The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current, March 29, 2019, WEEKEND EDITION, Page A2, Image 2

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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, MARCH 29, 2019
Washington state Democrats chart low-carbon future
Several bills
pending in
Olympia
By DON JENKINS
Capital Press
OLYMPIA, Wash. —
Washington state Demo-
crats are fulfi lling some of
the hefty aspirations of the
Green New Deal with their
own climate change pack-
age, one that would raise the
cost of producing, process-
ing and transporting farm
goods while promising the
“equitable distribution of
benefi ts.”
To do that, the Demo-
crat-dominated
Legisla-
ture is considering bills to
tax carbon, cap greenhouse
gases, make all electricity
renewable, mandate more
biofuels in gasoline and die-
sel, and govern by “environ-
mental justice.”
The Green New Deal,
a resolution introduced
in Congress by U.S. Rep.
Alexandria
Ocasio-Cor-
tez, D-N.Y., and U.S. Sen.
Edward Markey, D-Mass.,
outlines a 10-year national
mobilization to make the
U.S. entirely powered
by zero-emission energy
sources.
Like the Washington,
D.C., version, the Wash-
ington state agenda has
the twin goals of banish-
Don Jenkins/Capital Press
Environmentalists rally on the Capitol steps in Olympia, Wash.
ing fossil fuels and fund-
ing a bigger government
to provide relief to as-yet
undefi ned “highly impacted
communities.”
Democrats and climate
change activists say action
is overdue on both fronts
because global tempera-
tures and sea levels are ris-
ing and the poor are least
able to adapt. Carbon diox-
ide levels are higher now
than at any point in at least
800,000 years, accord-
ing to the National Oce-
anic and Atmospheric
Administration.
By itself, Washington
state’s effect on the climate
would be at most infi ni-
tesimal, Washington State
Climatologist Nick Bond
said.
“Simply from a total car-
bon emissions point of view,
Washington is tiny com-
pared to the world at large,”
he said.
Based on state, national
and international estimates,
Washington contributes less
than 0.25% of the world’s
greenhouse gases.
Still, Bond said he sees
a practical side to the state
leading on climate change:
It could teach other states
something about imple-
menting policies.
FIVE-DAY FORECAST FOR ASTORIA
TONIGHT
SATURDAY
Pleasant with times of
clouds and sun
Some sunshine giving
way to clouds
ALMANAC
Mostly cloudy with rain
possible
First
Salem
40/66
Newport
39/57
Apr 12
Coos Bay
40/60
Last
Apr 19
Source: Jim Todd, OMSI
TOMORROW'S TIDES
Astoria / Port Docks
Time
3:55 a.m.
4:55 p.m.
Low
3.6 ft.
1.0 ft.
Ontario
37/64
Burns
28/54
Klamath Falls
25/56
Lakeview
26/51
Ashland
36/64
REGIONAL CITIES
City
Baker City
Bend
Brookings
Eugene
Ilwaco
Klamath Falls
Medford
Newberg
Newport
North Bend
Hi
53
51
54
59
56
49
58
60
54
56
Today
Lo
30
31
41
39
42
25
38
40
39
40
W
c
pc
sh
pc
pc
pc
sh
pc
sh
sh
Hi
57
55
59
65
57
56
66
65
57
59
Sat.
Lo
28
32
45
42
43
28
42
42
44
44
W
pc
pc
pc
pc
pc
pc
pc
pc
pc
pc
City
Olympia
Pendleton
Portland
Roseburg
Salem
Seaside
Spokane
Springfi eld
Vancouver
Yakima
Hi
64
55
62
60
61
57
55
59
62
60
Today
Lo
33
38
43
42
40
40
34
39
42
33
W
c
c
pc
pc
pc
pc
c
sh
pc
c
Hi
65
59
68
68
66
58
58
65
65
63
Sat.
Lo
34
37
45
45
44
43
36
42
43
36
W
pc
pc
pc
pc
pc
pc
pc
pc
pc
pc
TOMORROW'S NATIONAL WEATHER
NATIONAL CITIES
Hi
76
55
51
48
48
50
83
44
81
61
50
72
73
73
78
73
76
63
66
69
63
51
62
64
74
Baker
30/57
Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2019
Tonight's Sky: Hydra, the Sea Serpent, low above
the southern horizon before midnight.
