Panel praises Washington’s climate innovation

Last night, a panel of political leaders joined together to discuss a growing dilemma: the impact of global climate change locally and worldwide.

Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels, Kitsap County Senator Phil Rockefeller and King County Executive Ron Sims shared their opinions and elaborated on disturbing data. The event was moderated by Steve Sher,

“I am proud of the Northwest because we have had many leaders step up to respond to these climate changes,” UW President Mark Emmert said when he introduced the panel.

The panel was asked several questions and took turns responding.

Sher directed the first question of the night toward the upcoming change in national administration and asked what the panel would like to see from the federal government that would help the global climate cause.

“A change in the administration would help,” Rockefeller said.

Rockefeller envisioned two possible outcomes: a future in which the climate changes will overwhelm society, or a future involving the nation facing the inevitable situation of moving to different adaptation strategies. Rockefeller expressed strong optimism in Washington state’s innovativeness, but said he would still like to see the federal government adopt a market-based mechanism to use nationally and internationally to encourage emission reductions.

Sims elaborated on international issues.

“Africa is one of the lowest emitting regions, yet they are being most hit from these climate changes,” Sims said about the continent’s low carbon dioxide emission rates. He hopes that the next administration will seriously consider and participate in the treaties established to reduce emissions.

Nickels recently advocated for the United States Mayor’s Climate Protection Agreement, signed by Congress and President Bush. This agreement provides $10 billion to local areas for the next five years if environmental protection is up to scale.

“One of the things we need to do is create a 21st-century economy with new energy resources that build hope for people across the nation,” Nickels said.

Seattle has undergone a three-step process that has allowed for the city to reduce emissions by 60 percent since 1990, showing bigger businesses in the area that reduction is possible.

Sims said that the upcoming expansion of transit will help reduce vehicle traffic by 15 to 20 percent. The Washington state government will be the first government in the country to implement innovations including creating carbon threshold standards that will decrease emissions in the future.

“Washington has also adopted the green building standards,” Rockefeller said. “We hope the private sectors will embrace that as well.”

[Reach reporter Lia Pittman at news@thedaily.washington.edu.]