Inslee tells the Washington story at Climate Week NYC
World leaders gathered in New York City this week for the United Nations General Assembly. Concurrently, environmental ministers and advocates came together for Climate Week NYC. And on Wednesday, those sessions intersected as the General Assembly this year prioritized climate change. Washington state was one of only ten subnational entities invited.
That privilege was earned by the state’s demonstrated leadership in climate action. Gov. Jay Inslee represented Washington state at the summit, and he was afforded the unusual honor of addressing the assembly. It was his second address to the international body in New York City since 2017.
“The road to destruction is paved with long-term aspirations,” said Inslee. “Today is one hundred times more important than tomorrow on what we actually need to do to solve this problem.”
Many world leaders continue to hem and haw about transitioning away from fossil fuels. Big Oil companies are actively running massive disinformation and greenwashing campaigns. Some pundits and lobbyists outright deny the science of climate change, while others claim to accept it but suggest delayed action.
Meanwhile, Washington state has enacted a cap and invest program to assign a cost to pollution. The state has adopted a clean fuel standard and is advancing building performance standards to reduce emissions from transportation and buildings, the two leading sources of greenhouse gas emissions. Washington’s electrical grid will be fully renewable by 2045, and the state’s clean economy revolution is already well underway.
Washington state has emerged as a global model for climate action. Climate Week NYC was a stage for the governor to tell the Washington story, and to recruit friends in the fight against climate change.
“Despair isn’t just a tire in the trunk”
Al Gore is one of America’s most recognizable climate activists. He was famously selected to be Bill Clinton’s running mate for his opposition to the George H.W. Bush Administration’s denialist position on global warming in 1992. Even before that and ever since, Gore has been a staunch advocate for the health of the planet, and is sounding the alarm about Big Oil’s efforts to undermine climate action.
Gore’s ferocity was on display Tuesday as he chaired a meeting of the Beyond Oil and Gas Alliance, an international alliance that Washington joined last year.
“Denial isn’t just a river in Eygpt. And despair isn’t just a tire in the trunk,” roared Gore. “They’re tactics by industry meant to confuse and delay action.”
Gore’s point was that there is an image battle being lost. It is convenient to deny the science of climate change, and it is easy to despair over a suffocating planet. Climate advocates must work harder to illustrate the promise of a clean energy future. A future without fossil fuels really isn’t missing anything at all.
“After all, the Stone Age didn’t end because they ran out of stone,” said Dan Jorgensen, minister for global climate policy of Denmark. “They found other alternatives that were better and cheaper to build from. Things evolved.”
The Beyond Oil and Gas Alliance is an international alliance of governments and stakeholders committed to a future without fossil fuels. Of the group gathered Tuesday, three subnational entities had the most to say to paint that picture of possibility: California, Quebec, and Washington state.
California has established environmental justice initiatives, air quality standards, and most recently, emissions disclosure requirements. Quebec and California co-operate a cap-and-trade market. Washington state has passed a bevy of bills to reduce emissions, and is exploring linking its new, independent cap-and-invest system with that shared by California and Quebec. The three “supernationals,” as coined by Inslee, have moved further and faster than national governments to fight climate change.
After the alliance meeting, Inslee and Quebec Premier Francois Legault met privately to discuss prospective linkage of their respective carbon markets. Washington state’s recent Climate Commitment Act is in its first year of effect, and the first few auctions of carbon allowances have netted nearly $2 billion for reinvestment in climate-related projects and programs. Linking the state’s new system to the larger market shared by California and Quebec would create a more stable carbon market while maintaining stringent emissions reduction targets.
Millions more heat pumps on the way — “A miraculous solution”
This year’s June, July, and August have each been the hottest on record. And while summers cook, winters bite. Climate change has caused extreme seasonal weather in both directions, necessitating that Americans be able to both heat and cool themselves. Fortunately, there’s an answer.
“Heat pumps are almost a miraculous solution,” said Inslee Thursday to the Associated Press. “They offer heating in the winter, cooling in the summer, and a reduction of carbon pollution all year.”
On Thursday, the U.S. Climate Alliance (USCA) announced a new commitment to quadruple heat pump installation by 2030. More than 20 million heat pumps will be installed across the 25 member states of the alliance. Governors Kathy Hochul of New York and Janet Mills of Maine joined Inslee for the announcement.
Maine began a subsidy program for heat pumps, fronting the full cost and installation of heat pumps for eligible Mainers. The program was a hit, and the state quickly elapsed its initial target to install 100,000 heat pumps statewide. Washington and other USCA member groups will offer similarly aggressive subsidies to motivate more installations and address environmental justice. In Washington, this effort is boosted significantly by funding from the Climate Commitment Act.
“Transitioning to heat pumps in Maine is creating good-paying jobs, curbing our carbon emissions, cutting costs for families, and making people more comfortable in their homes,” said Mills.
“When you’re in a hole, stop digging”
Recent Libyan floods swept away more than 11,000 souls. Greek wildfires torched 370,000 acres. Sweltering heat in India wrought a wave of death. Here in Washington state, more than 300 families lost their homes to fires in Spokane County.
Natural disasters are made more frequent and more severe by the continued burning of fossil fuels. Unrestrained emissions are poisoning the planet, compounding disasters, and shattering the opportunities of the next generation.
“I think Einstein had a third theory,” said Inslee throughout the week. “When you’re in a hole, stop digging.”
The governor’s work at Climate Week NYC illustrated a vision of successful climate action. Lawmakers can restrain emissions if they legislate with courage. States can attract clean industry if they light a beacon of progress. And states can flex their might, moving faster and further than national governments to save the planet.
But continued progress won’t come without a fight. Fossil fuel interests have been spending millions to undermine efforts at all levels of government by launching lawsuits and standing up astroturf groups and disinformation campaigns. Washington has emerged as the newest epicenter of the fight where Big Oil is funding organizations aiming to repeal the Climate Commitment Act.
“The reasons we’re doing this are the six cutest grandchildren in North America: my grandchildren. This is the reason, fundamentally, why we’re here,” said Inslee to the U.N. “I want to thank everybody here who is helping my grandchildren — I’m doing what I can to help yours.”
