Conservation, by Tim Manns

Keep the Carbon Commitment Act: Vote No on Initiative-2117

On October 18th the Seattle Times ran a detailed article on what would result were Initiative 2117 to pass (WA’s carbon market pumps billions of dollars to state projects. What happens if it vanishes? | The Seattle Times). Passage of 2117 would repeal the Climate Commitment Act of 2021.This newsletter’s September issue (Sept24Flyer.pdf (squarespace.com)) gives the background on the initiative whose defeat is a high priority for Audubon Washington. Why? The cap-and-invest program which the act established is the best tool Washington State has to quickly reduce greenhouse gas emissions and address the causes and effects of climate change. National Audubon research has identified climate change as the number one threat to bird populations. Consequently, advocating for addressing climate change has long been a major, nationwide priority for the organization of which Skagit Audubon is part.

Over 500 organizations, companies, Tribes, and unions are supporting the “No on 2117” campaign. When you read this newsletter, there may still be time to help get out the word. Go to the campaign website (Vote NO on Initiative 2117 | Home (no2117.com)) and click on “Get Involved” at the top of the page if you would like to help.

Some background from last month’s newsletter:

The Department of Ecology’s website states,

“In 2021, the Washington Legislature passed the Climate Commitment Act (CCA), which establishes a comprehensive, market-based program to reduce carbon pollution and achieve the greenhouse gas limits set in state law… The cap-and-invest program sets a limit, or cap, on overall carbon emissions in the state and requires businesses to obtain allowances equal to their covered greenhouse gas emissions. These allowances can be obtained through quarterly auctions hosted by Ecology, or bought and sold on a secondary market (just like stocks and bonds).” (Cap-and-Invest - Washington State Department of Ecology)

 Other legislation has committed Washington to reducing carbon emissions by 95% by 2050. The CCA, with its incentive for the largest carbon emitters to progressively reduce those emissions, is the major tool for achieving the mandated reduction. This market-based program generates revenue that is funding projects across Washington to address the many impacts of climate change and further reduce emissions.

Last year a wealthy California transplant to the Sammamish Valley spent six million dollars paying signature gatherers to collect enough names to bring six initiatives to the legislature. During this year’s session, the legislature passed three of those initiatives but decided not to act on the remaining three. Those three plus another sponsored by the same individual are on the ballot. One initiative deals with the state’s long-term care program, another would repeal the capital gains tax which applies only to about 4,000 of Washington’s wealthiest, and the third, Initiative 2117, would repeal the Climate Commitment Act (Initiative 2117.pdf (wa.gov)). The fourth initiative would block policies now in place to move Washington away from dependence on gas (methane) for home heating and appliances

The idea that the CCA has forced petroleum companies, already reaping record profits, to raise gasoline prices has been the subject of many news reports. Wherever the truth lies, the reality of human-caused climate change urgently requires action even if it means paying a bit more for fossil fuels while they are still in use. And there is no guarantee that repealing the CCA will lower gasoline prices, only that it will slow the transition away from fossil fuels and exacerbate climate change.

CCA-generated revenue funds projects across Washington to address climate change and its effects. For an overview of what repealing the CCA would mean, see https://no2117.com/the-costs-of-i-2117/. For a map of CCA-funded projects: Home – Risk of Repeal (cleanprosperousinstitute.org)  (Projects in Skagit County: Skagit County.pdf - Google Drive).

Updating of City and County Comprehensive Plans

Continuing step by step with the mandated update of Skagit County’s Comprehensive Plan, the Planning & Development Services Department is now accepting comments on the plan’s new Climate Element. Washington House Bill (HB) 1181, passed in 2023, requires that Comprehensive Plans (mandated by the Growth Management Act) address climate change and resilience either as a separate plan element or by integration into existing elements. The plan must include measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to provide for resilience to the effects of climate change, such as sea level rise and increased flooding. The draft of this new plan element is available for public comment through November 22nd. For information about the Comprehensive Plan revision and the new element, go to:   https://www.skagitcounty.net/Departments/PlanningAndPermit/2025CPA.htm Scroll down to the October section for a link to the Climate Element and further down for instructions on commenting.

