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Department of Ecology News Release - October 2, 2007
07-290
OLYMPIA – Washington residents can learn Friday, Oct. 5, how the state is working with other states and Canadian provinces to share the West’s response to climate change.
Washington is a member of the Western Climate Initiative (WCI), a joint effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to help slow climate change. Other members include the states of Oregon, California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah, plus the Canadian provinces of British Columbia and Manitoba. In August, WCI members announced a goal to reduce their overall greenhouse gas emissions by 15 percent below 2005 levels by 2020. Now they are working to design a regional cap-and-trade program to help meet that goal. The design must be submitted to governors and premiers by Aug. 27, 2008.
“The real work of the WCI is now getting under way. We want the help and advice from all sectors of Washington’s economy on the best design for our state that can work as part of a regional system. We are asking people to join us in this first of several meetings on this important issue,” said Janice Adair, WCI chair and special assistant to Washington Department of Ecology Director Jay Manning.
The first Washington stakeholder meeting on WCI work will be held from 2 to 4 p.m. Friday, Oct. 5. To participate, call 1-800-868-1837 and type in participant code 656557#.
The meeting agenda includes:
Notices about all WCI stakeholders meetings will be sent via Ecology’s climate change listserv. To join, go to http://www.ecy.wa.gov/climatechange and click on “join e-mail list.”
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Media Contacts: Janice Adair, WCI chair, 360-407-0291 Seth Preston, Ecology communications manager, 360-407-6848
About the Western Climate Initiative: http://www.westernclimateinitiative.org
Copyright © Washington State Department of Ecology. See http://www.ecy.wa.gov/copyright.html.
