MICHAEL B.
Washington Legislature considers clean fuels standard
Jonathan Lawson

Washington is the last west coast jurisdiction without a clean fuels standard.

The House Technology and Economic Development Committee will hold a hearing on clean fuels (HB 2338) at 1:30pm, Tuesday, January 9th, in hearing room B of the O'Brien building at the State Capitol in Olympia.

Transportation fuels are responsible for nearly half of our climate and air pollution in Washington.

On the same day that Governor Inslee will lay out his carbon pricing pollution policy in his State of the State address, the House TED committee will hold a hearing on another needed climate solution in addition to pricing pollution:  clean fuels.   A 10% reduction would cut approximately three million tons of carbon dioxide in Washington, and the state could choose to go even further.

HB 2338 would:

  • Require refineries to clean up their fuels by reducing the carbon intensity of their fuels
  • Refineries can comply by blending biofuels, purchasing credits from utilities and others that sell electricity for EVs, reducing emissions associated with refining, and other ways

California, Oregon and British Columbia already have successful clean fuels programs, making Washington the last West Coast jurisdiction without one.

Those presenting testimony will include:   

  • Vlad Gutman-Britten – Climate Solutions, Washington Director
  • Cliff Traisman – Lobbyist for Washington Environmental Council, Washington Conservation Voters, Environmental Priorities Coalition
  • Gail Gatton – Executive Director, Washington Audubon Society
  • Phil Jones – Board Member, CarbonWA
  • Jessica Zimmerle – Earth Ministry, Program and Outreach Director
  • Rick Hegdahl – Vet Voice Foundation, Program Director
  • Health Professional with Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility

 

Author Bio

Jonathan Lawson

Senior Editor, Climate Solutions

As Senior Editor, Jonathan provides editorial management and guidance for Climate Solutions’ communications channels, including the organization’s website, social media, and email. He creates, assigns and curates materials for publication, and assesses the effectiveness of the organization’s communications strategies through measurement and analysis, and provides communications support for Climate Solutions programs and initiatives.

Before joining Climate Solutions in 2014, Jonathan served as Executive Director of the communications rights organization Reclaim the Media, where he played a catalytic role in fueling the growth of a national movement focused on media justice and democratizing media and communications policy. He also spent more than eight years providing communications strategy, digital communications and design to statewide labor organizations including SEIU and WFSE/AFSCME, writing op-eds by day and designing giant puppets by night.

A past board member of the Washington News Council and of Seattle Improvised Music, he is also a veteran of the Independent Media Center movement, and has worked in community radio since 1986; for 19 years he produced the weekly creative music program Flotation Device on KBCS. His articles on media and communications issues have appeared in numerous northwest and national publications. Jonathan holds a masters degree in Theological Studies from Harvard University.

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