|
Climate Change Policy Of Washington (state)
The climate change policy of Washington (state), Washington state involves a combination of incentives and penalties intended to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (GHG). State legislators and governors have consistently rejected climate change denial and stated their belief that addressing climate change is one of the most pressing issues at hand. In modern political history, Washington state is considered a Washington State Democratic Party, stronghold for the Democratic party, which favors government action to reduce carbon emissions. History Even before statehood, hydroelectricity provided a source of renewable energy in the Washington Territory, Washington territory. In 1885, a dynamo was installed onto a flour mill on Spokane Falls, generating hydroelectric power for lighting and streetcar power. Grand Coulee Dam, which was built on the Columbia River watershed as part of the New Deal, is the single largest power station in the United States, renewable or otherwise. It is al ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Grand Coulee Dam
Grand Coulee Dam is a concrete gravity dam on the Columbia River in the U.S. state of Washington, built to produce hydroelectric power and provide irrigation water. Constructed between 1933 and 1942, Grand Coulee originally had two powerhouses. The third powerhouse ("Nat"), completed in 1974 to increase energy production, makes Grand Coulee the largest power station in the United States by nameplate capacity at 6,809 MW. The proposal to build the dam was the focus of a bitter debate during the 1920s between two groups. One group wanted to irrigate the ancient Grand Coulee with a gravity canal while the other pursued a high dam and pumping scheme. The dam supporters won in 1933, but, although they fully intended otherwise, the initial proposal by the Bureau of Reclamation was for a "low dam" tall which would generate electricity without supporting irrigation. That year, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and a consortium of three companies called MWAK (Mason-Walsh-Atkinson Kier ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
2006 Washington Initiative 937
Ballot Initiative 937 (official name Initiative measure no. 937, known as I-937) is a clean energy initiative passed in the US state of Washington, appearing on the ballot in the November 2006 elections. It passed with 52 percent of the vote. Content of the proposal The initiative requires large utilities to obtain 15% of their electricity from new renewable resources such as solar and wind (but excluding hydro) by 2020 with incremental steps of 3% by 2012 and 9% by 2016. It also requires that utilities undertake all cost-effective energy conservation. Precedents Similar legislation has been enacted in at least 20 other states including the following. (The table is sorted by date and then by descending percentage. I-937 is included in bold.) Unless indicated otherwise, data are from Supporters Supporters included the following: Elected officials * U.S. Senators Maria Cantwell and Patty Murray * U.S. Congressmen Jay Inslee, Adam Smith, Norm Dicks and Jim McDermott * State ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Washington State Archives
The Washington State Library is a government agency that operates public libraries in Washington state's prisons and mental hospitals, and maintains collections related to the state government. Based in Tumwater, it is a service of the Washington Secretary of State and was founded in 1853 as the Washington Territorial Library. The library has a collection of 2.25 million physical items and other online resources available to residents of the state. History The Washington Territorial Library was established on March 2, 1853, with the signing of the Organic Act by President Millard Fillmore to create Washington Territory. The law included an appropriation of $5,000 for the territory library that was used by appointed Territorial Governor Issac Stevens to buy and ship 2,130 volumes from New York City to Olympia. The first shipment of books departed from New York City on May 21, 1853, aboard the ''Invincible'', which traveled around Cape Horn and South America to San Francisco. T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Centralia, Washington
Centralia () is a city in Lewis County, Washington, Lewis County, Washington (state), Washington, United States. It is located along Interstate 5 in Washington, Interstate 5 near the midpoint between Seattle and Portland, Oregon. The city had a population of 18,183 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Centralia is twin cities, twinned with Chehalis, Washington, Chehalis, located to the south near the confluence of the Chehalis River (Washington), Chehalis and Newaukum River, Newaukum rivers. History The area was first settled by the Upper Chehalis people with the first non-indigenous settlers arriving in 1845. In 1850, J. G. Cochran and his wife Anna were led there via the Oregon Trail by their adopted son, George Washington (Washington pioneer), George Washington, a free African-American. The family feared Washington would be forced into slavery if they stayed in Missouri after the passage of the Compromise of 1850. Cochran filed a donation land claim near the Borst H ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hydroelectricity
Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is Electricity generation, electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies 15% of the world's electricity, almost 4,210 TWh in 2023, which is more than all other Renewable energy, renewable sources combined and also more than nuclear power. Hydropower can provide large amounts of Low-carbon power, low-carbon electricity on demand, making it a key element for creating secure and clean electricity supply systems. A hydroelectric power station that has a dam and reservoir is a flexible source, since the amount of electricity produced can be increased or decreased in seconds or minutes in response to varying electricity demand. Once a hydroelectric complex is constructed, it produces no direct waste, and almost always emits considerably less greenhouse gas than fossil fuel-powered energy plants. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cap-and-Invest (Washington State)
Cap-and-Invest, is a program run by the Washington state government to fund climate change policy through a carbon emissions trading system, commonly known as cap and trade. Program design The Cap-and-Invest program was created by the Climate Commitment Act in 2021. Auctions The program uses sealed-bid auctions, whereby the price that each participant bids is unknown to other participants. After bidding is closed, participants are allocated the number of allowances that they bid for, in order of highest price first, until all allowances have been accounted for. However, the price that all the successful participants actually pay (the settlement price) is the lowest successful bid price. Any participant who bid a price lower than the final price, will not receive any allowances at auction, and will instead have to purchase them on the secondary market. The Department of Ecology also establishes price floors and ceilings for allowances, increasing over time and adjusted for i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Washington Climate Commitment Act
