Climate Action and Green Jobs Passes Legislature

OLYMPIA – It’s official:  Washington State is committed to climate solutions. This morning, the Washington State Senate passed the Climate Action and Green Jobs bill (HB 2815) by a 29 to 19 vote.  The bill already passed the House on February 19. It now heads to Governor Chris Gregoire who requested the bill, and is expected to sign it next week.

The Climate Action and Green Jobs bill establishes overall state limits for emissions of global warming pollution, while authorizing job training programs to prepare the state’s workforce for the rapidly growing clean energy economy. 

Supporters of the bill are now focusing on the Supplemental State Budget, where $250,000 in seed money to begin green jobs programs is in question.

The Climate Action and Green Jobs bill is the culmination of months of work by a diverse range of stakeholders, including businesses, labor, environmental leaders, the faith community, local governments, and utilities. Key elements of the bill are all reflected in the unanimous recommendations of the Washington Climate Advisory Team (CAT) which issued its final report last month.

Experts say climate change is already affecting Washington citizens and businesses, and that pace of change is accelerating.  The devastating storms and floods in Southwest Washington this winter are the kinds of impacts scientists expect.  The Climate Action and Green Jobs bill is a comprehensive approach to confronting those challenges, as well as a strategy to seize opportunities for Washington’s business and workers.

“This bill says Washington is serious about real solutions to global warming, and it accelerates our critically needed transition to a clean energy economy,” said Climate Solutions’ Policy Director KC Golden.  “By setting responsible limits on global warming pollution, we’ll accelerate investment in clean alternatives to imported fossil fuels and create clean energy jobs. We’ve got a long way to go, and we’ll need more legislation next year.  But if the Legislature funds the implementation of this bill including its Green Jobs provisions, we've got a solid foundation.”

The bill also establishes goals and requires the state to develop strategies to slow and reverse the growth in vehicle miles traveled. Transportation is the largest contributor of global warming pollution in this state. "It is critical that we provide real mobility alternatives and find ways to give people reliable, common-sense choices to drive less. The transportation section of this bill takes the first steps in developing those kinds of strategies," said Genesee Cooper Adkins of Transportation Choices Coalition.

One remaining sticking point is funding to accelerate green jobs training. The legislation authorizes a labor market study, industry skill panels to design training, and the development of a green jobs grant program for community college and state trade school job training programs. However, a relatively modest allocation of $250,000 to conduct the market study – included in the Governor’s version of the budget – is not included in the House and Senate versions. Roughly $1.6 million to implement the climate policy provisions of the bill are also pending approval in the budget process, to be completed by the time the Legislature is scheduled to adjourn on March 13.

“Governor Gregoire included funding for these essential programs in her budget and we hope the legislature realizes that reducing our global warming pollution and building a strong green economy go hand in hand. We need one for the other to be successful,” said Becky Kelley of Washington Environmental Council.

"This bill will kick our clean energy economy into a higher gear and will make sure this economy is strong enough to provide pathways out of poverty for the people in our state who need new training and job opportunities," said Tony Lee, Advocacy Director of Solid Ground. “We need a trained workforce ready to deliver the new products and services for our clean energy economy and this bill helps get us there.”

Advocates are also urging the legislature to approve $50,000 now in the House budget for a study examining ways to encourage women and minority-owned businesses to enter into clean energy industries.