Local Solutions to Global Warming Passes State Legislature

OLYMPIA –Yesterday, Local Solutions to Global Warming (SB 6580) passed its final vote in the legislature and is on its way to the Governor’s desk to be signed into law. The House of Representatives passed the bill in the early hours of the morning on Friday after opponents unsuccessfully tried to bury the bill in over 40 weakening amendments.  Yesterday, the Senate approved the final version of the bill, taking an important first step towards helping local jurisdictions address climate change through their land use decisions.

The choices made in local land use and zoning plans about where a growing population will live and work and how they will get around have a huge impact on global warming emissions. SB6580 will provide tools for local governments who have an interest in using their land use and transportation plans to reduce driving and promote more efficient, livable communities in an effort to reduce global warming pollution.

SB6580 will:

• Provide local governments with the tools and technology to achieve their goals of significant climate reductions through land use and transportation planning and adapt to the likely impacts of climate change
• Establish a competitive grants program for local governments leading efforts to reducing their climate impact through land-use and transportation planning
• Launch a stakeholder process to make recommendations before the next legislative session for policy changes necessary for local governments to reduce their climate impacts through transportation and land use planning, and adapt to the likely impacts of climate change.

“With half of the state’s global warming pollution coming from transportation sources, we need to look at the bigger picture and find out how to reduce our demand for driving.  We’ll get the biggest bang for our buck if we make smarter decisions about how and where we grow,” said Senator Chris Marr (D – Spokane), prime sponsor of the bill. “Local Solutions to Global Warming is about making that connection real from Spokane to Seattle.  There’s a very clear nexus, if we prevent sprawl, we’ll reduce our climate impact, both of which will help save taxpayer money now and in the future. Local Solutions is the right investment for Washington.”

“We came into the session this year trying to marry two of the more controversial issues we face at the state level – the Growth Management Act and climate change,” said Representative Geoff Simpson (D – Covington).  “It’s not always easy to make the right decision, but we’ve done that here this week.  By passing Local Solutions, the state has recognized that our local governments do have a role to play in reducing and adapting to the impacts of climate change and that the state has an obligation to support them.”

The legislation sets in motion important first steps to support local governments that are interested in addressing climate change through their land use and transportation planning and sets the stage for future policy changes.

“We know that millions more people will move to Washington in the next 20 years,” said April Putney, Futurewise Lobbyist. “To achieve the State's goal of significantly reducing global warming pollution, local planning decisions must be made to grow in a way that reduces driving and meets the growing demand for green, walkable communities.  This week, the legislature took a first step towards that goal.”

Local Solutions to Global Warming was selected by the environmental community as one of the four Priorities for a Healthy Washington.  “We are pleased that the legislature has taken this critical first step, now we need the legislature to fund the bill in this year’s budget,” said Clifford Traisman, lead environmental lobbyist for Washington Conservation Voters and the Washington Environmental Council.