Climate and Equity Action this week: Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Reparations for Historic Racial Discrimination in Housing

Climate Action This Week: Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Reparations for Historic Racial Discrimination in Housing

• Prohibiting certain new gas hook-ups
• Updating the state’s Growth Management Act
• Improving the state’s climate response strategy
• Reducing Plastic Pollution
• Opposing nuclear reactor technology
• Capturing methane
• Opposing incentivizing Renewable Natural Gas
• Opposing incentives for Alternative Jet Fuel
• Income-qualifying interest-free loans for energy efficiency
• Attempt to address historical housing discrimination due to past racially restrictive real estate covenants in Washington
• Community Solar and Net Metering

If you're viewing this on a smartphone, make sure you're in your browser, and when calling or emailing, be sure to mention if you are in the representative or senator’s district. And, unfortunately, SurveyMonkey does not support copy and paste on mobile devices.

Pick as many or as few actions as you’d like. Remember to scroll down and click the "DONE" button when you finish.

Thank you for taking action with the 350 WA Civic Action Team!

📜 1. Supporting Washington's clean energy economy and transitioning to a clean, affordable, and reliable energy future - HB 1589

HB 1589 (and its companion bill in the Senate SB 5562 which we asked you to support last week) would prohibit large gas companies serving more than 500,000 customers from providing gas service to new residential and commercial customers after June 30, 2023. Among other requirements, the utility would also have to report emissions from methane leaks; produce gas decarbonization and electrification plans as part of any rate plan filing after January 1, 2026; and design programs targeted to low income and other vulnerable communities. It also contains worker protections.

Scheduled for a public hearing in the House Committee on Environment & Energy on Monday, February 6, 1:30 PM.

350 WA CAT recommends this action.

✏️ Please sign in here to support HB 1589 TODAY before Monday, February 6, 12:30 PM and select “Pro” in the position button. This time is not a typo - the sign-in must be sent at least one hour BEFORE the hearing.

✏️ Miss the deadline? You can still sign in “Pro” here and provide a written comment in support of HB 1589 before Tuesday, February 7, 1:30 PM.

📑 The first sentence of the written comment should be: “I strongly support HB 1589.” 
Then choose 1-2 additional sentences from the options below or feel free to write your own.

Talking Points

• Prohibiting large gas companies from serving new residential and gas customers is an important step towards reducing greenhouse gas emissions and meeting our state’s climate goals.
• Before it’s burned, gas leaks at every step of its journey: from the well, during transportation along pipelines, at power plants, and in the homes and businesses where it's burned. At every step, copious amounts of methane escape into the atmosphere.
• Methane, which makes up 70-90% of “natural” gas, is among the most potent greenhouse gasses, with 80 times the heat-trapping effect of carbon dioxide over the first 20 years after it is emitted into the atmosphere. The Sixth Assessment Report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) estimated that methane has caused about two-thirds as much of our current warming as carbon dioxide. Energy production and energy use are by far the leading sources of methane emissions.

📜 2. Improving the state's response to climate change by updating the state's planning framework - HB 1181

This bill (and its companion Senate Bill SB 5203) are the resuscitated versions of last session’s “Climate in the Growth Management Act” bill, HB 1099 which almost passed the legislature but failed at the eleventh hour. Like last year’s version, HB 1181 will ensure that our cities reduce greenhouse gas emissions from transportation and protect people, property and ecological systems from the accelerating impacts of a changing climate. 

We are following the lead of Futurewise on this bill.

Scheduled for a public hearing in the House Committee on Appropriations on Monday, February 6, 4:00 PM.

✏️ Please sign in here to support HB 1181 TODAY before Monday, February 6, 3:00 PM and select “Pro” in the position button.

✏️ Miss the deadline? You can still sign in “Pro” here and provide a written comment in support of HB 1181 before Tuesday, February 7, 4:00 PM.

📑 The first sentence of the written comment should be: “I strongly support HB 1181.” 
Then choose 1-2 additional sentences from the options below or feel free to write your own.

Talking Points:

• In last year’s session, HB 1099 failed at the eleventh hour, please make sure that HB 1181 passes this year. 
• This update to the Growth Management Act will support Washington’s biggest counties and cities as they plan for a resilient future including providing the funding needed to plan for climate resiliency and emissions reduction.
• HB 1181 will provide environmental justice and support for vulnerable communities.

