Title
A MOTION expressing the King County council's opposition to the approval of Washington state Initiative 2066, which, if approved by voters, would repeal or prohibit certain laws and regulations that discourage natural gas use, or promote electrification, or both, and require certain utilities and local governments to provide natural gas to eligible customers.
Body
WHEREAS, Washington state Initiative 2066 concerning regulating energy services, including natural gas and electrification, which, if approved by the voters, would repeal or prohibit certain laws and regulations that discourage natural gas use, or promote electrification, or both, and require certain utilities and local governments to provide natural gas to eligible customers, will be before Washington state voters in the general election on November 5, 2024, and
WHEREAS, according to the King County 2020 Strategic Climate Action Plan, building and facility energy use is the region's second largest source of greenhouse gas emissions, representing nearly half of King County's carbon emissions, and
WHEREAS, Chapter 423, Laws of Washington 2009 supported reduced emissions, stipulating that the Washington state Energy Code shall be designed to "construct increasingly energy efficient homes and buildings by the year 2031," compared to the 2006 baseline, and
WHEREAS, the King County 2020 Strategic Climate Action Plan set goals for the phase-out of fossil fuels for heating and water heating in both King County's operations and at the countywide scale, including operational targets of reducing fossil fuel use in existing buildings by at least twenty percent by 2030, fifty percent by 2040, and eighty percent by 2050, compared to a 2017 baseline, and
WHEREAS, local jurisdictions across the state currently have the ability to debate and implement policies regulating building codes, climate resilience, and environmental protection that best serve their local communities, as long as it is in compliance w...

Click here for full text