Quick actions for our climate:
Contact your legislators and urge them to support the Clean Air Act authority update.
Share this video from our friends at Washington Environmental Council, and encourage your friends and followers to contact their legislators, too.
Updated on February 27 and March 9, 2020.
This year’s 60-day legislative session is scheduled to end March 12. Short session or long, we can - and should - expect big things from our lawmakers when it comes to continuing Washington’s fight against climate change.
A crucial update to the state’s authority under the Clean Air Act is within reach. House Bill 2957 updates the 30-year old law and can have a big, positive impact on Washington’s ability to fight climate pollution. The policy’s passage this year is possible, but it’s not a sure thing, and legislators need to hear your voice to know it’s important to you! Can you take a minute to contact them and urge their support for updating Washington’s Clean Air Act authority? (Note: button links to an external partner action site.)
Dive deeper:
State Rep. Joe Fitzgibbon (D-34), chair of the House Environment and Energy Committee, wrote about the Clean Fuel Standard and the Clean Air Act update in a Seattle Times op-ed, urging his colleagues to act.
Last month, the state Supreme Court ruled that Washington state needs additional authority to enable us to comprehensively tackle the climate crisis. HB 2957 updates the state Clean Air Act to allow the Department of Ecology hold major greenhouse gas polluters accountable for proactively reducing their emissions.
The role of the Legislature is to pass and update laws: Now is their chance to update the Clean Air Act authority for the 21st century and ensure that Washington has all the tools we need to address the climate crisis.
A bill to enact a statewide Clean Fuel Standard (HB 1110) is working its way through the Legislature this session as well, having already passed the House and awaiting a vote in the Senate Transportation Committee. Our West Coast neighbors Oregon, British Columbia and California all have clean fuel standards in place. If we are going to continue as a national leader on climate, Washington must join them in cleaning up our transportation sector.
The update to our state’s Climate Pollution Limits has already passed the Legislature, setting our state on the path to net-zero emissions by mid century. House Bill 2311 defines the goal. The Clean Fuel Standard and Clean Air Act authority update are key tools to help us reach it. Lawmakers can’t let this session end without passing them.
We’re excited about our potential to continue leading on climate with bold, forward-thinking policies that protect the health of the environment and all of us who depend on it. The climate crisis is a big challenge. We need to give it everything we’ve got, and there’s no time to waste. Contact your legislators and urge them to act on climate today.
