July 29th, 2008 · 1 Comment

In Washington. Governor Democrat Chris Gregoire signed an executive order last year to reduce her state’s emissions and build a clean energy economy, noting at the time that “…the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change concluded our planet’s atmosphere has more greenhouse gases in it now than any time during the last 650,000 years. It is equally clear that humans are causing our climate to change by burning massive amounts of fossil fuels like coal, oil and natural gas.”

To combat this, she set goals that include reducing the state’s emissions to 1990 levels by 2020, and lowering emissions by another 25 percent by 2035. And finally, emissions would be reduced to 50 percent below 1990 levels by 2050.

In addition, Washington has adopted the 2005 Clean Car Act which requires cars abide by tougher emission standards starting with 2009 models.

The state has retrofitted 50 percent of school buses and 20 percent of local government diesel-engine vehicles to reduce toxic diesel emissions; required that fuel suppliers ensure that 2 percent of the fuel they sell is biodiesel or ethanol; adopted high-performance green building standards; implemented the energy-efficient standards for appliances; passed a clean energy initiative to increase the renewable resources in the state’s electricity system; purchased hybrid and low-emission vehicles for state agency use; and adopted the Columbia River Water Management Act to help meet water storage needs for agriculture, communities and salmon.

Oregon Governor Democrat Ted Kulongoski, like Gov. Corzine of New Jersey, is concerned about lifting the offshore drilling ban on his coast. Earlier last week, he said, “More drilling for a diminishing resource is not the answer for giving our country energy security or freeing us from our addiction to fossil fuels. Repealing the offshore oil drilling moratorium is a short-sighted response to a long-term issue of creating a sustainable and secure domestic energy economy.”

The solution to the energy crisis, the governor says, is not more drilling but smarter investments in “alternative and renewable energy, tougher fuel-efficiency standards and a conservation strategy that includes protecting and preserving Oregon’s coast.”

The governor’s office also is sponsoring a commuter challenge this summer for the state’s 8,500 employees, stressing bicycling, public transportation and car-pooling options for getting to work. The goal is to reduce carbon emissions by 500,000 pounds.

Green issues topped the agenda at the July meeting of the National Governors Association (NGA) in Philadelphia, resulting in private-public partnerships such as one between the NGA and General Motors that will help states gain access to more high ethanol content fuels.

Increasingly, governors from both parties understand the gravity of global warming and are behind initiatives to get their states involved.

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