Organization aims to reduce emissions

Western Climate Initiative's goal is 15 percent below 2005 levels by 2020

By John Dodge | The Olympian • Published November 15, 2008

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Environmental and conservation groups want a 100 percent polluter-pays program, which is what President-elect Barack Obama calls for in the Presidential Climate Action Project he released this week.

"Auctioning permits allows states to spend money on projects that can further reduce pollution and benefit their residents," said Christopher Busch, a climate economist for the Union of Concerned Scientists. "Giving them away for free could result in windfall profits for polluters."

Business interests will lobby for more giveaways of pollution credits and fewer sales, Grant Nelson of the Association of Washington Business said.

"The minimum threshold of 10 percent is too high," he said. "Auctioning the credits will be expensive for Washington businesses."

The Western Climate Initiative also defers action on greenhouse-gas emissions from transportation sources until 2015, another sticking point with environmentalists.

"Transportation fuels are the largest source of global-warming pollution in the Northwest and are responsible for about half of our emissions in Washington," said KC Golden, policy director for Climate Solutions. "They clearly need to be included in the plan from the start."

It's not clear yet how the Western Climate Initiative will mesh with Obama's climate-action plan. But the president-elect has set a new federal course that includes:

• Reducing U.S. greenhouse-gas emissions 25 percent to 30 percent below 1990 levels by 2020 while cutting national petroleum consumption in half.

• Regulating greenhouse gases using the federal Clean Air Act and stopping the building of conventional coal-fired plants.

• Spending $30 billion annually on clean-energy research.

• Fully funding a variety of state and local programs to promote energy conservation and green-jobs programs.

"To the extent the Obama administration embraces a green economy, it's a great thing for Washington state," Usibelli said.

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