Battery Energy Storage Systems in the Skagit

Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) are typically facilities using large lithium-ion batteries to store electricity when the power grid has energy in excess of need and then to boost the supply when demand exceeds supply. As electricity comes increasingly from sources such as wind and solar, BESS are needed to provide power when the wind isn’t blowing, or the sun isn’t shining. Two such facilities are currently proposed for Skagit County, one of which has aroused controversy due to its proposed siting on land zoned agricultural adjacent to salmon-bearing Hansen Creek and a residential community. Skagit Audubon’s letter opposing that siting just east of Sedro-Woolley is on the chapter website. The Skagit County Commissioners have issued a 6-month renewable ban on accepting permit applications for new electrical energy generation or storage on land zoned agricultural. BESS facilities are needed for moving beyond fossil fuels, but the siting must be done carefully, just as with commercial-scale solar and wind facilities. Skagit County needs to be proactive by planning for where siting such facilities would be acceptable rather than waiting for developers to file for permits with no advance guidance.

State Wildlife Action Plan Survey

See the Conservation Report in this newsletter’s September issue for information about the State Wildlife Action Plan, its importance, and the revision now underway. Please contribute to this revision by participating in Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife’s on-line survey, open through November 15, 2024. Go to https://publicinput.com/x4675 and scroll down.

For information on other conservation issues Skagit Audubon is following, please go to the Conservation Notes on the chapter website at https://www.skagitaudubon.org/conservation-notes-letters.

Conservation, by Tim Manns

Stop repeal of the Carbon Commitment Act: Vote No on Initiative-2117
The Conservation Report in the September Skagit Flyer (Sept24Flyer.pdf (squarespace.com)) gives the background of Initiative 2117, which will be on this November’s ballot. This initiative would repeal Washington’s Climate Commitment Act of 2021.

 In Audubon Washington’s late September newsletter Interim Executive Director and Director of Bird Conservation Dr. Trina Bayard writes:

 “This fall, one of our top priorities is to support the campaign to protect the Climate Commitment Act by voting NO on Initiative 2117. I-2117 would overturn the Climate Commitment Act, which supports many of our conservation priorities. I-2117 would strip billions of dollars in investments in climate priorities like air quality, transportation and transit service, fish, habitat, and preventing wildfires. Remember to vote NO on I-2117 and if you’d like to get more involved, join a campaign event near you.”

 Following two brief training sessions in August and September, 30 Skagit County volunteers delivered No on 2117 literature to over a thousand doors in Mount Vernon, Burlington, and Anacortes. At this writing another training session is scheduled for late September which will be followed by doorbelling to talk with voters about the importance of defeating this initiative. Attendance at the training is not mandatory for volunteering, and if you would like to help, contact Tim Manns (conservation@skagitaudubon.org). For other opportunities to volunteer with the NO on 2117 campaign, go to https://no2117.com/volunteer/.

 Updating City and County Comprehensive Plans
As mentioned in the September Skagit Flyer, Washington’s Growth Management Act requires counties, cities, and towns to update their Comprehensive Plans every ten years. These plans describe the community vision for population growth, housing, employment, transportation, capital facilities and utilities, parks, recreation and open space, rural areas, and protection of natural resource lands. Skagit County’s update is due next year. The county is revising elements of the Comp Plan in stages and accepting public comments at each stage.

 At this writing in the third week of September, Skagit County Planning & Development Services (PDS) has released the draft Transportation, Capital Facilities, and Utilities element revisions. You can read these documents on the PDS website (https://www.skagitcounty.net/Departments/PlanningAndPermit/2025CPA.htm) and comment through October 24th.

The last part of the Comp Plan to be considered will be the Climate Element, newly required by Washington House Bill (HB) 1181 passed last year. This bill amends the Growth Management Act to mandate that Comp Plans include policies for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and enhancing climate resilience. There are two sub-elements: a greenhouse gas emissions reduction sub-element and a resilience sub-element. Please note that on October 1, from 5:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. at Jefferson Elementary School in Mount Vernon, there will be an open house to gather public input on the Climate Element. Skagit County has not been pro-active in addressing climate change and its effects in either the Comp Plan or the Shoreline Master Program, which governs shoreline development. This open house and the comment period present a welcome opportunity to express your and Audubon’s interests in regard to climate change. Years ago, National Audubon research identified climate change as the most significant threat to birds just as it is a profound threat to human well-being (Climate Science | Audubon).

 State Wildlife Action Plan Survey
See last month’s Skagit Flyer Conservation Report for an explanation of the State Wildlife Action Plan, its importance, and the revision now underway. Please participate in Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife’s on-line survey, open through November 15, 2024. Go to  https://publicinput.com/x4675 and scroll down.