📜 3. Improving climate resilience through updates to the state's integrated climate response strategy - HB 1170

This bill would update the state’s climate resilience strategy by requiring agencies to prioritize climate resilience and greenhouse gas reductions in their programs and policies and to coordinate their utilization of climate resilience-related federal funding opportunities.

We are following the lead of The Nature Conservancy on this bill.

Scheduled for a public hearing in the House Committee on Appropriations on Monday, February 6, 4:00 PM.

✏️ Please sign in here to support HB 1170 TODAY, before Monday, February 6, 3:00 PM and select “Pro” in the position button.

✏️ Miss this deadline? You can still sign in “Pro” here and provide a written comment in support of HB 1170 before Tuesday, February 7, 4:00 PM.

📑 The first sentence of the written comment should be: “I strongly support HB 1170.” 
Then choose 1-2 additional sentences from the options below or feel free to write your own.

Talking points:

• The bill requires Washington’s Integrated Climate Response Strategy to be updated by July 2024 and then every four years. 
• Passing this bill would lead to coordination of the state’s response to federal funding opportunities for climate resilience, including from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and Investment Reduction Act funds, and would make it more effective.
• The bill requires the state to prioritize actions that: (1) reduce greenhouse gas emissions and build climate preparedness; (2) deploy natural solutions, restore habitat, or reduce stressors that exacerbate climate impacts; (3) promote and protect human health; (4) protect the most overburdened and vulnerable populations and provide more equitable outcomes; and (5) consider flexible approaches for preparing for uncertain climate impacts.
• The bill requires the state to collaborate and engage with a broad range of agencies and entities including tribal governments and overburdened communities.

📜 4. Reducing Plastic Pollution - HB 1085

The Reducing Plastic Pollution bill would decrease unnecessary plastics by phasing out most mini toiletries at hotels and by banning foam-filled dock floats that are not fully enclosed. The bill would also encourage reusable water bottles by requiring refill stations wherever a drinking fountain is required in new buildings.

We are following the lead of Zero Waste Washington on this bill.

Scheduled for a public hearing in the House Committee on Appropriations on Monday, February 6, 4:00 PM.

✏️ Please sign in here to support HB 1085 TODAY before Monday, February 6, 3:00 PM and select “Pro” in the position button.

✏️ Miss this deadline? You can still sign in “Pro” here and provide a written comment in support of HB 1085 before Tuesday, February 7, 4:00 PM.

📑 The first sentence of the written comment should be: “I strongly support HB 1085.” 
Then choose 1-2 additional sentences from the options below or feel free to write your own.

Talking Points:

• Plastics are energy-intensive to make and release greenhouse gas emissions at each stage of their lifecycle. By using reusable water bottles, we can each reduce greenhouse gas emissions by saving an average of 156 single use plastic bottles annually!
• Banning certain foam-filled dock floats will also reduce a source of plastic pollution in lakes and marine waters.
• There is a critical connection between climate change and plastics. Plastics are made from oil and gas, and the petrochemical industry plans to greatly increase plastic production to offset a decline in burning fossil fuel. We need to turn off the plastics tap, not increase the amount of plastics made!
• Decreasing the need to extract new resources helps frontline communities that often bear the brunt of environmental impacts from resource extraction.

📜 5. Planning for advanced nuclear reactor technology in Washington - HB 1584

This bill would amend a guiding principle for the development of the State Energy Strategy to include consideration of advanced nuclear reactor technology in Washington as a cleaner energy source. Although nuclear energy doesn’t produce greenhouse gas, it is NOT clean. Small modular reactors (SMRs) are untested for both safety and reliability. Further, nuclear energy increases the risk of nuclear proliferation and creates high-level radioactive waste which remains deadly to biological life for hundreds of thousands of years. There is still no place to safely store it. Nuclear energy is also expensive. By one estimate, it costs approximately $160/MWh rather than the $40/MWh that solar and wind cost. For further information see these false solutions.

350 Seattle recommends this action.

Scheduled for a public hearing in the House Committee on Environment & Energy on Tuesday, February 7, 4:00 PM

✏️ Please sign in here to oppose HB 1584 before Tuesday, February 7, 3:00 PM and select “Con” in the position button.

