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 Gov. Jay Inslee is shown the interface of a new air quality monitoring station in Seattle’s Beacon Hill neighborhood, where concentrated pollution is affecting the health of local residents.
Seattle’s Beacon Hill neighborhood runs along I-5, just north of King County International Airport. Nearly 100,000 cars pass every day. Nearly 500 aircraft zoom overhead every day. Predictably, the neighborhood’s median household income lags behind surrounding neighborhoods. Lower-income communities are often victim to higher levels of pollution that cause asthma and other ailments. The Climate Commitment Act is doing something about that.
Gov. Jay Inslee visited Beacon Hill this week to tout a new air quality monitoring station. The station will track progress to reduce emissions over time. A network of such stations will help identify problem areas and prioritize equitable investments of state funds raised by the CCA’s price on poisonous pollution.
“This is the perfect place to measure pollution. Because it is ‘Ground Zero,’ and a perfect example of what pollution from the oil and gas industry is doing to our kids and families,” said Gov. Jay Inslee. “People that live in this zip code to go emergency rooms four times more for respiratory problems than the rest of King County.”
Additional sensors are planned for Brewster, Burbank, Cashmere, Cheney, Cle Elum, Entiat, Enumclaw, George, Goldendale, Issaquah, Kennewick, Manson, Mattawa, Mount Rainier, Newport, Oroville, Padilla Bay, Royal City, Spokane, Stevenson, Tonasket, Vancouver, and White Salmon.
“Starting this year, we will be producing biennial reports on each community, so every two years. The data we collect will be shared online, where all community members can access it,” said the state Department of Ecology.
That data will be considered in permitting local industrial projects, investing in electrified public transit, and other initiatives.
“Pollution from the oil and gas industry is dangerous. We are fighting it,” said Inslee. “There are forces, unfortunately, that are trying to repeal our efforts to protect Washingtonians from air pollution. The oil and gas industry wants to be free to put as much pollution in the air as they can so that these instruments can go off the charts. So these instruments are telling us what we need to do: reduce pollution and defend the Climate Commitment Act.”
 Above: A construction crew erects affordable townhomes in Lakewood. Below: Gov. Jay Inslee boarded a bus to tour new supportive housing developments in Tacoma with local officials and planners.
Gov. Jay Inslee promised to “go big” on housing this last session, and that’s what happened. The legislature allocated a historic sum to improve housing availability and affordability: $1 billion. Those funds are accelerating construction, bolstering homeownership programs, providing rental assistance, and more.
But rent and mortgage costs are just one element of housing affordability. Energy costs are another. And too many Washingtonians pay too much for natural gas bills that don’t help cool their homes when temperatures soar into the triple-digits. But the state’s Climate Commitment Act is helping by subsidizing efficient windows, insulation, and heat pumps that both warm and cool while lowering bills.
The governor toured supportive housing developments going up all over Tacoma with local officials on Wednesday, then stopped by an affordable townhome development by Habitat for Humanity Pierce County in Lakewood. Each of the new townhomes will receive state-of-the-art insulation and efficient heat pumps to slash their new owners’ utility bills.
“Energy efficient structures are part of the ongoing affordability of homeownership,” said Jonah Kinchy, Habitat for Humanity’s director of site development. “And if we can keep energy bills down, it keeps money free for all the other things that families need. We’ve eliminated all fossil fuels from the houses, they’re all-electric and their energy bills are super low. If they put solar panels on, their energy bills will be almost nothing.”
Historic state housing investments and the Climate Commitment Act are teaming up to knock down both rent and utility bills for Washington families.
 Janeta Filimaua is the homeowner of one of the townhomes under construction in Lakewood. Habitat for Humanity invites homeowners to participate in construction and help them build “sweat equity” and emotional investment in their new home. Filimaua broke a nail as she helped frame and erect an interior wall.
Inslee writes Biden to request federal aid for Spokane County
The Gray and Oregon Road fires torched through parts of Spokane County this summer, destroying hundreds of homes and causing substantial damage across the region. On Wednesday, Gov. Jay Inslee wrote President Joe Biden to formally request emergency federal assistance to support the community’s recovery.
Two Washington educators honored
Blaire Penry, Auburn Online School’s career and technical education teacher, and Hilda Lail, Vancouver Public Schools’ bilingual family and community engagement partnership coordinator, were honored this week for their efforts by the state Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction. OSPI named Penry Washington’s Educator of the Year, and named Lail the state’s Classified School Employee of the Year.
Tacoma company invents a method to destroy “forever chemicals”
Gov. Jay Inslee toured the Aquagga warehouse in Tacoma Wednesday, where a startup has invented a sort of “pressure cooker” that destroys per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). Known as “forever chemicals,” PFAS are found in many consumer products and even small amounts can permanently contaminate water, soil, and air. Inslee signed legislation this year to ban PFAS from makeup and other consumer products.
The state’s Job Skills Program accelerates business reinvention
The state’s Job Skills Program helps businesses and employees retrain and retool. When a business changes direction, or when employees must adapt to new technology or business needs, the program offers tailored trainings at minimal cost. The program has helped thousands of businesses and tens of thousands of employees during its 40 years. Read the full story on Gov. Jay Inslee’s Medium.
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