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A MOTION adopting the 2015 King County Strategic Climate Action Plan, submitted in compliance with K.C.C. 18.25.010.A.4.
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WHEREAS, K.C.C. 18.25.010.A.4. requires the King County executive to transmit to the council a plan by June 29, 2015 updating the King County Strategic Climate Action Plan, and
WHEREAS, with this motion, the executive has transmitted to the council as Attachment A to this motion the updated plan called for in K.C.C. 18.25.010.A.4., and
WHEREAS, confronting climate change through effective strategies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and prepare for the impacts of a changing climate requires an integrated countywide effort involving public, private and non-governmental partnerships, and
WHEREAS, the 2015 King County Strategic Climate Action Plan presents a bold course of action that will make progress toward achieving the countywide goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by eighty percent by 2050, and
WHEREAS, the 2015 King County Strategic Climate Action Plan identifies the county’s top sources of greenhouse gas emissions and quantifies the greenhouse gas emissions reduction benefits of key strategies, and
WHEREAS, King County will continue to play a key role in the King County-Cities Climate Collaboration, whose members represent seventy-five percent of the population of the county, and which lays out a shared countywide vision for confronting climate change upon which the 2015 King County Strategic Climate Action Plan is built, and
WHEREAS, the 2015 King County Strategic Climate Action Plan strengthens the county's strategy to prepare for the impacts of a changing climate on local communities, infrastructure, economy, public health and safety, and the natural environment, and
WHEREAS, the 2015 King County Strategic Climate Action Plan advances King County’s guiding principle of promoting fairness and opportunity and eliminating inequities by considering the equity and social justice impacts in its decision-making on climate change strategies, and
WHEREAS, the 2015 King County Strategic Climate Action Plan recognizes that the burdens and benefits of climate change will affect King County’s current and future residents in disparate ways, with the potential to disproportionately affect some populations, such as those who are low-income, have limited English proficiency or reside in certain geographic areas, and
WHEREAS, with this motion, the executive has transmitted to the council, as part of the 2015 Strategic Climate Action Plan, the annual report on the county's major environmental sustainability programs as called for in K.C.C. 18.50.010, and
WHEREAS, Appendix B of the 2015 Strategic Climate Action Plan responds to Motion 14349, passed May 4, 2015, which requested that the executive consider specific climate action activities and policies for inclusion in the 2015 Strategic Climate Action Plan, and
WHEREAS, the 2015 King County Strategic Climate Action Plan directly reflects the recommendations of a 2014 Performance Audit conducted by the King County auditor’s office;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT MOVED by the Council of King County:
A. The 2015 King County Strategic Climate Action Plan, dated October 20, 2015, which is Attachment A to this motion and prepared in compliance with K.C.C 18.25.010.A.4., is hereby adopted.
B. Consistent with Ordinance 17285, which authorized the Interlocal Agreement for the King County-Cities Climate Collaboration, the executive is requested to coordinate with staff of the transportation, economy and environment committee, or its successor, in developing the annual work plans and budget for the King County-Cities Climate Collaboration under the interlocal agreement. The executive is requested to submit by January 31, and every year thereafter, the King County-Cities Climate Collaboration annual work plan and budget to the council for acceptance by motion. The 2016 work plan should include recommendations on the timing and approach for an update to the interlocal agreement that includes addressing drafting issues identified during the council’s initial review of the agreement.
C. Implementation of the King County Strategic Climate Action Plan may lead to
the need for additional resources. However, any additional FTE/TLT requests are subject to approval through the county budget process.