https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxVwR8RQCeY&t=4s

On December 19, 2021, Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia announced that he would not support the Build Back Better bill (BBBB), which contained a number of climate actions as well as social programs. The Biden Administration has worked with Senator Manchin and other legislators on compromises to make it possible to pass BBBB to no avail. As one of the Board Members of the UU Ministry for Earth, Doris Manchin, stated, "Joe Manchin announced that he will not support Build Back Better. Which only means that STRENGTHEN LOCAL CLIMATE COMMITMENTS (the work of cities and states and industry / sectors)" is even more important. If you are not already involved, please sign up here.

The 27^th annual Conference of Parties (COP27) of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) took place in Sharm El Sheik, Egypt on November 6 – 18, 2022. The agenda and numerous other documents for the COP are available here. The main issues of COP27 were (1) member parties’ emissions reductions and (2) loss and damage. A summary of the COP by Earth Negotiations Bulletin with some of the significant decisions highlighted is here. "Loss and damage" involves the costs to member parties such as Pakistan of climate events (e.g., flooding) that are triggered by the rise of emissions from other member parties such as the U.S. and Europe. Many small island states, such as Tonga and Tuvalu, are also pushing this issue because of sea level rise. Some European countries (e.g., France and Germany), the US and the EU have pledged to fund reparations for loss and damage. There will be pressure on the US to increase funding for reparations and this could become an issue in Congress, as described here. With Republican control of the House, it will require considerable pressure to get the funding. But before January, 2023, Democrats will retain control during a lame duck session and it may be possible to get Congress to support, for example, funding the US Fair Share of the Green Climate Fund (GCF). US funding on reparations will not come up in the immediate future because the loss and damage fund is not established - that will be left to a 24-member committee to report to COP28 in Dubai. The 2015 Paris Agreement set up a methodology for member parties to declare their annual emissions and announce new (lower) targets for future years. These “nationally determined contributions” (NDCs) are reviewed every five years; they were reviewed in Glasgow in 2021 (the 2020 COP was cancelled due to the pandemic). Many, including the US, EU and China announced new targets for 2030; the US NDC for 2030 is 52% below 2005 levels and many other parties also pledged a 50%+ reduction. This is in line with the findings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) that keeping temperature rises below 2C will require halving emissions by 2030. COP27 was an opportunity to determine if parties are keeping to their commitments and are on track to lower emissions this fast. A number of parties complained at the COP that the world is not on track and urged more action. The EU in particular urged that all parties including developing countries increase ambition and hinted that financing, e.g. for loss and damage, might be contingent on all parties stepping up reductions. Only if the vast majority of parties commit to at least 50% reductions by 2030 can the breach of temperature limits be avoided. One issue that continually arises at the COPs is fossil fuel production. In Glasgow, COP26 introduced the text "phase down of unabated coal power and phase out inefficient fossil fuel subsidies" after fierce debate about what that means. Many parties wanted text to read "phase out" of all fossil fuels but Saudi Arabia and other parties vetoed that. The term "unabated" was used to allow parties to claim that they were offsetting coal production with carbon capture and storage. The term “inefficient” was added to allow parties to claim that they were using sound financial means of funding fossil fuel production. These terms are in the COP27 decision but are likely to be contentious is future COPs. NOTES

• Washington State is not directly a party to the climate change agreement, but we are a member of America is All In, an organization that represents states, cities and private organizations at COPs.
• At the COP26 in 2021, a number of side agreements were made among governments, businesses and civil society. Agreements were made on coal, methane, fossil fuel subsidies, oil and gas production, deforestation and finance. Since the U.S. did not join all of them, you can take action using the information here.

Governor Inslee signed several of the big environmental bills
of the 2021 session on Monday, May 18 in Seattle at various locations.  
Bills included SB 5126 (the Climate Commitment Act),  HB 1091 (Clean Fuels); 
and SB 5141 (HEAL Act). He vetoed provisions in 5126 and 1091 that would have made them contingent on passing a 5 cent per gallon gas tax.

The legislature passed HB 1287, the zero emissions vehicle (ZEV) bill, after it was amended to “establish a goal that all publicly and privately owned passenger and light duty vehicles of model year 2030 or later sold, purchased, or registered in Washington state be electric vehicles, contingent upon vehicle participation in a new road usage charge or equivalent tax or fee policy.” Note that is a “goal,” not a mandate, and it is contingent on a new road usage charge for electric vehicles (to fund transportation like the gas tax does). Because of this contingency, Governor Inslee vetoed provisions of the bill referring to the 2030 goal. Other provisions remain intact, including some that require the state to plan for increases in electric vehicle chargers.

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