Climate Bills Signed by Governor Inslee May 7

ESSB 5116, the Clean Energy bill, would set deadlines for reduction of fossil fuel use in electric generation: phasing out coal by 2025, making generation carbon neutral by 2030 and use of renewable energy only by 2045.

HB 1444 sets Appliance Efficiency Standards.   This bill adopts a series of new standards for both water and energy efficiency for various household appliances and fixtures.     This will result in major reductions in energy and water use over time.   Within the first 15 years we will save an estimated 150 billion gallons of water and avoid 5986 thousand metric tons of CO2 emissions.

HB 1512 incentivizes utilities’ installation of electric vehicle infrastructure. (Note: EV infrastructure consists primarily of chargers, which would extend the range of EVs and make them more feasible for longer trips).

ESHB 1112  will phase out use of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) over the next five years. HFCs were substituted for chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) after the Montreal Protocol phased them out in the 1990s, but it was discovered that HFCs have a high warming potential. In 2018, members of the Montreal Protocol amended it with the Kigali Amendment to phase out HFCs.

HB 1257, a smorgasbord of building efficiency provisions that require buildings in Washington state to meet increasing building efficiency standards, provide chargers for electric cars, and encourage utilities to offer renewable natural gas to customers. Building efficiency is one of the remaining issues to be addressed in reducing carbon emissions.