Seattle Will Review City Projects for Climate Impacts

"This is a milestone in our local efforts to stem global warming," said Councilmember Peter Steinbrueck, the legislation's sponsor and chair of the Council's Urban Development and Planning Committee. "If we are to mitigate the impact of greenhouse gas emissions we have to start by accounting for them."

Eight local and regional environmental groups expressed their support for the legislation during a hearing on November 28.

Organizational support for the legislation includes Futurewise, Climate Solutions, People for Puget Sound, the People's Waterfront Coalition, the Sierra Club, the Transportation Choices Coalition, and the Washington Environmental Council.

"There is clearly a groundswell of community support," said Councilmember Richard Conlin. "The people of Seattle understand that the time is now to begin moving on doing our part to challenge climate change."

Council President Nick Licata said, "This is a positive local step toward dealing with a serious global problem."

Seattle is making an attempt to control its contribution to global climate change. (Photo courtesy U. Washington)

The legislation will take effect on March 31 and will require agencies in the city to begin working toward accounting for emissions in projects that are covered by the State Environmental Protection Act.

The Council's action follows an executive order by King County Executive Ron Sims who ordered county agencies to begin reviewing projects for their emissions.

Governor Christine Gregoire's Climate Action Team has made similar recommendations.

The most recent report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change characterizes climate change as a more serious crisis than it had previously stated.

Unless action is taken rapidly, impacts from human activities, particularly the use of combustion engine driven vehicles, the planet is headed for calamitous and inevitable changes that will impact millions of people and cost millions of lives and resources, the Council concludes..

"This is just the beginning," said Steinbrueck. "Seattle has always been a leader in protecting our environment. This legislation continues with that great tradition."

Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels has worked to make Seattle a leader in the effort to find a solution to the threat of global warming. Since Nickels launched the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement in 2005, 672 cities across the United States have joined Seattle in pledging to reduce carbon emissions seven percent below 1990 levels by 2012.

Today, about 24 percent of the country's population lives in cities that have decided to take action.

In September, Mayor Nickels, other city officials, community and business leaders launched Seattle Climate Action Now, a grassroots campaign to encourage everyone in Seattle to reduce global warming pollution at home, on the road and in their neighborhoods.

"A lot of people want to do something about global warming, but they aren't sure how or where to start," Nickels said. "Seattle Climate Action Now will bring saving the planet down to earth.

In November, Mayor Nickels released an update of the city's greenhouse gas inventory that shows the city has made progress in the effort to cut emissions and is on target to meet its climate protection goals.

The report shows that in 2005, the latest year studied, the city's greenhouse gas emissions were about eight percent below 1990 levels. And on a per capita level, the reduction was about 11 percent below 1990.

Conservation and climate-friendly policies by Seattle City Light are responsible for most of the reduction.

The city has adopted the standards of the Kyoto Treaty, which call for reducing greenhouse gas emissions to five percent below 1990 levels by 2012.

"This is a remarkable milestone that shows how cities can lead the way in the fight against global warming," Nickels said. "It is a success that we can all celebrate. But it is just the start of our work. To beat global warming, we must not only maintain this achievement but go a magnitude beyond these numbers. That's why we need everyone's help in taking action."

Copyright Environment News Service (ENS) 2007. All rights reserved.