerce released a draft of its Comprehensive Climate Action Plan on June 30, which is now open for public comment through Aug. 22. The final version will be published Dec. 1.

The plan will serve as a road map for the state to meet its emission mandates, acting as a guide for adopting useful policies and practices to achieve goals. The 251-page document covers 36 greenhouse gas reduction strategies and 152 existing and proposed climate actions.

“The list of climate actions in the draft CCAP was developed by experts across multiple state agencies and was informed by community input gathered throughout the state,” Amelia Lamb, Department of Commerce media manager, wrote in an email on Wednesday. “The public comment is another opportunity for residents of Washington to give us direct feedback on current and future climate policies.”

In addition to sharing comments, readers are encouraged to share stories demonstrating the need for particular climate actions in their communities. Links to share comments and stories, as well as the full draft document, can be found at https://waclimatepartnership.org/en/.

Eliza Aronson: 425-339-3434; eliza.aronson@heraldnet.com; X: @ElizaAronson.

Eliza’s stories are supported by the Herald’s Environmental and Climate Reporting Fund.

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