📜 6. Supporting Washington's crop and livestock farms, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and generating renewable energy by capturing methane - SB 5551

Approximately one third of greenhouse gas emissions come from agriculture. This bill has the great aim of encouraging responsible waste and emissions management and broadens the use of funds that can be provided to agricultural producers in the Sustainable Farm and Fields grant program. Among other provisions, it may encourage the use of anaerobic digesters. Although digesters are an important tool for reducing agricultural greenhouse gas emissions the use of digesters carries risks so we are asking you to sign in as “Other” and provide comments. 

350 Seattle's Agriculture group recommends this action.

Scheduled for public hearing in the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Water, Natural Resources & Parks on Monday February 6, 1:30 PM.

✏️ Please sign in here to provide comments on SB 5551 before Tuesday, February 7, 1:30 PM and select “Other” in the position button.

📑 Then choose 1-2 sentences from the options below or feel free to write your own comments.

Talking Points:

• The short-term impact of methane is so severe that the current practice of venting it directly from manure lagoons cannot be allowed to continue. Anaerobic digesters are an important tool for reducing agricultural greenhouse gas emissions. However, there are problems with anaerobic digesters so their use should be regulated.
• While digesters may capture most of the methane produced in a manure lagoon, offering incentives for digesters may increase emissions in other ways. For example, they encourage larger herd sizes which leads to more enteric emissions – which cannot be captured in a digester. Funding should be limited to digesters for smaller herds only and on condition that (1) the herd does not significantly increase in size or above a certain standard; and (2) the gas produced by digesters should be used on-site to generate electricity (ideally through a fuel cell). The goal would be to ensure herd sizes do not increase as a result of receiving digester funding. 
• Anaerobic digesters should be required for all large Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) but not incentivized by funding. The gas produced by the digesters should be used on-site to generate electricity because methane leaks whenever it is transported; it should remain on the farm and be used as quickly as possible. 
• Washington should not take steps to encourage biomethane use by the natural gas industry or for transportation. A 2022 study concluded that methane emissions along biogas and biomethane supply chains are substantially underestimated. The most efficient way to eliminate greenhouse emissions is to use electricity, not methane for energy.
• It would be counterproductive to take any step that increases CAFO agriculture. In addition to its cruel and intolerable treatment of animals, compared with other farms, CAFOs have the most severe impact on GHG emissions, land use, acidification, eutrophication, and air and groundwater pollution. The US is the world's largest corn producer, planting more than 90 million acres of land annually. Of the corn used domestically, nearly half goes to livestock feed, the bulk of which is used in CAFOs. 
• Vermifiltration may be an alternative to digesters. This uses worms to filter and aerate liquid manure, and has been used by at least one farm in Washington with a herd of 10,000 cows. Consideration should be given to funding research and pilot programs for this method.

📜 7. Incentivizing development and acquisition of renewable energy resources - HB 1619

This bill would exempt from sales and use tax the sale and installation costs of machinery and equipment used directly in generating renewable natural gas or in connecting the renewable natural gas to the existing natural gas infrastructure. "Renewable natural gas" means a gas consisting largely of methane and other hydrocarbons derived from the decomposition of organic material in landfills, wastewater treatment facilities, and anaerobic digesters. The bill also permits a natural gas company to seek approval from the WA Utilities and Transportation Commission (WA UTC) to supply renewable natural gas as part of its gas supply. The bill would also allow utilities to ask that their investments in clean energy be compensated in their rates. While there is an urgent need to reduce emissions of methane, a potent greenhouse gas, this bill’s incentives for supplying renewable natural gas to consumers is problematic because of leakage and prolonging the use of natural gas rather than electricity.

350 WA CAT recommends this action.

Scheduled for public hearing in the House Committee on Environment & Energy on Monday February 6, 1:30 PM.

✏️ Please sign in here to oppose and provide comments on HB 1619 before Tuesday, February 7, 1:30 PM and select “Con” in the position button. (Or if you can do this before Monday February 6, 12:30 PM and don’t want to make comments, please sign in here and select “Con.”)

📑 The first sentence of the written comment should be: “I strongly oppose HB 1619.” Then choose 1-2 additional sentences from the options below or feel free to write your own comments.

