SEATTLE – Sen. Reuven Carlyle (D-Seattle) and Rep. Gael Tarleton (D-Ballard) today welcomed Gov. Jay Inslee’s signature on a sweeping package of legislation that takes meaningful action on climate change and will reduce Washington’s carbon footprint.
The bills commit Washington to 100-percent clean energy from renewable and zero-emission sources like wind, hydro and solar polar (Senate Bill 5116), a centerpiece of Inslee’s climate action agenda. They also aggressively electrify our transportation infrastructure (House Bill 2042), create incentives to build ultra-new efficient buildings (HB 1257), adopt new minimum appliance efficiency standards (HB 1444) and ban products containing super-pollutants, like hydrofluorocarbons (HB 1112).
“As a husband, father and citizen legislator, it is a personal and professional honor to have played a role in helping to pass the most substantive environmental agenda in a generation,” said Carlyle, who chairs the Senate Environment, Energy & Technology Committee and who sponsored SB 5116. “Our work this year goes beyond traditional political clichés and embraces a bold climate action agenda that will make a meaningful difference in our grandchildren’s grandchildren’s quality of life.
“This year we hit stand-up double after stand-up double, and moved our team around the bases by working together. Our dream of reaching Paris Accord-level carbon reductions in the years to come is no longer a fantasy, but a serious aspiration that is within our reach.”
Tarleton, who chairs the House Finance Committee and who sponsored House companion legislation to the clean energy bill, commented: “Today we are celebrating a strong ground game that brought together communities from all over this state, from utility partners, industry partners, environmental champions, labor leaders, communities of color, many of you here today. When we move beyond coal and embrace clean energy sources, we get a win not only for Washington State, not only for the western states, but for the whole country and the world.”
Carlyle and Tarleton joined Inslee and others today at a bill-signing ceremony at the Rainier Vista Neighborhood House in Seattle.