Unfinished Business

Despite the progress of the past couple of years, many environmental problems remain unresolved. Even though the Legislature has passed some important bills, many others have died, allowing important environmental problems to continue.

Here are few of the lowlights from recent years.

Banning toxic flame retardants—The bill to phase out the most toxic flame retardants (PBDEs) did not pass. A stripped down version passed the House, but it never came up for a vote in the Senate. Prospects for next year look good, though.

Smart energy—Already adopted by 19 other states, this legislation would have required a minimum percentage of our electricity to come from clean, renewable sources like solar and wind. But after trying and failing for several years, we’re bypassing the Legislature, we’re working to pass the same policy through a citizen’s initiative (I-937).

Clean water/Salmon—Despite numerous opportunities, the Legislature has failed to move any legislation that would help ensure our rivers and streams have sufficient water in them, particularly during important times for salmon. Instead, the Legislature has passed several bills that will most likely result in additional water withdrawals, further jeopardizing imperiled salmon.

Reducing greenhouse gases—Cars, trucks and sport utility vehicles add more greenhouse gases than any other source in the Puget Sound region. The Clean Cars bill from 2005 is a major step forward, but in order to further curb dangerous greenhouse gas emissions, we must continue our investment in mass transit. This past session though, the Legislature dimmed those prospects by passing a bill that ties the fate of our best shot at reducing greenhouse gases, Sound Transit Phase Two, to the highway-oriented Regional Transportation Investment District proposal. If voters want to continue building light rail and expanding transit in central Puget Sound, they’ll also have to vote for what is likely to be a $7 billion highway package.