More tools pending for climate change

Proposals to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions pending final approval in the Legislature represent important steps forward in the state's clean-energy transition.

The multifaceted bill, amended and passed by the House last week, is back in the Senate where it began. For some, the measure is a disappointment because it does not include a cap on carbon-dioxide emissions and a trading mechanism to accomplish the limits as cheaply as possible.

Cap-and-trade was overwhelmed for now by the complexity of crafting the details in a distracting environment of epic state budget deficits and broad economy uncertainty. The possibility of belated action by the federal government on a national plan also undercut progress. As if to make the point, the Environmental Protection Agency made preliminary declarations about greenhouse gases thought to signal coming regulation of the pollution.

Cars and trucks and TransAlta, the massive coal-fired power plant in Centralia, are key emitters in a state rich in hydropower. TransAlta is given a bit more time, but faces a flat deadline to meet greenhouse-gas emissions performance standards by 2025.

Regional transportation organizations in populous counties would have to implement plans to reduce annual vehicle miles traveled. Translated, that means providing people with real options to driving. This is not about the mileage police, but real choices when gasoline prices spike again.

For all the chatter about electric cars, motorists wonder how and where they might be serviced — real-world concerns. The bill authorizes an alternative-fuels-corridor pilot project with electric-vehicle charging, battery-exchange technologies and alternative fuels.

The bill, yet to be approved, maintains Washington's seat at regional and national climate forums, requires appointment of an accountability officer for climate issues in the state bureaucracy and sets up roles for forestry and agriculture in greenhouse-gas-reduction efforts.

That these are all productive transitional — if not transformational — steps, does not diminish the progress to be made.