Washington Environmental Council: Challenging Legislative Session for the Environment

Kerry McHugh is a native Northwesterner who works for the Washington Environmental Council. WEC has been a voice for protection of our land, air and water in the state for more than 40 years.

While some progress for the environment was made, the 2009 legislative session did not bring significant movement on key environmental issues ranging from climate change to restoring Puget Sound to health.

What this session did see was an outpouring of public support for the Environmental Priorities. At every event — from the Environmental Priorities Coalition Legislative Workshop to Environmental Lobby Day — Washington Environmental Council (WEC) and our partner groups saw record attendance with new faces from all over the state. During session, more than 5,000 people contacted their elected officials to share their support for smart solutions to protect our state’s future.

What follows is a rundown of how some key environmental issues fared during the 2009 legislative session (and after).

During a tough session that was focused on the state’s budget woes, several key bills to address climate change stalled early. A revised version of Governor Gregoire’s climate bill was in the mix until the very end, but failed to make it past the finish line.

However, immediately following session, the governor signed an executive order on climate change that keeps Washington moving forward to reduce the state’s global warming pollution and accelerate the transition from fossil fuels to a stronger clean energy economy.

Among other things, the executive order moves forward on drastically cutting pollution from (or phasing out operations of) Washington’s one major coal plant, reducing traffic (and thus emissions) in congested urban areas, and help ensure the state will meet the climate pollution limits previously adopted by the legislature.

Governor Gregoire should be recognized for her continued strong leadership on dealing with climate change.

There was also some progress made during session. The Efficiency First law will gradually raise standards for new building construction, while improving energy efficiency in existing public buildings through insulation, better windows and improved heating and cooling systems.

In addition, the Legislature passed a law to help prepare Washington for the damaging impacts that climate change will cause and require state agencies to lead by example in reducing emissions. It also requires any entity receiving grants from the capital budget to have a plan in place to meet state climate emission reduction goals.

The Legislature also passed the renewal of tax credits for renewable energy projects in Washington, which will benefit communities by creating new jobs and provide incentive for renewable projects of all sizes. Renewing these tax credits keeps Washington in a position to attract new, green business.

Finally, efforts to roll back Initiative 937 (the citizens’ initiative on clean energy that passed in 2006) were unsuccessful. Early in session there were multiple proposed amendments to the clean energy law, which prompted the governor to convene stakeholders to develop a way forward together. The final compromise bill resulted from input from key stakeholders and legislative leaders, but as time grew short, some stakeholders were unable to agree, and ultimately nothing was passed to weaken the law.

The Invest in Clean Water priority addressed the stormwater pollution that is the number one threat to Puget Sound. It would have imposed a modest fee on oil companies in order to pay for prevention and cleanup. Unfortunately, it did not pass before the end of session. Without it, cash-strapped local governments will have to find funding elsewhere, and less will be done to stem ongoing pollution in our streams, lakes and Puget Sound.

In a win for Puget Sound, an oil spill response tug at Neah Bay was made permanent. The rescue tug, which is dispatched to intercept oil tankers and other vessels in distress, has proven to be one of the most effective tools at the state’s disposal to prevent a major oil spill.

Core environmental protections, essential for making Washington a healthy place for families to live, took a hard financial hit in the state budget. Some key programs were defended, but included in the cuts was the complete elimination of the Water Quality Account, which has funded tens of millions of dollars for sewage treatment and other clean water efforts.

The budget passed by the Legislature also included a dramatic cut to the state’s toxic cleanup program, which means that communities will have less help in dealing with abandoned hazardous wastes near schools, homes and rural areas. Additionally, most natural resource agencies suffered severe cuts in their operations, which will result in less enforcement of our core environmental laws.

The victories we did achieve during this tough session are due to the tireless work of environmental legislative champions and all of those who took the time to meet with, call, email or write them in support of the environment.

WEC will continue to work with our partners to achieve the progress on issues we can’t afford to ignore, like climate change and the restoration of Puget Sound. You can get the most up-to-date news and find out how you can help by signing up for our email updates at http://www.wecprotects.org. §