Climate Comments

October 2008

2008 Climate comments:

Share your comments on Washington's efforts to address climate change.

Washington REALTORS® has concerns regarding the proposals regarding point of sale restrictions, energy audits, and disclosure requirements for private buildings
Advocating for the use of leading edge science in environmental policy development
Washington's "Global Warming" Response; Is the sky really falling?
Include assessment of Eco-System Services in the SEPA Process
Residential Energy Upgrades

Washington REALTORS® has concerns regarding the proposals regarding point of sale restrictions, energy audits, and disclosure requirements for private buildings

Washington REALTORS® has concerns regarding the proposals regarding point of sale restrictions, energy audits, and disclosure requirements for private buildings. The nature of the proposals in the draft report are at odds with the existing structure of the state’s seller disclosure law, which is based on disclosure by the seller based on the seller’s existing knowledge. We have historically opposed both point of sale requirements and disclosure subject that broaden the scope of seller disclosure to matters beyond the seller’s existing knowledge.

The reference to the City of Portland pilot project overstates the extent to which that program has been developed, and so it may not be an appropriate reference point for Washington State. Further, Oregon and Washington have different seller disclosure requirements and so direct comparison is not possible.

In addition, the experience of real estate industry in other states has been that mandatory energy audits, either as part of point of sale requirements or disclosure laws do not generally result in the types of energy efficiency improvements that are intended. Depending on the housing market, only 2-5% of houses will turn over in any given year, and so it will take 25+ years for the supply of existing homes to be subject to an energy audit or disclosure.

That said, we agree that improving the energy efficiency of existing housing stock is an important piece of improving our state’s energy policy and in some situations can provide cost savings and increases in home values to homeowners. Washington REALTORS® has worked with other state real estate associations on this issue, and believe there are better alternatives than point of sale restrictions or seller disclosure requirements, and we look forward to working with other stakeholders on this issue prior to and during the 2009 Legislature.

--Bill Clarke Washington REALTORS®

Advocating for the use of leading edge science in environmental policy development

My name is Bob Benze and I am an environmental engineer who has advocated the use of leading edge science in environmental policy development. Unfortunately, much of our current policy on climate change lacks scientific credibility and will result in large costs without commensurate benefit to the citizens of Washington.

Include assessment of Eco-System Services in the SEPA Process

Dear SEPA –Responsible Officials and Administrators:

First, let me thank you for your efforts to incorporate climate change-related considerations into the SEPA environmental review and decision-making process. I appreciate the opportunity to provide some input.

Why we need to include assessment of Eco-System Services in the SEPA Process
Many wetlands, forests, and other lands have been classified as "non-significant" under the State Environmental policy Act (SEPA), due to the property not meeting criteria such as the presence of endangered species. This has often been enough to allow the land to be developed. When viewed through the lens of climate change, however, much of this land becomes very significant. Therefore, it may be appropriate to revise the SEPA process of determining significance to include essential environmental services.

Read more...

A concerned citizen,
-- Dave Zink, Steilacoom, Washington

Residential Energy Upgrades

Hello, In reviewing the 10/6 PowerPoint of the EE/GB IWG it appears that this group doubts that there is any way to help people pay for energy efficiency upgrades until the economy turns around but we are going to need to find viable financial solutions now.

In a downturn economy and stagnant housing market, efficiency upgrades to homes are one of the lowest risk investments anyone can make . Efficiency upgrades to homes have a much higher return on investment and shorter payback period than most, if not all, of the energy production technologies currently in the marketplace.

I would like to encourage you to push for the creation of a program to support public utilities in partnering with investors to offer financing for residential energy efficiency upgrades with the financing paid back through payments made on the utility customers monthly utility biils.

The program I am suggesting is best explained by Joel Rogers in the document titled "Seizing the Opportunity (for Climate, Jobs, and Equity" which appears on the EE/GB IWG website. The cities of Berkeley, CA and Cambridge, MA are developing similar programs thought I do not believe that they involve the local utilities.

Thank you for your consideration of my suggestion,
-- Kinley Deller, Yelnik Environmental