Category: Public Policy

By John Stang, Crosscut, Tuesday, January 15, 2019 Gov. Jay Inslee has carved himself a niche as “the climate guy.” And that persona dominated the governor’s State of the State speech to the Legislature on Tuesday. He told legislators that climate change is the biggest and most immediate threat to Washington. “In just the past […]

Learn more

By Manola Secaira, Crosscut, January 16, 2019 While Washington has a reputation as a greener-than-average state, voters have a history of giving less priority to the environment when it’s pitted against other issues like education and homelessness. From 2009 to 2018, no more than 7 percent of respondents in Elway polls chose “the environment” as a top priority […]

Learn more

Tuesday, January 8 Washington state’s diverse maritime sector establishes cluster organization, rallies around collaborative strategy to achieve decarbonization, global innovation hub, 21st Century workforce, growing working waterfronts. SEATTLE, Wash. – Gov. Jay Inslee today joined his Maritime Innovation Advisory Council and a host of leading voices for the roll out of Washington Maritime Blue, a […]

Learn more

Tuesday, January 8 WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) selected $25 million in research projects for next-generation marine energy devices. Funded by DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Water Power Technologies Office, these 12 innovative projects will reduce capital costs and accelerate the innovation cycle by testing new concepts. Marine energy […]

Learn more

Tuesday, December 18 State public higher education institutions, local government facilities, state agencies and kindergarten through 12th grade (K-12) public school districts planning to apply for the Energy Efficiency and Solar Grant program must apply by 5 p.m. PST on Dec. 31. Applications received by Commerce after this time will not be considered. Applications must […]

Learn more

By  John Barrasso, New York Times, Friday, December 18. Leaders from nearly 200 countries met in Katowice, Poland, last week and agreed to rules to carry out the Paris climate accord. Now that the 22,000 delegates have returned home, there are three truths they need to recognize to make actual progress in the hard work of lowering carbon […]

Learn more

Thursday, December 13, Olympia, WA – Brian Bonlender today announced his planned departure as director of the Washington Department of Commerce. He has been in the position since Feb. 1, 2013, and his last day with Commerce will be Jan. 15, 2019. Bonlender, 48, said that while the Commerce job has been the most rewarding he […]

Learn more

Tuesday, December 11 The Colorado Energy Office is helping launch a “green bank” that will leverage private dollars to enhance and spur investment in clean-energy projects. The energy office has formed the nonprofit Colorado Clean Energy Fund, which will team up with the Coalition for Green Capital and other organizations. The coalition, whose partners include the U.S. Department of […]

Learn more

Monday, December 10 Here are three problems with the [The Govenor’s proposal] and better alternatives. Require Environmental Effectiveness The proposal promises to spend money on several projects that are politically popular, but extremely wasteful. For example, the proposal highlights spending on “solar energy systems.” According to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Western Washington is the worst place (other than […]

Learn more

Gov. Jay Inslee was joined today by Democratic legislators and climate action supporters to unveil a plan that would launch a dramatic reduction of Washington state’s greenhouse gas emissions over the next 15 years.

Learn more