Home » Government » Behold Washington’s ‘new beginning’ in its fight against climate change
As the dust settles in Olympia, the state finally has embraced cap and trade, electric cars and environmental justice.
Lawmakers in Olympia have bound Washington state’s fortunes literally to the fight against climate change with a legislative blitz, enacting a “historic” suite of climate protections.
Before adjourning April 25, Democrats passed a pair of sweeping restrictions on greenhouse gas pollution intended to aggressively cut Washington’s carbon footprint while driving billions of dollars into state coffers and toward clean energy.
The Climate Commitment Act will require industrial polluters to buy pollution credits from the state in a cap-and-trade market system similar to one operating in California. The bill stipulates that tens of millions of dollars collected each year should be used to underwrite cleanup in the most-polluted areas of the state, clearing t
April 26 2021
Akashdeep Singh is policy and advocacy manager for OPAL Environmental Justice Oregon in Portland, an advocacy and civil leadership organization.
It is undeniable that we are facing numerous environmental crises. They are becoming frequent, severe and unpredictable.
We need to reimagine our environmental systems in order to ensure that Oregonians have a future in which they cannot just live but also thrive.
To achieve a more just future for the environment, we have to address the gaps of engagement between marginalized communities and our decision-making processes. People of color, indigenous nations, low-income, rural and coastal communities in Oregon do not have equitable access to these processes.
Ensuring Massachusetts vulnerable communities have equal access to a clean environment msn.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from msn.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Kathleen Theoharides
This Earth Day it is not enough to celebrate past environmental success and ramp up strategies to combat climate change. We must also recognize that certain Massachusetts communities – low-income populations, communities of color, and communities with limited English proficiency – have been disproportionately burdened by environmental harms like pollution, while having limited or incomplete input into environmental decision-making.
This past year, long overdue public conversations on racial injustice have placed a spotlight on these inequalities in environmental impacts. Meanwhile, as we’ve grappled with a global public health challenge, studies have shown that air pollution makes people more vulnerable to diseases like COVID-19, highlighting the human cost of these disparities.