Drafter
Clerk 10/03/2006
Title
A MOTION relating to county efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, mitigate their impacts and prepare for climate change.
Body
WHEREAS, there is a consensus among the world's leading scientists that global warming pollution by humans is among the most significant problems facing the world today, and
WHEREAS, climate scientists at the University of Washington predict that average temperatures in the northwest will increase approximately one degree fahrenheit per decade in the twenty-first century, and
WHEREAS, climate change in the northwest is expected to result in reduced snowpack and associated drinking water supplies, changes in winter flooding patterns, reduced summer stream flows for fish and altered habitat for other wildlife, and
WHEREAS, in September 1988, Proposed Ordinance 88-662 was introduced with the intent of creating an office of science and technology planning to address the issues of ozone depletion and global warming, and
WHEREAS, in 2002 the King County executive signed Executive Order PHL 10-1(AEO), by which the executive created a countywide initiative to inventory and reduce global warming pollution caused by greenhouse gas emissions ("carbon" or "carbon equivalents"), and
WHEREAS, in January 2002, the council adopted Motion 11364 that approved participation in the Cities for Climate Protection Campaign and supported the executive's development of an action plan to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases and targeted air pollutants from county operations, and
WHEREAS, the county has created one of the most comprehensive emissions inventories, also known as a carbon inventory, of any local government in the United States, and this work has built organizational expertise and resources in the departments of King County for future emissions reduction planning and sale of carbon credits, and
WHEREAS, actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions can also benefit local economies and improve qual...
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