By Victoria Leistman, Dirty Fuels Organizer
Right now, the Department of Ecology is making a new rule on how the climate and human impacts of fossil fuel projects will be evaluated. The rule is a huge opportunity to protect our communities!
Take Action!
Accurate assessments of fossil fuel projects would demonstrate that these polluters are unhealthy for our communities and are destabilizing our climate. We have seen these impacts first hand. New Rules for Fossil Fuels is an opportunity to ensure that Ecology accounts for frontline climate impacts first and uses the best science in developing its fossil fuel rule. It’s time to change the rules of the game!
At a time when WA and the world must dramatically reduce emissions as quickly as possible, any proposal to construct a massive new source of greenhouse gas emissions feels irrational. We need a rule that scrutinizes the impacts of such proposals and makes them subject to the most complete mitigation requirements. Anything less would be unlawfully inconsistent with the state environmental policy act (SEPA) and incompatible with preserving a planet that resembles the one we enjoy today.
We believe the rule must:
- Evaluate projects based on gross emissions
- Require a climate test based on the best available science to assess a project’s significance
- Require environmental assessment methods of a project’s full carbon footprint to be a prerequisite to good decision-making by permitting authorities.
- Include strong, enforceable mitigation requirements grounded in equity with an aim of reducing emissions
We must prioritize the health and safety of communities over fossil fuel profits, utilize the best available science, and center the concerns of frontline communities. With these stronger protections, Ecology and other state agencies will have a clearer picture of the human and climate impacts of these projects. This will create accountability for striking down fossil fuel projects that pollute our communities. It would prevent industry from rigging the numbers and greenwashing dangerous projects. We need to show Ecology that this is the green, equitable future that Washingtonians want—join this campaign!
Why do we need a new rule?
Initial environmental assessments by government agencies in the state have been woefully inadequate, leading to lengthy review processes and litigation. We need standards that will use the best available science for evaluating greenhouse gas emissions (climate impacts) of coal, oil, and gas projects. And also reviews that will center how communities on the frontlines of these projects are impacted.
To start healing communities already targeted by polluting industries, we have to start analyzing impacts holistically, including looking at cumulative air pollution/emissions upstream and downstream of a project, instead of just the footprint of the newly proposed project.
Time and again fossil fuel projects proposed in Washington have failed to adequately consult with or earn consent from the Tribes and Nations whose lands and rights are being impacted. Sovereign Nations must be respected and sufficiently centered in the siting of any project and in the greenhouse gas & health impact assessments of those projects.
What’s at stake?
We are at a critical time, as the harm from climate change becomes increasingly evident. Wildfires, decreased snowpack, and sea level rise threaten the very existence of our communities. These harms fall hardest on the people who already bear a disproportionate share of our environmental burdens.
Fighting fossil fuel infrastructure is one of the best things we can do for public health. We know that industry is perpetuating racial and environmental injustices that are then magnified further in times of crisis.
The best available science tells us that we have less than ten years to get a handle on fossil fuels or else face the most dire consequences of the climate crisis. Our current regulations are not enough. When we know better, we must do better.
What can you do?
SIGN: Add your voice today to our campaign, New Rules for Fossil Fuels!
REGISTER: Register now for our upcoming webinar series, New Rules for Fossil Fuels: Protecting WA Communities. And share it with your friends!
JOIN US: The Department for Ecology will release the draft rule in April and then host a public hearing in May. Leading up to the draft, we need communities all over the state to be collecting comments telling Ecology that we need a strong rule. Come May, we need huge turnout to the virtual hearings.