Talking Points:

• This bill includes a sales and use tax exemption for connecting renewable natural gas to the existing natural gas infrastructure. While there is an urgent need to reduce emissions of methane, a potent greenhouse gas, this bill’s incentives to connect natural gas to consumers is highly problematic.
• While the mention of utility companies getting credit for solar energy, heat pumps, research and development, green hydrogen, and carbon capture is great, the bulk of this bill focuses on counterproductive incentives for renewable natural gas. 
• Methane leaks significantly whenever it is transported so it should stay and be used as quickly as possible on the landfill, farm or other site where it is created.  Therefore, Washington should not encourage biomethane use by the natural gas industry or for transportation. The most efficient way to eliminate greenhouse emissions is to use electricity wherever possible and not to rely on methane for heating/cooling or transportation.   
• Where feasible, the gas produced by anaerobic digesters should be used on-site to generate electricity (ideally through a fuel cell).
• The natural gas industry will use the provision of biomethane for greenwashing.  Sending biomethane through natural gas pipelines will contribute to public utilities' and related industries' resistance to phasing out natural gas.
• Tax incentives for selling biomethane from anaerobic digesters risks incentivising an increase in herd sizes, with a resulting increase in enteric emissions which cannot be captured by a digester. They also incentivize an increase in the production of methane that is captured and sold, with the resulting increase in leaks. A 2022 study concluded that methane emissions along biogas and biomethane supply chains are substantially underestimated, with emissions at feedstock, biogas production, upgrading, and digestate handling.

📜 8. Promoting the alternative jet fuel industry in Washington - HB 1505

This is the House companion bill to SB 5447 which we asked you to oppose last week.

This bill would use Climate Commitment Act funds to provide tax credits for alternative jet fuels which lower carbon emissions compared to conventional jet fuel. It is designed to promote the development of the low carbon fuel industry in Washington state and is intended to decrease greenhouse gas emissions from aircraft. Unfortunately, that is a misconception. 

Alternative jet fuels would provide only very modest reductions in GHG emissions and do nothing for the other impacts such as noise and other local pollution impacting primarily low-income communities near airports, and do nothing to reduce the contrails and cirrus clouds which are responsible for more than half of jets’ warming effect. The Port of Seattle has a goal of 10% alternative fuel for outgoing flights by 2028. Even if alternative fuel achieves the best-case-scenario of 80% reduction in carbon emissions, emissions would only be reduced by 8%. (80 percent of 10 percent is 8%). That small reduction would be more than wiped out by the projected increase in flights. By focusing on this small reduction, we divert attention from the need to reduce flying, and we let the aviation industry off the hook. 

The aviation industry should be made to take financial responsibility for its pollution. This would incentivise it to develop non-polluting solutions such as electric and hydrogen fuel cell electric propulsion planes. Airbus and Zero-Avia are developing such planes but Boeing has shown no intent to do so, and has no incentive when we taxpayers subsidize their polluting practices. 

In sum, this bill would incentivize airlines to continue buying noisy, polluting fanjet planes. These purchases and an established alternative jet fuel industry would lock us in to continuing this destructive model for decades. Additionally, the aviation industry would be competing with farmers, tribes and the forests for land and water to produce the feedstock for these fuels. This is a false solution and an inappropriate way to use Climate Commitment Act funds.

For more detail about the problems with this approach, see talking points here and here.

We are following the lead of the 350 Seattle Aviation Team on this bill.

Scheduled for public hearing in the House Committee on Environment & Energy on Tuesday, February 7, 4:00 PM

✏️ Please sign in here by Tuesday, February 7 at 3:00 PM and select “Con”.

✏️ Or, if you are moved to leave a comment, sign in here by Wednesday, February 8 at 4:00 PM select “Con” and add your comments. (Taking both actions would be useful, if you have time, but we know we’re asking you to take a lot of actions in today’s email.)

📜 9. Authorizing electric utilities to establish energy efficiency revolving loan programs - SB 5570

SB 5570 would create a grant program that can be used by electric utilities to set up programs that would provide revolving interest-free loans to qualifying middle and low income households for energy efficiency projects including insulation upgrades, window replacement, and repairs needed to achieve energy savings. Payments on the loans may be made on the utility bill, and repayment may be deferred until sale of the property. Priority for the loans would be given to properties in overburdened communities. Owners of rental properties may participate if their tenants are income-qualified and the rent remains fair.

