Two years ago today in Paris, we made a historic commitment as a country and as nations around the world, uniting to address the climate crisis. Since that day, the need to limit global temperature rise by transitioning away from fossil fuels has only grown more urgent as climate change bears down on us in Washington state and around the world.
That's why we need to renew our call for action now.
With the fossil fuel industry and their allies wielding powerful influence over our Congress, we need to accelerate the change and solutions here in the Northwest. We need to significantly reduce global warming pollution here at home – to take care of this collective place we hold dear, and also to show the world that a just transition from fossil fuels is possible. The Pacific Northwest and Washington can lead and have a major impact here and beyond our borders.
But that fossil fuel industry influence also runs deep in our state capitol. Our elected leaders head back to Olympia soon after the holiday, and they need to hear from us that people in our state want real climate action.
Make your voice heard today!
The Pacific Northwest is well positioned and prepared to quickly make a just transition to 100% clean energy. We can succeed by doing three things: (1) swiftly transition to clean, efficient energy powering our lives - we’re already more than two-thirds of the way there; (2) electrify as many energy uses for the built environment, industrial processes, and transportation as possible; and (3) decrease demand for energy and decarbonize our existing energy sources.
This legislative session, we have the opportunity to advance real solutions. Your help is needed to make it happen.
We need to make a commitment to a rapid transition to 100% clean energy. In January, your legislators will return to Olympia for a new legislative session. But right now they're starting to sort out their priorities, in part based on what they're hearing from their constituents. They need to hear the call to support a 100% Clean Energy Standard.
A 100% Clean Energy Standard policy would require all new resources acquired by a utility, including power purchase agreements, to be clean—setting us on a path to zero-carbon electricity over the course of the next generation.
The electricity sector is the second largest source of carbon pollution in the state. Initial research conducted by Climate Solutions, Audubon Society, and other partners shows this policy would cut approximately 70 percent of carbon emissions from the electricity by 2035, and full put Washington’s on a 100% clean electricity path by the 2040s.
Not only would the policy cut carbon pollution, but it would also help create thousands of new jobs in the state.
Washington utilities expect to comply with significant investments in storage technologies, a major international growth area that would contribute to significant investments that create thousands of jobs right here in Washington.
We are proud of Washington's history of innovation and our ethic of responsibility. We can take care of our home and be a national and global leader in this transition. We have an urgent window of opportunity to halt the climate crisis. The time to act is now.