Today
Lo
56
44
35
25
33
36
52
18
65
53
37
52
53
59
68
57
64
52
39
52
48
37
48
44
57
La Grande
33/56
Roseburg
42/68
Brookings
41/61
Apr 26
John Day
35/56
Bend
31/55
Medford
38/66
UNDER THE SKY
High
7.2 ft.
7.1 ft.
Prineville
32/58
Lebanon
40/64
Eugene
39/65
Full
Pendleton
38/59
The Dalles
38/65
Portland
43/68
Sunset tonight ........................... 7:40 p.m.
Sunrise Saturday ........................ 7:00 a.m.
Moonrise today ........................... 4:05 a.m.
Moonset today ........................... 1:11 p.m.
City
Atlanta
Boston
Chicago
Denver
Des Moines
Detroit
El Paso
Fairbanks
Honolulu
Indianapolis
Kansas City
Las Vegas
Los Angeles
Memphis
Miami
Nashville
New Orleans
New York
Oklahoma City
Philadelphia
St. Louis
Salt Lake City
San Francisco
Seattle
Washington, DC
Mostly cloudy with
showers
Tillamook
39/60
SUN AND MOON
Time
9:42 a.m.
11:26 p.m.
58
43
Shown is tomorrow's weather. Temperatures are tonight's lows and tomorrow's highs.
ASTORIA
37/60
Precipitation
Thursday .......................................... 0.10"
Month to date ................................... 2.46"
Normal month to date ....................... 6.80"
Year to date .................................... 15.05"
Normal year to date ........................ 24.19"
Apr 5
TUESDAY
58
44
REGIONAL WEATHER
Astoria through Thursday.
Temperatures
High/low ....................................... 57°/39°
Normal high/low ........................... 55°/40°
Record high ............................ 75° in 1941
Record low ............................. 28° in 1987
New
MONDAY
60
43
37
Partly cloudy
SUNDAY
60
40
W
pc
c
r
r
r
c
s
pc
pc
sh
r
s
s
c
pc
c
pc
c
t
c
sh
c
s
c
c
Hi
77
65
43
40
45
44
72
46
81
54
46
73
79
68
82
74
80
67
49
75
48
52
64
65
79
Sat.
Lo
50
52
24
25
24
24
43
21
66
27
26
53
58
39
69
35
54
54
30
55
31
35
49
46
55
Shown are noon positions of weather systems and precipitation. Temperature bands are highs for the day.
W
pc
c
c
c
pc
r
s
pc
pc
r
sh
s
s
t
pc
t
pc
pc
pc
pc
r
pc
pc
pc
pc
“It’s not simply sym-
bolic,” Bond said. “You
have to learn how to do it.”
‘Inside Olympia’
Gov. Jay Inslee has made
climate change his signature
issue. In his seventh year in
offi ce, he fi nally has a Leg-
islature to match.
Democrats
expanded
their state House and Sen-
ate majorities in the Novem-
ber elections. The party can
pass major climate change
legislation without any
Republican votes or even
unanimous support from
Democratic legislators.
Inslee rolled out his cli-
mate change agenda in
December and said it was
motivated by “love.” At
the same press conference,
Reuven Carlyle, the chair-
man of the Senate Envi-
ronment, Energy and Tech-
nology Committee, said he
would take the agenda and
transform it into legislation.
“The reason we’re going
to be successful is the inside
Olympia work,” he said.
“The hard work of commit-
tees and amendments and
legislation.”
With less than a month
left in the 2019 session,
the major climate change
bills are still works in prog-
ress. The outlines are clear,
though, and the lines are
drawn. Democrats have
rejected
proposals
by
Republicans to submit some
of the major bills to state-
wide votes.
Farm groups and Repub-
licans, especially from agri-
cultural districts, are among
the severest critics, even
though Democrats say agri-
culture should welcome leg-
islation in response to the
droughts and wildfi res that
have affl icted the state.
In a fl oor speech, Sen-
ate Minority Leader Mark
Schoesler, R-Ritzville, said
mandating
carbon-free
power will hurt farmers.
“We act like this is a
boon to agriculture. Well,
I hope you don’t need any
signifi cant amounts of elec-
tricity to run your irrigation
pumps, heat your buildings,
process your crops because
it’s going to get a lot more
expensive,” he said.
Democrats
discount
claims that rates will soar
and point out that the bill
requires utilities to help
low-income customers pay
energy bills.
The bill also has a
cost-containment provision.
If a utility’s rates rise by an
average of 2% a year over
eight years, the act could be
suspended, according to the
bill’s current version.
