Jay, hi. Welcome.
Can you start by telling me how the State of Washington is addressing climate
change? What can other states learn from what you are doing?
I would say aggressively and effectively.
We have the most aggressive efforts,
and I believe the most effective efforts probably in the United States.
I'm glad to say that there's 23 other states in our US Climate Alliance,
and I think it's fair to say Washington State's in the leadership position on
that because of our action, not just our aspirations,
but our actual action on this.
We have a hundred percent clean grid bill that requires a hundred percent clean
grid.
We have the most effective cap and investment provision
I think in the United States,
in part because of our commitment to environmental justice with 40% of our
investment going to disadvantaged communities.
We just became the first state in the United States to require heat pumps
in all new construction, residential and commercial,
which effectively weans us off of fossil gas.
We are committed to effectuating our low carbon fuel standard,
and we just generated $6 billion for transportation from our cap and
invest,
a billion of which will go to low and zero carbon transportation sector
investments.
So I think it's fair to say that we are in the leadership position in the United
States, and I'm glad to have another 23 states joining us.
Maybe not quite as far along the road of progress as we are, but coming.
So I have good news from the state of Washington.
Why does it matter to Washington to be aggressive,
like you are, to lead the way?
Well, I think two things, why my state is in the leadership. One,
we understand science. We're a very scientifically literate state.
We're the state who built the first commercial jet airliner,
the software that's powering the world economy right now.
So we understand science and the science of this has been dramatically obvious
now for a couple decades,
and our people have responded to that by really calling for action to
respond to this mortal threat to the planet. That's number one. Number two,
we've recognized the economic potential of this.
We are one of the early adopters that are growing clean energy jobs
by the bucket full.
I can't turn over a rock in my state without knowing an entrepreneur
and a skilled working group,
from the new silicon nano batteries of in Moses Lake,
to the largest manufacturer of photovoltaic cells in Bellingham,
to the largest manufacturer of the biggest fuel cell motor in the world, and
to the first electric airplane,
very first electric airplane that flew a couple months ago at Moses Lake,
designed in Arlington, Washington.
So we were seeing the results of job creation and wealth creation
through clean energy. Those two things combined. Also,
having a governor who's very committed to this helps.
Those three things together led us to real progress.
What about the role of the public sector in a just and
equitable climate transition?
I can tell you that it does matter,
and we have embedded that in everything we have done.
So as I indicated in our cap and invest project,
we made sure that statutorily,
we guaranteed that 40% of the billions of dollars that are created by this fund,
will go to disproportionately impacted communities.
Frequently communities of color and low income.
The people who've been living next to the freeways and the polluting industries
have been breathing this,
that have really high rates of asthma in their children.
So we made sure that a significant portion of that went to these communities.
In addition,
we have guaranteed 10% of those investments will go to tribal
communities. We have very robust tribal communities in our state,
29 bands and tribes to make sure they're part of this.
And we have developed a really strong process of working with the tribal
communities when we go to site these facilities,
so that we work together to make good decisions on siting.
We also have a thing called the HEAL act,
which requires all of our decision making to be looked at through the lens
of reducing economic inequality associated with
the vestiges of our past.
And so I'm really happy about what we're doing on this. I think it probably,
I can say, is the best in the United States.
California's done some good work on this as well and we've learned from their
experience, so I'm really happy about our commitment.
Finally, how are you partnering with the private sector?
Very, very well because the private sector now is getting it.
We were just talking about it.
I did a clean energy tour of Finland, Norway, of Sweden.
We were looking at investments, opportunities for some of their businesses.
They're wildly ambitious to come to our state and America,
in part because of the Inflation Reduction Act.
I met a fellow who's building green steel in Sweden.
He will be looking for his second opportunity.
My state might be perfect for him because of our access to reasonably
priced electricity and our ambition level.
I talked to an electric airplane manufacturer
in Sweden as well. So we're looking for these opportunities.
The ship building industry is very interested in our hydrogen ambitions,
because we have great opportunities to do green hydrogen in our state.
We hope to be one of the first hubs for green hydrogen in our
state. We're a perfect state for it because of our access to
electricity, our access to maritime, to have an off-taker for green hydrogen.
So we're seeing these economic opportunities. It's really interesting.
I think one of the seismic shifts that I've seen from the last COP
to this, and I've been to five COPs,
is how much the business community understands these
opportunities and are thirsting to really start building.
Jay, thank you so much.
Thank you. Be well. See you at the next top. We'll have more progress report.