350 WA CAT recommends this action.

Scheduled for public hearing in the Senate Committee on Environment, Energy & Technology on Wednesday, February 8, 8:00 AM.

✏️ Please sign in here by Wednesday, February 8 at 7:00 AM and select “Pro”.

📜 10. Creating the covenant homeownership account and program to address the history of housing discrimination due to racially restrictive real estate covenants in Washington state - SB 5496

This bill and its companion bill in the House HB 1474 would create a Covenant Homeownership Program (CHP) to collect money from the processing of certain county documents and use the money collected to help remedy racial disparities in homeownership by making loans for down payment and closing cost assistance. The exact mechanisms for dispersal would be determined by an oversight committee set up through this bill. Credit recipients must have household income under 100% Area Median Income (AMI), be first-time homebuyers, have lived or be descended from someone who both lived in Washington state before April 11, 1968 when the Federal Fair Housing Act was passed and was or would have been impacted by a racially restrictive covenant before that date.

Scheduled for public hearing in the Senate Committee on Housing on Wednesday, February 8, 1:30 PM.

✏️ Please sign in here by Wednesday, February 8 at 12:30 PM and select “Pro”.

📜 11. Fair access to community solar - HB 1509 and Concerning on-premises energy generation (net metering) - HB 1427

Both of these last two bills have received hearings but neither has yet been scheduled for an executive session and a vote. We think they need our help to ensure they don’t miss the February 17th deadline to move out of their committee!

HB 1509 would extend Washington’s community solar programs so that more customers can receive financial benefits from a community solar subscription on their utility electric bill and it would enable low-income customers to receive the benefits. More information is available here: Community Solar.

HB 1427 would extend and make other changes to the state’s net metering for renewable energy, helping to ensure that rooftop solar production continues to be a viable option for building owners. For more information see the talking points below and: Net Metering.

We are following the lead of Spark Northwest on these bills.

Please call or email the Chair and Vice-Chair of the House Committee on Environment & Energy and ask them to schedule both bills for an executive session and a vote before the Policy cut-off on February 17th! And when contacting Representative Mena, you can thank her for sponsoring HB 1427.

✏️ Click here to send an email to both members of the committee. If this link does not work on your device, please use the emails in the list below.

Chair Rep. Beth Doglio (D-22) – (360) 786-7940 – beth.doglio@leg.wa.gov
Vice Chair Rep. Sharlett Mena (D-29) – (360) 786-7996 – sharlett.mena@leg.wa.gov

If you’re calling and you reach voicemail, be sure to speak slowly and clearly and say both bill numbers. Please thank Rep. Mena for sponsoring HB 1427. And be sure to let them know if you are a constituent of their district!

📑 Script: I’m writing to ask Rep. [Name] to schedule HB 1427 and HB 1509 for an executive session and a vote before the deadline to pass out of committee. Then choose 1-2 additional sentences from the options below (at least one for each bill) or feel free to write your own.

• HB 1427 and HB 1509 would both increase the availability of solar power and our transition to clean renewable energy by removing practical obstacles to receiving its benefits.
• HB 1427 would extend and make other improvements to the state’s net metering program for renewable energy, to ensure that rooftop solar production continues to be a viable option for building owners. It also provides that any unused credit must be distributed annually to low-income customers. The existing law provides that any unused credits for kilowatt-hours accumulated during the previous year are granted to the electric utility, without any compensation to the customer-generator.  
• HB 1509 would extend Washington’s community solar programs so that more customers can receive financial benefits from a community solar subscription on their utility electric bill and it would enable low-income customers to receive the benefits. Community solar projects allow customers precluded from accessing the benefits of rooftop solar (such as those who are renters, of low-income, own condominiums or homes where solar is not viable) to transition to clean energy by purchasing or subscribing to solar panels that are not located on their buildings and realizing the energy benefits on their utility electric bill. 
• HB 1509 would require that 50% of all community solar subscribers must be low-income customers and low- income service providers. The bill would also remove limitations on tribal-owned community solar projects.

-- The 350 WA Civic Action Team

PS Not on the CAT email list? Sign up here!