Big government will now have more control of towns, and increase their costs, which will be passed on to citizens through things like increased property taxes
Washington cities, counties now required to plan for climate change
Planning for severe storms, flooding, wildfires and poor air quality will soon be required for Washington cities and counties.
A law passed by the Legislature this year requires local governments to consider climate change in their 20-year comprehensive plans beginning in 2025. The Department of Commerce released early guidance last month on how to do that.
The guidance focuses on two new sections that must be included in long-range plans: lowering greenhouse-gas emissions and raising defenses against climate-related threats. With the law, the state isn’t mandating that localities meet specific emissions targets, just that they commit to strategies that can help with reductions.
So, making plans that they will never do anything about. Sounds like a great waste of time to deal with what used to simply be called “The Weather.”
The new requirements came out of a controversial bill that passed the Legislature last session. Along with adding a climate element, the state’s 11 largest counties and the cities in those counties with populations greater than 6,000 people must update their transportation and land-use plans.
The bill passed 57-41 in the state House of Representatives and 29-20 in the state Senate.
During floor debates, Republicans argued that the policy would stifle growth and hinder housing construction.
“It adds bureaucracy, it slows us down, it adds cost, and it goes in absolutely the wrong direction for our state,” Senate Minority Leader John Braun, R-Centralia, said back in April.
And, eventually, it will be strengthened so that cities are required to actually make changes, to comply with Warmists demands and policies.
The greenhouse-gas emissions and resilience requirements can be met in a number of ways, and Commerce gives jurisdictions examples for how to incorporate them into their plans. These include things like reducing vehicle miles traveled, building denser housing near transit, expanding transit, developing more parks, and advancing environmental justice.
Limiting people from taking fossil fueled trips in their own vehicles, doing away with single domicile lots, cash giveaways for “environmental justice”, a catchall for far left beliefs. Washington Republicans really missed their opportunity to ask the Democrats who voted for this if they were driving EVs, no longer taking fossil fueled flights, reducing their own CO2 output.
And every city will be required to hire a staff of full time “climate experts” who otherwise would have no marketable skills.
“Planning for severe storms, flooding, wildfires and poor air quality.”
Funny, when I was in the business back in the day, we called it “Emergency Management.”