Democrats
rejected
Republican amendments in
the Senate to require annual
rate studies on the law’s
effect and to suspend the
act if Washington’s aver-
age rates were no longer
among the fi ve lowest in the
country.
Paris goals
Although the Trump
administration has with-
drawn the U.S. from the
Paris climate agreement,
Democrats are pushing for
Washington state to meet
the accord’s goals. That
would mean reducing the
state’s total greenhouse gas
emissions — mainly car-
bon dioxide — by 81.5% by
2050.
If all the greenhouse
gases emitted in Washing-
ton by cars, trucks, ships,
boats, jetliners, cement
plants, aluminum smelters,
semiconductor manufactur-
ers, coal- and natural gas-
fi red power plants and cows
went away today, the state
would still be emitting too
much carbon to meet the
Paris goal.
“It’s more a feel-good
issue for Washington than
a substantive issue,” said
Tom Davis, the director of
government affairs for the
Washington Farm Bureau .
Manure, fertilizer use
and livestock digestive pro-
cesses account for about 7%
of Washington’s greenhouse
gases, according to the state
Department of Ecology.
Carbon emissions from farm
equipment are lumped in
with greenhouse gases from
other industrial and com-
mercial activities.
No major climate change
bill singles out agriculture,
but the f arm b ureau says
the mandates will raise elec-
tric rates and transportation
costs.
“If you increase the cost
of our inputs to our farmers,
our farms cannot remain
economically viable, and
so for us, that’s the bot-
tom line,” Davis said. “For
a farmer, a pickup truck is
their No. 1 viable option.
They can’t exist taking a
city bus. They can’t exist
driving a Prius across their
farm.”
‘Our moment’
While Carlyle and other
Democrats work in Olym-
pia, Inslee has launched a
run for the White House.
“Folks are mobilizing
across the country for a
green new deal. This is our
moment,” Inslee said, kick-
ing off his campaign with a
rally at a Seattle company
that manufactures solar
panels.
Inslee highlighted the
dual agenda — climate
change and social justice.
“We know climate change is
as much a matter of equity
as it is a matter of ecology,”
he said.
During Inslee’s tenure,
Washington state’s release
of greenhouse gases has
increased. Total carbon
emissions rose by 6.1%
percent between 2012 and
2015, according to a Depart-
ment of Ecology inventory
fi nished in December. A
calculation of 2016 emis-
sions is due in December
2020.
The increase between
2012 and 2015 coincided
with relatively strong eco-
nomic growth, but went
against goals the Legislature
set in 2008 to slash green-
house gases.
The Great Recession,
which began in 2008, had
helped diminish carbon out-
put, as greenhouse gases
slumped from a peak of
108.6 million metric tons
in 2000 to 91.8 million in
2012.
As the economy recov-
ered, however, greenhouse
gas emissions rose to 97.4
million metric tons in 2015,
according to Ecology.
Paris-level
emissions
would be 18 million metric
tons in 2050.
Raising smoking age to 21 passes in Washington state
Associated Press
OLYMPIA, Wash. —
A proposal to raise Wash-
ington’s smoking and vap-
ing age to 21 has passed
the Legislature, putting the
state on the precipice of
becoming the ninth state to
make such a change.
The bill would raise the
legal age for both tobacco
products and so-called
“vape” products, includ-
ing e-cigarettes and other
vapor devices, whether
they include tobacco or not.
The measure heads to Gov.
Jay Inslee for his signature.
He has said he supports the
bill.
Lawmakers in the state
Senate approved the mea-
sure 33-12 Wednesday.
It previously passed the
House.
California,
Hawaii,
Maine, Massachusetts, New
Jersey, Utah, Virginia and
Oregon have already raised
the smoking age inside
their borders, as has Guam,
according to the American
Lung Association and the
federal Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention.
ON THE RECORD
Assault
• Around 9 p.m. on Thursday, Thomas Hruska, 65, of Seaview, Washington, was arrested
by Seaside police near the intersection of Broadway Street and Roosevelt Drive for fourth-de-
gree assault and harassment.
PUBLIC MEETINGS
Weather (W): s-sunny, pc-partly cloudy, c-cloudy,
sh-showers, t-thunderstorms, r-rain, sf-snow fl urries,
sn-snow, i-ice.
MONDAY
Astoria City Council, 7 p.m., City Hall, 1095 Duane St.
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