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Spokane City Council Takes On Climate Change Legislation

File photo of Monroe Street Dam over Spokane Falls in the city of Spokane, Washington.
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Wikimedia - tinyurl.com/y9geafwv
File photo of Monroe Street Dam over Spokane Falls in the city of Spokane, Washington.

Spokane could become the next in a growing list of Northwest cities including Seattle, Portland and Bend, Oregon, to commit to a climate change agreement President Trump opted out of this spring.

The Spokane City Council takes public testimony on a new climate change ordinance Monday night. 


The new law cites “overwhelming scientific evidence [that] clearly shows that [the] planet’s climate is changing… and that humans have, and are, contributing significantly...” 



If it passes, City Council President Ben Stuckart says greenhouse gas emissions goals set for Spokane in 1990 and again in 2005 will be codified. 



“If you don’t codify your goals, things can change rapidly in government and the potential exists that somebody doesn’t have the environment as a priority,” Stuckart said.

The ordinance comes as Washington and Oregon join 12 other states to form the U.S. Climate Alliance in the wake of the president’s rejection of the international Paris Agreement. Washington Gov. Jay Inslee is a co-chair. 

Copyright 2017 Northwest News Network

Emily Schwing
Emily Schwing comes to the Inland Northwest by way of Alaska, where she covered social and environmental issues with an Arctic spin as well as natural resource development, wildlife management and Alaska Native issues for nearly a decade. Her work has been heard on National Public Radio’s programs like “Morning Edition” and “All things Considered.” She has also filed for Public Radio International’s “The World,” American Public Media’s “Marketplace,” and various programs produced by the BBC and the CBC. She has also filed stories for Scientific American, Al Jazeera America and Arctic Deeply.