For information on conservation issues Skagit Audubon is following, please go to the Conservation Notes on the chapter website at https://www.skagitaudubon.org/conservation-notes-letters.

Conservation, by Tim Manns

Prevent repeal of the Climate Commitment Act: Vote No on Initiative-2117)

In addition to candidates for local, state, and federal offices, this November’s ballot will have several initiatives needing your informed consideration. Governor Inslee’s leadership has put Washington in the forefront of states taking legislative action to stem human-caused climate change and address its effects. Passing ballot initiative I-2117 would undo Washington’s significant progress. Use this Audubon Washington link to volunteer to help defeat I-2117: https://act.audubon.org/a/sign-page-campaign-defeat-i-2117.

  The Department of Ecology’s website explains, “In 2021, the Washington Legislature passed the Climate Commitment Act (CCA), which establishes a comprehensive, market-based program to reduce carbon pollution and achieve the greenhouse gas limits set in state law… The cap-and-invest program sets a limit, or cap, on overall carbon emissions in the state and requires businesses to obtain allowances equal to their covered greenhouse gas emissions. These allowances can be obtained through quarterly auctions hosted by Ecology, or bought and sold on a secondary market (just like stocks and bonds).” (Cap-and-Invest - Washington State Department of Ecology).

 Other legislation has committed Washington to reducing carbon emissions by 95% by 2050. The CCA, with its incentive for the largest carbon emitters to progressively reduce those emissions, is the major tool for achieving the mandated reduction. This market-based program generates the revenue that is funding projects across Washington to address the many impacts of climate change and further reduce emissions.

 Last year a wealthy California transplant to the Sammamish Valley spent six million dollars paying signature gatherers to collect enough names to bring six initiatives to the legislature. During this year’s session, the legislature passed three of those initiatives but decided not to act on the remaining three. Those three will subsequently appear on the ballot. One initiative deals with the state’s long-term care program, another would repeal the capital gains tax which applies only to approximately 4,000 wealthiest Washingtonians, and the third, Initiative 2117, would repeal the Climate Commitment Act (Initiative 2117.pdf (wa.gov)).

 The idea that the CCA has forced petroleum companies, already reaping record profits, to raise gasoline prices has been the subject of many news reports. Wherever the truth lies, the reality of human-caused climate change urgently requires action even if it means paying a bit more for fossil fuels while they are still in use. And there is no guarantee that repealing the CCA will lower gasoline prices, only that it will slow the transition away from fossil fuels and exacerbate climate change.

CCA-generated revenue funds projects across Washington to address climate change and its effects. For an overview of what repealing the CCA would mean, see https://no2117.com/the-costs-of-i-2117/. For a map of CCA-funded projects: Home – Risk of Repeal (cleanprosperousinstitute.org)  (Projects in Skagit County: Skagit County.pdf - Google Drive).

 Nearly 400 groups statewide, including Audubon Washington and many Audubon chapters, have joined the No on I-2117 campaign to prevent repeal of the Climate Commitment Act: Home | Vote NO on Initiative 2117 (no2117.com). Other environmental groups, small businesses, corporations, labor organizations, Tribes, and many more are part of this effort.

 The CCA’s cap-and-trade carbon tax system is the most significant element of Washington State’s efforts to slow and reverse human-caused climate change and all it portends for birds and us. Please join the effort to prevent passage of reality-denying I-2117. Follow this link https://act.audubon.org/a/sign-page-campaign-defeat-i-2117 to sign up to help.

 Updating City and County Comprehensive Plans

Under Washington’s Growth Management Act Skagit County and its towns must update their Comprehensive Plans every ten years. These plans are policy documents describing the community vision for population growth, housing, employment, transportation, capital facilities and utilities, parks, recreation and open space, rural areas, and protection of natural resource lands. Skagit County’s update is due next year. Recent legislation requires updates to address the causes and effects of climate change, something Skagit County has not already done. See 2025 Skagit County Comprehensive Plan Update, which includes instructions on how and when to comment and much other information on this important planning project. Skagit Audubon is tracking the progress of the update and will comment as needed to ensure that the needs of birds and other wildlife and their required habitat are addressed appropriately including in considering climate change and its effects. The full draft of the Comprehensive Plan update and related code amendments is to be released for public comment later this year or in early 2025.

