Title
AN ORDINANCE requiring the implementation of a strategy to accelerate the adoption of electric vehicles; amending Ordinance 17166, Section 2, as amended, and K.C.C. 18.50.010, adding a new section to K.C.C. chapter 28.94 and adding a new chapter to K.C.C. Title 18.
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PREAMBLE:
According to the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency, the transportation sector is the largest source of carbon emissions in the Puget Sound region, accounting for over forty percent of greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere.
Outdoor air pollution is linked to increased rate of heart attacks, asthma, strokes, cancer and premature deaths.
Accelerating the rate of adoption of electric vehicles will help to reduce harmful air pollution from exhaust emissions, including greenhouse gas emissions.
In 2019 the Washington state Legislature passed, and Governor Inslee signed, House Bill 2042, which became Chapter 287, Laws of Washington 2019, which included a suite of policies and incentives to increase the rate of electrification in the transportation sector.
King County plays an important role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions from transportation.
King County's 2015 Strategic Climate Action Plan commits the county to reducing emissions in its transit bus fleet and in other vehicles used in county operations.
In 2018 the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change issued new warnings on the impact of climate change and documented that the global emissions need to be on the steep decline within the next decade to avoid the worst impacts of climate change.
King County must move faster and more aggressively to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
The county is currently working to revise its Strategic Climate Action Plan to reflect the most recent data from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
King County can significantly reduce the region's greenhouse gas emissions from transportation and can improve air quality by taking actions now to accelerate the adoption of electric vehicles in...
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