Washington Legislature's cap-and-trade plan could be a budget casualty

Sound Off is a public forum. Items are selected from letters to the editor or may be written specifically for this feature. Today, in an opinion taken from the blog of the Washington State Legislature’s House Democratic Caucus, a fundamental feature of an environmental measure passed last year in Olympia may have to be rethought because of budget constraints.

Last year the Washington State Legislature approved HB-2815, a comprehensive bill that put in motion an aggressive effort to dramatically decrease greenhouse gas emissions in Washington state.

The state Department of Ecology and Department of Community, Trade and Economic Development just released the Comprehensive Plan focusing on the first major goal of the legislation, which is to reduce Washington’s greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020.

A centerpiece of the plan is a regional cap-and-trade system in cooperation with the Western Climate Initiative, a coalition of seven states and four Canadian provinces.

It also happens to be the top priority of the Washington Environmental Priorities Coalition, which actually calls this a “Cap and Invest” program, emphasizing that money from the program would be directed to encourage new green jobs and innovation, as well as help low-income households with energy bills.

There’s broad agreement among legislators and stakeholders that such a system is the right way to go, but as with many good ideas, disagreement arises over the details of how it should be implemented.

And now that Washington is looking at an almost $6 billion shortfall, the details are getting even stickier.

Environmentalists and many legislators have pushed for a cap-and-trade system that auctions off credits to businesses. The idea is that companies that need the emission credits will buy more.

But businesses, suffering through the economic recession, are raising concerns, leading Gov. Gregoire to consider an alternative.

The Associated Press reports: “Concerned about the bad economy and pressure on businesses, Gregoire is leaning toward giving away most of the pollution credits, rather than auctioning them off as environmentalists had hoped.”

But other pieces of the plan may still move forward with broad agreement despite the economic situation. The article continues: “The governor’s proposed budget includes about $25 million for climate change, including money to add solar panels to three state prisons, increase the energy efficiency of public buildings and fund anaerobic digesters to reduce waste. There’s also money in the budget to increase vanpools.”

The Climate Action Team, which Gregoire convened last year to come up with concrete ways to fight climate change, earlier this month called for more energy-efficient buildings, compact urban development, better collection of recycled materials, reduced driving and revised development rules to account for greenhouse gas emissions.

Janice Adair of the state Department of Ecology said the state won’t pursue some of those recommendations next year, such as giving tax credits to buildings that reduce energy use.

She said other groups or legislators may push for them, and some efforts, such as revising the energy code to reduce energy use, can still be done.

Some environmentalists say they understand the situation.

“It’s obviously a dismal budget situation,” said K.C. Golden, policy director with Climate Solutions. “We’re not expecting enormous public investment.”

He said there’s opportunity for private investment in energy-efficient buildings and through the cap-and-trade program.

However this plays out, it will be certainly be one of the issues that businesses and environmentalists will be keeping an eye on this session.

Leadership lacking

Sound Off is a public forum. Items are selected from letters to the editor or may be written specifically for this feature. Today, Bremerton resident and former Kitsap County Commissioner Matt Ryan argues there’s more our local leaders could to do fight proposed ferry service cuts in Kitsap County.

If the alternative to transform the Alaskan Way Viaduct into surface streets comes to pass, the days of easy access to Colman Dock are numbered.

A quarter of Seattle´s North South traffic will be interrupted with every ferry arrival. Thus the ferry system’s second alternative of screwing down service on the Bremerton run to one boat plus a gaggle of fair-weather, spit-kit passenger ferries meshes well with the idiocy that passes for leadership and vision at WSDOT and the city of Seattle.

What I want to know is where are the majority Democrats, who represent this county in the Legislature, who ought to be up in arms?

What impact are all the county electeds, who voted to remain in the Puget Sound Regional Council, when in comes to assuring our access through

Colman Dock and maintaining our auto runs?

Or are they complicit by continuing to vote for more Kitsap Transit foot ferries?

The Bremerton run should have a third boat, not one. Remember it is part of the state highway system.

COMMENTING RULES: We encourage an open exchange of ideas in the PNWLocalNews.com community, but we ask you to follow our guidelines for respecting community standards. In a nutshell, don't say anything you wouldn't want your mother to read. So keep your comments:

• Civil
• Smart
• On-topic
• Free of profanity

We ask that all participants own their words by registering for an account. It's a simple process that will take seconds and helps keep our comments free of trolls, cranks, and drive-by commenters.

As a community site, we ask that the community help by using the "Flag" button on each comment if they feel the comment has violated the rules. You can also use the up and down arrows on each comment to voice your opinion about that particular comment.

Want to tell us something but you don't want it to be public? Talk to us privately.