 Keep in mind that Skagit County’s leaders chose not to address such looming climate change effects as sea level rise in the nearly completed update of the Shoreline Master Program. At a June 2024 open house for public information and comment on the Skagit County’s Comprehensive Plan update, I commented on:

• The need to increase the number and acreage of county parks, particularly ones protecting habitat and providing the public with opportunities to experience natural settings.

• That the long-accepted Comprehensive Plan goal of preserving Skagit County’s “rural character” must include protecting undeveloped habitat as well as agricultural lands.

• The importance of planning for undeveloped corridors to benefit wildlife movement.

• Opposing allowing so-called Fully Contained Communities, an issue on which Skagit Audubon has been allied with a broad spectrum of conservation and agricultural organizations over the last few years.

 For information on conservation issues Skagit Audubon is following, please go to the conservation notes on the chapter website at:  https://www.skagitaudubon.org/conservation-notes-letters

Prevent repeal of the Carbon Commitment Act (I-2117)

By Tim Manns

At the state level, Audubon Washington in concert with other conservation organizations is organizing to prevent repeal of Washington State’s arguably most important climate legislation, the Climate Commitment Act of 2021 (CCA). This act created a carbon market in Washington setting up a financial incentive for the state’s largest emitters of greenhouse gases to progressively reduce their climate pollution. Revenues which the system generates are funding a host of projects and programs addressing the effects of climate change. All these will end if the CCA is repealed.

Last year a lone individual in the Seattle area spent millions for paid signature gatherers to collect the thousands of signatures needed to bring six initiatives to the legislature. During its session earlier this year, the legislature passed 3 of those initiatives but decided not to act on the remaining three. Those three will appear on this November’s ballot, and among them is I-2117 to repeal the CCA (Initiative 2117.pdf (wa.gov)). The idea that the carbon tax has led petroleum companies, already making record profits, to raise gasoline prices has been the stuff of many news reports. Wherever the truth lies, the reality of human-caused climate change urgently requires action even if it does mean paying a bit more for fossil fuels while they are still in use. The CCA’s cap-and-trade carbon tax system is the most significant element of Washington State’s efforts to slow and reverse human-caused climate change and all it portends for birds and us. Please join the effort to prevent the passage of this reality-denying initiative. Follow this link https://act.audubon.org/a/sign-page-campaign-defeat-i-2117.

For information on conservation issues Skagit Audubon is following, please go to the conservation notes on the chapter website at Skagit Audubon Society - Conservation Notes.

Survival by Degrees

by Tim Manns
At this writing in mid-March two Whooper Swans first noticed weeks ago in fields along Chuckanut Drive west of Burlington are still visiting Skagit County. Thanks to Jeff Osmundson’s good directions, I joined many other birders adding this species to the avian wonders we have seen so close to home. Whoopers nested on Attu Island in the Aleutians in 1996, but most of these near Trumpeter-sized swans inhabit northern Asia and Europe and only rarely visit North America. Of the world’s six swans in the genus Cygnus, there in my narrow scope view were three: a Whooper posed in front of a Tundra and, to the side, a juvenile and adult Trumpeter. It was a dramatic reminder of the avian diversity we can experience in the Skagit. When this Skagit Flyer issue reaches you, the swans will probably have left for their respective breeding grounds: Trumpeters to inland Alaskan or Canadian lakes, Tundras further north to, yes, tundra ponds along the Arctic coast of Alaska and Canada, and the Whoopers back to northern Asia or Europe where they came from, venturing all the way to Skagit’s pastures and potato fields. We know that the presence of swans, ducks, and geese can impose financial burdens on Skagit’s farmers, and we appreciate those who tolerate the waterfowl spectacle the Skagit hosts each winter. Skagit’s present capacity to support huge numbers of ducks and geese and more Trumpeter Swans than any other county in the Lower-48 depends on the bays, marshes, and remaining inland habitat and also on agriculture.

Whooper Swan

Photo credit:  Whooper Swan, Digital Nature Scotland/Shutterstock

National Audubon’s Survival by Degrees: 389 Species on the Brink (Survival by Degrees: 389 Bird Species on the Brink | Audubon) is a powerful reminder that climate change has drastic implications for many birds as their ranges shift and, often, shrink. Will swans find the Skagit a good place to winter in the future? Will these far-northern breeders find their necessary conditions for reproduction so changed that nesting failure becomes common? Look at Audubon Washington’s and National Audubon’s legislative priorities and note the pervasive focus on bills and funding to address climate change. These human-caused changes are the foremost threat to birds just as they profoundly threaten people and all life as we know it.