Our climate justice wins from last year

Last year, we collectively took 37,927 individual advocacy actions on policy during the legislative session. We build on the previous successes of this campaign, with over 4,000 unique legislative contacts made in 2019 and nearly 6,000 contacts made in 2020, 18,000 contacts made in 2021, and 21,764 contacts in 2022.

The year in numbers:

• Our volunteer team tracked a total of 138 bills.

• 13 of the 18 bills we opposed DID NOT PASS!

• 30 bills that we supported PASSED and were signed by the governor!

Growth Management Act:

• HB 1181 passed! This bill requires the inclusion of climate planning in the Growth Management Act, which will result in reduced emissions from vehicles, promoting housing near transit, planning for climate hazards and community resiliency, AND inclusion of a definition of environmental justice which will center equity considerations into planning processes moving forward.

Housing:

• HB 1110 passed! Increasing middle housing in areas traditionally dedicated to single family homes is an important piece to increasing density (great for transit) and decreased sprawl (which will reduce GHG emissions). This bill is an important piece of addressing Washington’s housing crisis while also supporting climate goals.

Recycling & Waste Reduction:

• SB 5144 passed! Requiring refill stations with water fountains.

• HB 1085 passed! Phasing out plastic mini-toiletries and banning foam-filled dock floats.

• HB 1033 passed! Researching standards for managing compostable products.

Building Electrification:

• HB 1390 passed! Required owners of state campus district energy systems to develop a decarbonization plan by June 2024 and update every 5 years.

• HB 1416 passed! Bringing non-residential customers of public utilities under the Clean Energy Transformation Act.

Forestry:

• SB 5200 passed! Securing $83M in the Capital Budget for preserving older state forests.

• HB 1460 passed! Re-establishing the Trust Land Transfer program.

Salmon:

• SB 5371 passed! Increasing vessel distance from orcas.

• SB 5104 passed! Surveying shoreline habitation in Puget Sound.

• HB 1125 passed! Securing funding to study energy and transportation transitions ahead of removing the Lower Snake River dams.

Climate Commitment Act Spending:

• Funding from the first year auction of pollution allowances was directed to incentivize electrification of buildings, school buses, medium and heavy-duty trucks, state transit systems including ferries, and providing onshore power at ports. Also charging infrastructure and incentives for electric cars and e-bikes while prioritizing low income residents and overburdened communities.

Budgets:

• We advocated for a number of specific budget items this year, and everything we advocated for this year except one (regional rail improvements) was funded!