July is here- and so is the sunshine! Learn more about how to stay safe in the summer heat here, and keep reading for details on a new tool sharing data about where heat hits the hardest in King County. 

Read on for... 

• Events *this week* to connect the local climate community 

• A new tool to understand heat and health impacts around King County 

• An extension for our Community Buildings Decarbonization RFA 

• Details on the Executive-proposed Climate and Workforce Strategy 

• Winners of the Green Globe Awards, which celebrate local action 

• How to give input on Link light rail in South King County 

Please forward this newsletter to other folks who may want to subscribe. And don’t forget, you can follow countywide climate action & news from the Executive Climate Office (ECO) on social media: 

This newsletter is written by the King County Executive Climate Office (ECO) in coordination with departments across the county. You can learn more about us at the bottom of this newsletter. 

This week is “PNW Climate Week”- a community-driven effort to highlight local climate action and make connections with other people interested in a cleaner, healthier future. Join King County for our "Leading Locally" panel on Friday and learn how governments are combining knowledge, resources, and advocacy power to increase mobility, invest in renewable energy, expand farm and forest protection, and promote clean energy use in buildings and vehicles. 

Register here: bit.ly/k4cpanel  

And don't forget- you can join us the night before at the Coalition for Climate Careers (C3) Reception to connect with local changemakers and learn more about connecting frontline communities to climate career opportunities! Register here and keep reading to learn about the Climate and Workforce Strategy we’ll be highlighting.

"The farm community really loves this idea of partnering with hunger relief organizations to make sure that the food that they grow is available to all residents of the county."  

Thanks to The Seattle Medium for covering an action in the Executive-proposed Strategic Climate Action Plan (SCAP)! Want to learn more about why food security is a climate issue and what we hope to do about it in King County? Check out the “Food Systems and Security” portion of the Sustainable and Resilient Frontline Communities section of the SCAP! You can also... 

• Read the full Seattle Medium story here. 

• Learn more about the SCAP at kingcounty.gov/scap 

You can learn all about it at an upcoming event for PNW Climate Week!

Click here to register.  

King County Executive Shannon Braddock recently honored this year’s Green Globe Award winners — a group of local leaders, organizations, and public servants who are advancing environmental stewardship across the region.   

From expanding access to green, affordable housing to restoring salmon habitat and building a circular economy, these award recipients exemplify what it means to take climate action at the local level. Awardees included: 

• Lynda Mapes, Environmental Catalyst  

• Growing for Good, Local Food Economy  

• Bike Works, Circular Economy  

• Villa Comunitaria, Clean Water  

• Homestead Community Land Trust, Green Built Environment  

• Conservation Futures Advisory Committee, Land Conservation  

• Golden Bricks Events, Outdoor Recreation  

• Charlotte Spang, Salmon Recovery  

• David Kimmett, Public Service  

Learn more about the awards here. 

As Link light rail extends south as soon as 2026, King County Metro’s South Link Connections mobility project continues to work on improving public transportation in south King County.  

In response to what King County Metro heard from community members and partners in Algona, Auburn, Burien, Des Moines, Federal Way, Kent, Normandy Park, Pacific, SeaTac, Tukwila and parts of unincorporated King County, Metro is excited to share an updated transit network proposal. 

Learn more and weigh in via a survey by August 31 here. 

Are you familiar with the King County Executive Climate Office (ECO)? Here’s a little more about who we are, and what we do: 

Departments across King County implement climate action within their work. King County ECO elevates, coordinates and accelerates those efforts and manages several in-house programs. That includes work on building decarbonization, climate preparedness, climate equity and building a clean energy workforce. Our agenda is set based on the approaches laid out in the Strategic Climate Action Plan. 

ECO works with the broader King County Climate Team, which includes climate leads from different departments.

You can learn more about us at our website here.