Climate change: Time’s wasting; legislators must act

With a short legislative session near its end, it is critical that Washington lawmakers move swiftly on climate legislation this year. Namely, greenhouse limits (HB 2311).

Our Legislature is operating on outdated science. It has been over a decade since the state set its greenhouse gas targets. Since then, scientists have redefined the sort of climate action needed to avoid runaway warming of our planet.

HB 2311 has passed the House. It is time for the Senate to bring it to a vote on the floor, and put our state in line with the latest science.

Additionally, our lawmakers should be addressing climate change for what it is, an emergency. First step to solving a problem: Admit there is one.

House 2829 gives Washington state the ability to declare a climate emergency, setting the record straight that we are prepared to take on the climate crisis. While this bill appears dead in 2020, legislators must fight hard for it in the future.

This story was originally published February 29, 2020 at 12:56 PM with the headline "Climate change: Time’s wasting; legislators must act."