Daily Score Blog

What do Washington Congressional Rep. Jay Inslee, the AFL-CIO, a car-sharing company, and a radio DJ have in common? What about swimmers doing a polar bear dip in the Willamette River, a Unitarian Church, and Portland Commissioner Eric Sten ? They and thousands of others are, for the first time in history, united on climate change.

Founded by writer Bill McKibben, Step It Up is the largest and most diverse citizen day of action on climate change the U.S. has ever seen. With 1300 gatherings in cities and small towns across the U.S., could Step It Up be the climate movement’s turning point, its “Selma” or “bus boycott” as one activist suggested in yesterday’s Oregonian? Step It Up organizers hope so, as the events catch a wide net of supporters—companies, churches, national labor associations, peace groups, local governments, conservation organizations, and thousands of citizens collectively urging Congress to take action on climate.

In Seattle, nearly 50 partner groups—including the AFL-CIO and United Steelworkers; coalitions of peace activists and churches; Sightline Institute; the League of Women Voters; and the Sierra Club and other environmental organizations—are bringing Rep. Jay Inslee together onstage with Presbyterian minister Lisa Domke, student activist Emily Duncanson, Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels, and King County Executive Ron Sims. Organizers are expecting thousands from the Puget Sound area to turn out for one-mile march ending in a rally and sustainability fair.

Ooh, boy!  It looks like Washington is one step closer to having a sane climate policy.  The state House of Representatives just passed a climate policy that looks like it's got some teeth:

The measure, which passed 84-14 after a brief debate, commits Washington to shrink emissions to 1990's levels by 2020.

By 2035, the measure is supposed to lower emissions to 25 percent below 1990's levels, and to 50 percent by 2050.The Senate already has approved a similar bill but is expected to adopt the House version and send it to Gov. Christine Gregoire to be signed.

The climate targets are essentially identical to the ones Gov. Gregoire issued as an executive order in February -- so there's not much doubt that she'll sign the bill.

But wait, there's more!

The measure...would forbid most new power plants, or new long-term power contracts, if too much greenhouse gases are produced to make the power.

That's pretty big news, since (as we argued here) the success of a similar ban in California depends on other western states following in their footsteps.

I admit it -- we were a little harsh towards Washington earlier in the year.  It seemed like all of our neighbors--especially California and British Columbia--were leaving us in the dust on climate policy.  So while the new policy isn't nearly as forward thinking as BC's, this bill -- provided it actually gets signed -- will probably get the state admitted into the cool kids' club.

I haven't been blogging much about Measure 37 recently, but I just can't pass up mentioning this latest brouhaha from Washington County (a suburban and ag county just to the west of Portland proper).

In an "exclusive farm-use zone" a property owner has been operating a landfill since 1952. Most of his neighbors hate it and have been trying to shut it down. But now the property owner has a bright idea: instead of closing the landfill, he wants to expand it to an adjoining lot he owns. Either that, or take home $5 million in taxpayer compensation if the county won't let him.

Here are a few choice bits from the article in the community paper:

Neighbors hope to pack Tuesday morning’s hearing before the Washington County Board of Commissioners in Hillsboro.

County commissioners, however, might not be sympathetic. A board flyer sent with each Measure 37 claim notice outlines what the county will consider in the claim hearing. That boils down to whether the property meets the criteria for a Measure 37 claim. Commissioners won’t address impacts on surrounding properties or roads.

Yeah, sorry neighbors. Measure 37 just isn't in to that whole "democratic process" thing. The rules are clear: waive the law, or pay.

But here's the kicker: the property owner doesn't actually want to operate the landfill anymore. According to his attorneys, he wants the waivers so that he can transfer the landfill operation to a new owner. Presumably, he'll be moving to somewhere less odious.