The Climate Commitment Act is a law enacted by the Washington state legislature and signed by Governor Jay Inslee in 2021. Cap and invest program The Climate Commitment Act is implemented through the Cap-and-Invest program which was launched in 2023. Initiative 2117 In the 2024 general election, ballot initiative 2117 which sought to repeal the Climate Commitment Act was placed on the ballot. A poll in May 2024 of 403 registered voters showed 41% support repealing while 31% oppose with a +/- 5% margin of error. Over $8.5 million and $5 million were raised in support and opposition of the initiative, respectively. Initiative 2117 is part of a group of ballot initiatives lead by conservative leaders, including businessman Brian Heywood, who criticized the CCA for targeting gasoline which has inelastic demand, meaning that people still have to buy it even when the price goes up. He was quoted as describing the policy as "like Marie Antoinette — let them drive Teslas." The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Refrigerant
A refrigerant is a working fluid used in the cooling, heating, or reverse cooling/heating cycles of air conditioning systems and heat pumps, where they undergo a repeated phase transition from a liquid to a gas and back again. Refrigerants are heavily regulated because of their toxicity and flammability, as well as the contribution of CFC and HCFC refrigerants to ozone depletion and the contribution of HFC refrigerants to climate change. Refrigerants are used in a direct expansion (DX) circulating system to transfer energy from one environment to another, typically from inside a building to outside or vice versa. These can be air conditioner cooling only systems, cooling & heating reverse DX systems, or heat pump and heating only DX cycles. Refrigerants are controlled substances that are classified by several international safety regulations and, depending on their classification, may only be handled by qualified engineers due to extreme pressure, temperature, flammability, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hydrofluorocarbon
Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) are synthetic organic compounds that contain fluorine and hydrogen atoms, and are the most common type of organofluorine compounds. Most are gases at room temperature and pressure. They are frequently used in air conditioning and as refrigerants; R-134a (1,1,1,2-tetrafluoroethane) is one of the most commonly used HFC refrigerants. In order to aid the recovery of the stratospheric ozone layer, HFCs were adopted to replace the more potent chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) such as R-12, which were phased out from use by the Montreal Protocol, and hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) such as R-21 which are presently being phased out. HFCs are also used in insulating foams, aerosol propellants, as solvents and for fire protection. HFCs may not harm the ozone layer as much as the compounds they replace, but they still contribute to global warming – with some like trifluoromethane (CHF3 or R-23) having 11,700 times the warming potential of carbon dioxide. HFC atmo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Government Trifecta
A government trifecta is a political situation in which the same political party controls the Executive (government), executive branch and both chambers of the legislative branch in countries that have a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature and an executive that is not Fusion of powers, fused. The term is primarily used in the United States, where the term originated—being borrowed from Trifecta, horse race betting. Most countries and all democracies have some degree of separation of powers into separate branches of government, typically consisting of an executive, a legislative, and a judicial branch, judicial branch, but the term ''government trifecta'' is primarily applied to countries in which the executive is not elected by the legislature and where the legislature is not Parliamentary sovereignty, sovereign; in parliamentary systems, the executive or part of it is elected by the legislature and must have the support of the majority of Parliament. Government trifectas are ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is a Centre-left politics, center-left political parties in the United States, political party in the United States. One of the Major party, major parties of the U.S., it was founded in 1828, making it the world's oldest active political party. Its main rival since the 1850s has been the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, and the two have since dominated American politics. The Democratic Party was founded in 1828 from remnants of the Democratic-Republican Party. Senator Martin Van Buren played the central role in building the coalition of state organizations which formed the new party as a vehicle to help elect Andrew Jackson as president that year. It initially supported Jacksonian democracy, agrarianism, and Manifest destiny, geographical expansionism, while opposing Bank War, a national bank and high Tariff, tariffs. Democrats won six of the eight presidential elections from 1828 to 1856, losing twice to the Whig Party (United States) ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Washington State Legislature
The Washington State Legislature is the state legislature of the State of Washington. It is a bicameral body, composed of the lower Washington House of Representatives, composed of 98 representatives, and the upper Washington State Senate, with 49 senators plus the lieutenant governor acting as president. The state is divided into 49 legislative districts, each of which elect one senator and two representatives. The state legislature meets in the Legislative Building at the Washington State Capitol in Olympia. As of January 2025, Democrats control both houses of the Washington State Legislature. Democrats hold a 59–39 majority in the House of Representatives and a 30–19 majority in the Senate. History The Washington State Legislature traces its ancestry to the creation of the Washington Territory in 1853, following successful arguments from settlers north of the Columbia River to the U.S. federal government to legally separate from the Oregon Territory. The Washingto ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
