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Cascadian solutions in the Big Apple

“Climate change?!  That’s a global thing.  Let the global people deal with it.”

This is what we often hear from the fossil fuel interests and their allies when we propose bold climate solutions in the Northwest.   It’s one of their many ways of saying, “It’s hopeless. Resistance is futile.  Think about something else [… which, of course, people are understandably eager to do!]”

And that’s exactly why our increasingly bold efforts in the Northwest – stopping coal export, replacing coal with clean energy, expanding opportunities for all in the clean energy economy, and giving the oil industry some real competition – are so vitally important.  Not only do they pave the way to a future of sustainable, broadly shared prosperity in Cascadia; they also give real hope and inspiration to “the global people”, who have been desperately waiting for American leadership in climate solutions for over 20 years.

And when we meet with “the global people,” as we will at the UN Climate Summit this week in New York, BOY are they happy to see us. Despite the dismal history of US resistance to international climate commitments, the world is still eager and hungry to embrace Americans who are serious about solutions.  You Northwest advocates and pioneers can be sure that your work will be noticed and appreciated at the summit when, for example:

And, above all, we Northwesterners will be there when unprecedented throngs of people from all walks of life take to the streets in the People’s Climate March – the largest climate demonstration in history.  One whole section of the march, stretching for many blocks, is all about solutions, and you know the Climate Solutions banner will be flying high and proud! 

More from NYC soon!

Author Bio

KC Golden

former Senior Policy Advisor, Climate Solutions

KC shapes policy and communication strategies, with the goal of changing what's "possible" so we can do what's necessary. "Cynicism," he insists, "is capitulation."

He has served as a special assistant to the Mayor of Seattle for clean energy and climate protection initiatives and as an Assistant Director in Washington's Department of Community, Trade, and Economic Development, where he directed the state's Energy Policy Office. From 1989 to 1994, he was Executive Director of the Northwest Energy Coalition, a regional alliance working for a clean, affordable energy future.

KC is a leader in the national climate movement, serving on the boards of 350.org (where he is Interim Board Chair) and the US Climate Action Network. He has also been active in the utility industry, helping Seattle City Light become the first major carbon-free electric utility in the late 1990s, and as a Governor's representative to the Executive Board of Energy Northwest, a regional public power consortium. 

KC was one of Seattle Magazine's "Power 25" most influential people, and its #1 "Eco-Hero." In 2012, he received the Heinz Award for Public Policy for his lifetime achievement as a climate advocate and policy architect.

KC earned his Bachelor's Degree at the University of California, Berkeley, and was a Kennedy Fellow at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, where he received a Master's in Public Policy. He retired from Climate Solutions' staff at the end of 2018.

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