City of Seattle
Climate Agenda for 2024
Here's what we are advocating for in 2024:
Adopt a new Comprehensive Plan that includes a robust and detailed section on climate change that provides solutions for reducing emissions for each sector, and focuses on climate hazard vulnerabilities, adaptation, and resilience strategies based on updated climate data.
Put a Transportation Levy on the ballot that makes investments that will reduce emissions from transportation, and meet Seattle’s goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions from transportation by 82% by 2030 compared to a 2008 baseline.
City Government to adopt a climate focus by establishing a Select Committee on Climate that can bring together and oversee climate efforts across multiple departments, raise the status of the Office of Sustainability and Environment to a department, and designate a deputy mayor who will be responsible for climate.
Continue to fund climate initiatives via the Green New Deal to at least the level they are currently funded at.
Approve a plan for city-wide decarbonization of single family and residential buildings, as well as smaller commercial buildings.
Background
Seattle has been a leader on climate change, but we still have a long way to go to meet our goals. Seattle adopted a Climate Action Plan in 2013, and updated it in 2018. In 2019, Seattle passed the Green New Deal, which sets an ambitious goal of carbon neutral by 2030. In 2020, Seattle passed the JumpStart bill, which levied a payroll tax on big business in order to fund supportive housing, and including $20 million per year for the Green New Deal.
Since then, Seattle has passed improvements to its Commercial Energy Code which have been picked up by a few other jurisdictions, and some of the more critical pieces, requiring electrical instead of fossil fuel for space and water heating, have been adopted state-wide.
City Timeline
March 2024 – Office of Planning and Community Development releases draft Comprehensive Plan
June 2024 – Office of Sustainability and Environment starts rulemaking plan for BEPS
June 2024 – Council passes a Transportation Levy to go on the ballot
Nov 2024 – Citywide Council position election
Nov. 2024 – Council approves new biennial budget
Dec 2024/Q1 2025 – Council approves Comprehensive Plan, including the Climate Element
Other items expected in 2024:
Seattle City Light Integrated Resource Plan
Update to the Transportation Electrification Plan
Comprehensive Plan
Seattle is doing a major update of its 20-year Comprehensive Plan in 2024. The process has been delayed by about 9 months, and a draft of the plan is now available. It includes the first ever Climate Element.
Green New Deal
The Green New Deal is Seattle's climate legislation that defines the City's goals, and sets up a mechanism for advice on climate policy and climate justice.
Past City Action on Climate
2013 – City adopts first Climate Action Plan
2018 – City updates Climate Action Plan
2019 – City passes Green New Deal resolution. Green New Deal Oversight Board established to advise the City on climate justice
2020 –Mayor Durkin issued Executive Order 2020-01 on climate policy in Jan. 2020 in response to the City Council's passage of the Green New Deal, just prior to the start of the pandemic. It calls for an inter-departmental committee of the city to identify the ten most pressing actions the city could take on climate change. Their report was due in June 2020, but was postponed due the coronavirus. We don't have a new date, and we don't know if this is something the city is even still pursuing.
2020 – JumpStart is established, with 9% allocated to Green New Deal. Green New Deal Oversight Board tasked with making recommendations on spending.
2021 - Seattle Public School board passed the 100% Clean Energy by 2040 Resolution
2021 – Mayor Durkin issued a second COP26 Executive Order in 2021.
2021 – Seattle adopts a much stricter commercial building code that is expected to result in almost all new buildings being fully electric.
2022 – Mayor Bruce Harrell issued One Seattle Transportation and Climate Justice. Calls for an Emissions-free City fleet by 2030, continued investment in bus priority lanes, update Bicycle and Pedestrian Master Plans, implementation and funding plan for low-pollution neighborhoods (goal of at least 3 by Q12028)
2022 – Green New Deal Oversight Board is seated and makes first second of recommendations
2022 - Seattle School Capital levy passed with $18M funding for clean energy conversion.
2023 – Seattle passes the Building Emissions Standards Policy, which requires large commercial buildings to decarbonize and establishes a timeline that has all buildings completing the transition to clean energy by 2050. It is expected to cut Seattle's overall emissions by 10%.
2023 - SDOT Climate Change Response Framework released
Recommendations for Process Changes
Establish a Select Committee on Climate within the City Council
Establish a set of benchmarks that are frequently updated and reviewed to track our climate progress.