Bill orders firm steps to make state 'greener'

After last-minute, closed-door deal-making that included arm-twisting by Gov. Chris Gregoire, the state House took a step Tuesday toward ushering in what some are calling the "sustainable revolution."

Brushing up against a deadline for bill passage, lawmakers approved legislation to cut greenhouse gas emissions and provide more "green economy" jobs. It would prepare the state for a regional climate initiative in which pollution rights potentially worth billions of dollars could be traded.

The legislation would provide a framework and goals, including one to cut the number of miles driven by state residents. Details would be worked out later.

Drawing parallels to the Industrial Revolution at the turn of the 19th century, those for and against the legislation predicted big changes in the economy as cities, states and nations try to slash their greenhouse gas emissions. The pollutants are blamed for warming the planet, resulting in higher sea levels, shrinking glaciers and more wildfires.

"We are moving into a sustainable age, and all those industrial folks are worried, but at this point, they're basically just worried about the unknown," said Rep. Hans Dunshee, a Snohomish Democrat and prime sponsor of the legislation.

"There is tremendous opportunity for Washington businesses and Washington workers," said Becky Kelley of the nonprofit Washington Environmental Council. "There are good jobs to be had. There's economic development to be accomplished. That's a very hopeful message."

Others saw the situation differently.

"I'm a little bit more cynical than that," said House Minority Leader Richard DeBolt, R-Chehalis. He pointed to unfilled promises of a booming biodiesel industry fueled with Washington-grown canola.

"The sound bite is great," DeBolt said. "The implementation is different."

"We've got big changes coming our way, and they're going to be really, really expensive," warned Grant Nelson of the Association of Washington Business. "Consumers should be ready for the prices of their goods and services and electricity -- which has been historically lower than most any other state in the nation -- brace yourself for some significant cost increases."

The legislation, which Gregoire supports, now goes to the Senate, where approval is expected.

Gregoire got involved at the last minute when it appeared that the legislation was bogged down over how much power was to be granted to the state Ecology Department to take action to meet climate-change goals. The final version would reduce the department's authority.

A prime goal of the bill is to prepare the state for working with the Western Climate Initiative, a coalition of seven states and two Canadian provinces trying to cut greenhouse gas emissions regionally.

This summer, initiative members will negotiate a regional, market-based approach for cutting carbon dioxide. It likely will be a cap-and-trade system that sets emissions limits and allows polluters to barter for the right to pollute above those limits. State lawmakers must approve the system before Washington participates.

With Tuesday's legislation, "we are giving the negotiators the strongest hand possible so they can design a cap and trade that works for the Washington economy while reducing the negative impacts of global warming," said Cliff Traisman, lobbyist for Washington Conservation Voters and the Washington Environmental Council.

House Bill 2815 would give the Ecology Department the authority to require the state's largest polluters to report their emissions beginning in 2010, a key component of cap and trade.

The reporting rules would apply to at least 80 businesses and utilities, including refineries, pulp and paper mills, cement kilns, lumber mills, large manufacturers and food processors.

The reporting rules also apply to motor vehicle fleets producing at least 2,500 tons of carbon dioxide, which equals about 250,000 gallons of fuel burned annually. That includes truck and delivery fleets, rental car companies, phone and cable companies and government-agency fleets.

How much these different entities would be allowed to pollute will be hammered out by the Western Climate Initiative.

One of the biggest battles over the legislation was waged by the timber and agriculture industries. Because plants and trees capture carbon dioxide, lobbyist for those industries asked for their sectors to be given credit explicitly for those benefits.

"We are not emitters. We are net positive for carbon. We help make up for others." John Stuhlmiller, director of state affairs for the Washington Farm Bureau.

But Rep. Dunshee said he didn't want to establish specific rules before the whole thing is worked on by the Western Climate Initiative.

Another controversial matter was a set of goals for reducing the number of vehicle miles driven by state residents, which could take some of the pressure off industry for reducing emissions. Critics questioned the logic of a total-miles-traveled approach for cutting carbon dioxide.

"Vehicle miles traveled does not distinguish between a hybrid and a Hummer," said Todd Myers, environmental director for the Washington Policy Center, a conservative think tank.

The legislation also sets a goal of increasing the number of "green economy" jobs to 25,000 by 2020 by investing in worker training. There are currently as many as 6,000 workers in that sector in the Puget Sound region, said Steve Gerritson, a green technology expert with Enterprise Seattle, a nonprofit promoting job growth.

"This is just exploding, this particular sector," Gerritson said.

He gave much of the credit to sustained high oil prices. Environmentalists say the creation of a cap-and-trade market will spur it on further.

"The whole idea here is getting the market to work and to create incentives" by limiting emissions, said Kelley of the Washington Environmental Council. "We're talking about remaking the economy of the nation, the whole globe."

AT A GLANCE

House Bill 2815 lays an important foundation for addressing climate change statewide. The House approved it 64-31 Tuesday and moved it to the Senate. Gov. Chris Gregoire supports the legislation. Here's what it would do:

• Require the state to meet greenhouse-gas reduction goals set last year.
• Give the state Ecology Department the authority to require the largest producers of greenhouse gases to report their emissions beginning in 2010.
• Instruct Ecology to come back to lawmakers later this year with the state's part of the Western Climate Initiative's plan for reducing carbon dioxide release (likely some form of "cap and trade").
• Create an initiative for increasing the number of clean-energy jobs through job training.
• Set statewide goals for cutting the amount of miles driven per person.

P-I reporter Lisa Stiffler can be reached at 206-448-8042 or lisastiffler@seattlepi.com. Read her blog on the environment at datelineearth.com.