Washington Environmental Council

Kerry McHugh is a native Northwesterner who works for the Washington Environmental Council. This year, 2008, marks the 40th year that WEC has been a voice for protection of land, air and water in the state capitol.

This year’s state legislative session brought some big wins and some good steps forward, as well as some last minute nail biting. Despite the short 60-day session and a chilly revenue forecast, progress was made on all of the environmental community’s Priorities for a Healthy Washington including big wins for Climate Action and Green Jobs and Local Farms – Healthy Kids.

After the Legislature passed these bills, one might have thought that the story was over. However, opponents of both the Local Solutions to Global Warming and the Toxic-Free Toys legislation brought strong pressure to bear on Governor Gregoire to veto these bills. Gregoire stood up to the pressure and signed these important bills into law.

Washington Environmental Council (WEC) Executive Director Joan Crooks said, “To accomplish what the Priorities for a Healthy Washington coalition did in a short session with serious state budget constraints is a real testament to the power of our partnerships.”

WEC again played a leadership role in the Priorities for a Healthy Washington effort, which brings together over 20 groups and unites our voices for stronger protections for Washington’s environment. By narrowing our priorities to four bills, we are better able to allocate our community resources for big wins.

Working together with our legislative partner, Washington Conservation Voters, we help to lead lobby efforts to educate legislators, engage the public and garner media attention about the Priorities for a Healthy Washington bills.

So what do these wins mean for Washington? Taking major steps forward for healthier kids and thriving small and mid-sized farms, greener cities, smart climate policies and an investment in our clean energy economy.

Gretchen Hoyt of Alm Hill Gardens in Everson said about the passage of the Local Farms – Healthy Kids law, “I’m so pleased that Washington state has invested in this critical effort to help farmers like us stay in business, protect and preserve farmland and provide our children with nutritious locally grown produce.”

The priorities received strong support from some of Whatcom County’s state legislators. Representatives Kelli Linville, Dave Quall, and Jeff Morris voted in support of all four laws. Sen. Harriet Spanel voted in support of three priorities (she was excused from voting on Climate Action and Green Jobs). Sen, Dale Brandland and Rep. Doug Ericksen both voted in support of Local Farms – Healthy Kids.

Here’s a quick look at this year’s four priorities.

• Climate Action and Green Jobs links climate solutions with developing a clean energy economy. The forward-looking law sets responsible limits on climate pollution and sets a path for creating a green jobs economy. Importantly, given that 50 percent of our global warming pollution comes from cars and trucks, the law also sets goals to reduce overall miles driven. It also directs the Department of Ecology to work with other Western states to implement limits on global warming pollution.

• Local Solutions to Global Warming marks the first positive change to Growth Management Act in the last decade. Despite staunch opposition to the bill, core concepts were retained, and the groundwork was laid for future advances.

Local Solutions to Global Warming sets in motion the important first steps to support local governments interested in addressing climate change through their land-use and transportation planning. It develops tools that will help local governments make land-use and zoning decisions that reduce driving and meet the growing demand for green, walkable communities.

• Evergreen Cities helps retain and replant trees in urban areas to reduce stormwater flooding and pollution while improving quality of life. This law authorizes the Department of Natural Resources to develop a statewide inventory and assessment of our communities’ forests. It also provides for recognition of cities, towns and counties doing superior urban forest planning and management.

• Local Farms – Healthy Kids will make Washington a national leader in the local food movement by getting more Washington-grown produce into our schools and food banks, thus improving children’s health and creating new and thriving markets for our farmers. It does this by easing state purchasing restrictions to better enable schools to choose local.

It also establishes a farm-to-school program, brings locally grown fruit and vegetable snacks to elementary schools with high numbers of low-income students, sets up machines at farmers markets to accept both food stamps and credit cards and establishes three farm-to-food-bank pilot programs.

The success of the priorities and other key environmental bills is due in large part to an outpouring of public support, letting the Legislature and the governor know that the people of Washington want strong protections for our kids and a better future for our state.

For more information on this year’s priorities, please the visit the Priorities for a Healthy Washington Web site at http://www.environmentalpriorities.org. §