InvestigateWest (https://www.invw.org/category/environment/)
Reporting on the past, present and future of the environment in the Northwest.
In 2018, Trump appointees short-circuited U.S. grid modernization to help the coal industry by suppressing the Interconnections Seam Study. The study showed that a “supergrid” capable of shipping bulk power across the U.S. would save consumers $3.6 billion every year, accelerate the growth of renewable energy, and eliminate up to 35 megatons of CO2 emissions – the single biggest contributor to climate change.
A budget proposal in the Washington House of Representatives would replace the state’s current requirement that construction cause “no net loss” to habitat. Instead, future building projects would be held to a higher standard of “net ecological gain”; supporters laud it for leaving the environment better off. However, opponents, including the building industry and local governments, are concerned that this shift could negatively impact development and worsen the housing shortage in Washington state.
Bills in the Washington Legislature would help scientists learn about storing carbon in agricultural soils, as well as letting farmers invest in GPS-guided tractors and climate-friendly cattle feed. While both bills have bi-partisan support and reflect recognition that farm soil can play a key role in slowing the rise of greenhouse gases, but some fear that it won’t benefit all farmers.
Legislation being considered in the Washington Legislature phase in a ban on plastic cutlery and other food-service products accompanying ready-to-eat food, effectively making the state’s takeout industry go compostable-only. Associated fees would fund the upgrade of state facilities to process the compostable utensils and containers. Environmentalists see the legislation as a step in the right direction, but grocery, restaurant and chemical industries feel that existing state taxes on food-service items should pay for the upgrades.
Several upcoming bills in the Washington Legislature aim to take on the state’s convoluted water rights system, which balances two conflicting positions – that water is a public resource stewarded by the state, and that water rights are private property. While legislators want to cut out water speculators who are looking to make a profit on water, farmers, builders and environmental stewardship organizations fear that regulations could impede community water banks.
Newly proposed legislation in the Washington Legislature would require waterfront homeowners along Puget Sound’s 2,500-mile shoreline to consider fish-friendly fixes when replacing concrete seawalls. Proponents believe it’s the best opportunity to soften the Sound’s shores and jumpstart populations of forage fish that feed juvenile Chinook salmon, the preferred food of endangered orcas. The building lobby and others aren’t convinced.
The more than 20 environmental groups that make up the Environmental Priorities Coalition lobbying the 2020 Washington Legislature are focusing on clean fuels, greenhouse gas standards, improving salmon habitat and banning one-use plastic shopping bags.
Even though the Washington Legislature’s 2019 session was momentous, there’s still work to be done, which is why the legislature is going into their 2020 session with four priorities: clean fuels, climate limits, plastic bags and orcas. Among these efforts, the clean fuels proposition has been met with the most pushback from opponents.
Ardagh Group, a multinational glass-recycling firm in south Seattle that has a checkered environmental past, is looking to renew its lease on 17 acres along the Duwamish River. The King County Council faces a tough decision as it weighs the company’s environmental history against its role as a major employer in the region, as well as King County’s only glass waste recycler.
Aided by clear Democratic control of the Washington Legislature for the first time in years, environmentalists scored big victories – of historic size, especially on climate-change – but also suffered a few significant setbacks at the just-concluded Washington Legislature’s session. Big Oil and the insurance lobby had an influence on the process.
Big Oil is fighting proposed higher taxes meant to speed cleanups of toxic waste sites in Seattle’s Duwamish River and Gas Works Park, Bellingham Bay, Tacoma, Grays Harbor and landfills around Washington. Will Washington legislators pass SB 5993 anyway?