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Hello Friends and Partners...
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Seattle stands united with other cities and states that have pledged to continue to advance climate progress regardless of federal support. In Seattle, we know that climate action creates jobs, leads to neighborhoods with cleaner air and water, and is key to growing a thriving, innovative city. Seattle remains a national climate leader with innovative work in energy efficiency, transportation and electric vehicles, urban forestry, and food systems. And by the end of this year, we can add "resilience building" to that list! Mayor Murray and the City Council have been stalwart in their commitment to Seattle's climate and environmental progress and I see that resolve only growing stronger these days.
Jessica Finn Coven, Director
Office of Sustainability & Environment
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KEY SUSTAINBILITY UPDATES
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Mayor Murray, in partnership with 100 Resilient Cities, appoints Jessica Finn Coven as Seattle's first Chief Resilience Officer
Earlier this month, Mayor Ed Murray appointed OSE Director Jessica Finn Coven as Chief Resilience Officer (CRO), a new position created to lead citywide resilience building efforts. This work will help Seattle prepare for, withstand, and bounce back from "shocks" - catastrophic events like heat waves and floods - and "stresses" - longer term pressures like climate change, income inequality, and impacts from Seattle's unprecedented growth. Finn Coven will remain as OSE Director while taking on these additional responsibilities. More info here.
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Mayor Murray, Councilmember O'Brien issue statements on Trump administration's rollback of critical vehicle efficiency standards
Mayor Ed Murray and Councilmember Mike O'Brien released the following statements in response to the Trump administration's rollback of critical vehicle efficiency standards:
"President Trump's decision to roll back vehicle efficiency standards weakens clean air protections at a time when the U.S. and the world need urgent action to combat climate change," said Mayor Murray. "This action sends a signal to the world that the U.S. is backing away from climate leadership. Vehicle efficiency standards have been critical in spurring innovations in cars and trucks that have resulted in cleaner air and water, and lower greenhouse gas emissions. In fact, a quarter of Seattle's greenhouse gas reductions since 2008 can be attributed to the increasing fuel economy of our cars.
Complete statement here
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Mayor's Environmental Justice Committee Convenes in 2017
Last month, members of the newly appointed
Environmental Justice Committee (EJC) met for the first time to engage with each other and City staff to determine how we will all work together to strengthen environmental justice in Seattle. Mayor Murray launched the
Equity & Environment Agenda
last year and formed the EJC to create opportunities for those most affected by environmental inequities to have ownership and deep connections to the City's environmental work.
Over this next year the Committee will:
- Advise City staff on designing environmentally-focused policies and programs
- Develop and implement a pilot project in partnership with City staff to demonstrate environmental justice in action
- Increase environmental justice community cohesion and grow individual environmental leadership capacity.
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Driving Energy Efficiency in City Buildings
OSE and the City's capital departments are working to shrink our energy use and reduce GHG emissions in City-owned facilities. Seattle's Resource Conservation Management work is another way Seattle is leading by example in meeting our citywide climate goals. The aim of the program is to ensure that City-owned buildings are operating as efficiently as possible, with a near-term target to achieve a 20% reduction in energy use by 2020. Long-term, this puts us on the path to significantly reducing the GHG emissions of the City-owned building portfolio. More info here.
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