Source: Leading the Way on Climate Change: The Challenge of Our Time
The State of Washington’s Climate Advisory Team has produced a set of 12 broad recommendations to address the contribution that Washington is making to global climate change. They are summarized below:
- Build market-based mechanisms to increase innovation around emissions reductions
- Cap and trade GHG emissions
- Participate in Wester Climate Initiative for establishing binding limits on emissions
- Set up reporting systems to measure, track and acknowledge progress on reductions
- Analyze GHG emissions and mitigation options early in decision-making, planning processes and development projects
- Invest in worker training for the emerging clean economy
- Build and redesign communities that offer alternatives to single occupancy vehicles
- Promote compact and transit-oriented development
- Expand transit, ridesharing, and commuter choice programs
- Establish vehicle miles traveled reduction goals
- Provide incentives for improved community planning
- Riase the cost of single-occupant vehicle travel
- Improve freight and intercity passenger railroads
- Ensure vehicles are as efficient as possible and use non-carbon or lower carbon intensity fuels
- Set a low carbon fuel standard
- Maximize in-state production of biofuels
- Improve commercialization of advanced lignocellulosic processes
- Fuel efficiency improvements
- Accelerate and integrate plug-in hybrid vehicle use
- Focus investments in Washington’ transportation infrastructure to prioritize moving people and goods cleanly and efficiently
- Design, build, upgrade, and operate new and existing buildings and equipment to maximize energy efficiency
- Encourage energy efficiency gains in new buildings with incentives
- Energy efficiency programs with incentives
- Improved community planning
- Focus on energy efficiency changes to existing buildings around building operations
- Combined heat and power and thermal energy recovery and use
- Deliver energy from lower or non-carbon sources and more efficient use of fuels
- Grid-based renewable energy incentives
- Rate structures to promote reduced GHG emissions
- Efficiency in existing power plants
- Carbon sequestration
- Reduce waste through improved product choices and resource stewardship
- Expand source reduction, reuse, recycling and composting
- Engage the public in fighting global warming at the household level
- Educate consumers on carbon content and life-cycle energy of products and buildings
- Educate professionals
- Allocate state resources to structuring and guiding GHG emission reduction efforts
