Comments on Draft Recommendations for meeting the Washington Climate Change Challenge

Washington Departments of Ecology (Ecology) and Community, Trade, and Economic Development (CTED) draft recommendations for addressing climate change and setting goals for reducing greenhouse-gas emissions, increasing the number of clean energy jobs, and moving towards greater energy independence.

Like climate change, the future of America’s rivers tops the list of HRC members’ critical future environmental concerns. The impacts of climate change are particularly evident when it comes to water – especially water supply, flood control and recreation. It is imperative that the state amend its water-resource policies and water-management practices to minimize and mitigate the effects of climate change as best it can.

The purpose of our comments is to assist the state as it develops solutions to reduce GHG emissions that avoid trading clean water for clean air and that do not inadvertently sacrifice the river resources that are crucial to ecosystem functioning and to the quality of life in Washington.

Read the full comments attached.