Gov. Jay Inslee visited Hockinson Heights Elementary School Wednesday and got a first-hand glimpse at how the school is putting environmentally minded practices and improvements into action.
The governor’s visit covered a number of aspects of the school’s infrastructure and practices, from lighting to how it operated a program to handle food waste.
Hockinson School District has received support from the Washington State Department of Commerce to improve its facilities with energy efficiency projects. The district has saved 1.6 gigawatt-hours through projects it has undertaken in the past 15 years, a news release stated. Energy consumption has dropped by 19% in the past four years.
Currently, the district is using funds from the Department of Commerce to retrofit HVAC systems in certain district buildings, the release stated. It’s also working on replacing lighting at the elementary school.
Inslee’s visit was a showcase of the Climate Commitment Act, a law that passed in 2021 that employs a “cap-and-invest” scheme to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Following the tour, Inslee said the students were well aware of climate change.
“What they told me is this: The Earth is worth investing in,” Inslee said. “These kids are worth investing in.”
After meeting with the elementary school students, the governor said there was a lot to learn and admire about the youth. He said he spoke to a fifth-grader who understood high water temperatures led to the die-off of fish populations.
“I gotta tell you, the kids get it,” Inslee said.
He believed the younger generation was invested in keeping the Climate Commitment Act going. He believed the act, which charges carbon emissions to fund clean energy programs, led to “good, solid, meaningful, practical investments.”
Inslee said $50 million through the act was already invested to help communities get what Hockinson already has.
“The Climate Commitment Act is working. It’s saving these kids’ future,” Inslee said.
He mentioned the savings the district’s current efficiency savings, which the district release stated were lowered by almost $79,000.
“That’s taxpayer money that otherwise is just going up the smokestack,” Inslee said.
Though the tour was focused mostly on youth, the governor said the act benefits older generations through the cost savings of energy efficiency.
He framed the state’s environmental efforts against the crises it has encountered, like this year’s wildfire season, which has hit Clark County centrally with the Jenny Creek fire that burned dozens of acres near La Center last month.
“We cannot allow the future of Washington State to go up in smoke,” Inslee said.
Multiple times Inslee framed the act as a way to combat the “profiteering” of oil and gas companies in Washington.
“We should get to the bottom of why these oil and gas companies are penalizing us all across the West Coast,” Inslee said.
The governor said he will introduce legislation to meet that end.
