WashPIRG challenges Olympia for climate change

With climate change a hot political topic, one group of students is advocating legislative change in Olympia regarding environmental policy.

Tomorrow, students from WashPIRG chapters at the UW, as well as Evergreen State College, Whitman, Western Washington and Green River Community College will be taking their Campus Climate Challenge to Olympia for a day of environmental awareness and advocacy.

WashPIRG members will be meeting with several state representatives and senators to discuss four environmentally progressive bills, which they hope will be passed by the end of the current legislative session on March 12.

“We feel that we can’t wait for the next legislative session to be in place to pass these really important bills to help climate change,” said Lexi Fish, WashPIRG campus organizer. “The issue of climate change is so important it needs to be prioritized. We want to make sure these bills are passed this session and are fully funded.”

WashPIRG, a nonprofit and nonpartisan public research group that focuses on legislative issues in Washington state, is trying to gather 1,000 signatures from students to take with them to Olympia to show that they have widespread support from like-minded peers. More than 600 signatures have been collected.

Fish said the bills are important, and hopes those representatives and senators supporting them will “champion them and be a strong voice supporting them.”

The four bills each focus on a different facet involving climate change.

The Climate Action and Green Jobs bill would make the Washington State Department of Ecology responsible for implementing greenhouse gas reduction goals and funding a grant-based green job-training program.

The Local Solutions to Global Warming bill would create grants for cities and towns to reduce their environmental footprint through land use and transportation planning. The Promoting Energy Efficiency in Public Buildings bill would allow public buildings to be retrofitted in order to reduce green house emissions, and the Affordable Efficient Appliance bill would create tax incentives, such as zero sales tax, for energy-efficient appliances.

“If these bills get passed there will be immediate action,” said Sara Nolte, media intern for WashPIRG. “If we change things state-wide, other states will follow. These are things that can be done here and now and also be an investment in the future.”

[Reach reporter Garrett Troy at news@thedaily.washington.edu.]