Whether their top issue is saving old growth forests, eliminating toxic pollution releases or restoring wetlands, Snohomish County residents will get to tell state legislators which environmental priorities to focus on during the upcoming session on Tuesday.
The Washington Environmental Alliance for Voter Education is holding a series of agenda-setting meetings with legislators from across the state, including one with Snohomish County’s representatives at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Snohomish County PUD.
"The goal is for their constituents to have a chance to talk to their elected officials about environmental priorities," said Karen Uffelman, associate director of the coalition of environmental groups.
Setting the agenda before the session starts sounds good to Rep. Hans Dunshee, D-Snohomish.
"They’ve got a pretty good positive agenda," he said. "One thing the environmental community has not done well in the past is to set a positive agenda. I think they have a chance this year to draft some really good environmental legislation."
He said holding the public meeting is a good first step in that direction.
"The people in my district want clean air and water," he said. "They want fresh water so they can go fishing and they want clean trails when they go hiking."
Uffelman said the group will ask the legislators to focus on developing environmentally friendly energy options in the coming session, specifically on developing solar, wind and biomass, or technology that turns green waste such as grass clippings into electricity.
Dunshee said one environmental proposal that intrigues him is a bid to better protect the last few remaining stands of old growth trees on state land.
"The public land, the land we own, should be held to a pretty high standard," he said, both to protect it for wildlife now and upcoming generations of state residents in the future.
Uffelman said the first half of the session will have members of WEAVE asking the legislators questions while the second half will be driven by questions from the audience.
Six of the region’s representatives have confirmed that they will attend, including Dunshee; Sen. Dave Schmidt, R-Mill Creek; Rep. Al O’Brien, D-Mountlake Terrace; Rep. John Lovick, D-Mill Creek; Rep. Mike Cooper, D-Edmonds; and Rep. Brian Sullivan, D-Mukilteo.
Reporter Lukas Velush:
425-339-3449 or
Snohomish County residents can help set the environmental agenda for the upcoming state legislative session by attending an environmental exchange on Tuesday. Sponsored by the Washington Environmental Alliance for Voter Education, the meeting will be at 6:30 p.m. at the Snohomish County PUD building, 2320 California St., Everett. For more information call 206-374-0634, ext. 108.
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