Climate Justice

 Achieving a bold and just agenda to protect the wellbeing of our communities and our environment is possible. Since 2006, the City of Seattle has had climate plans in place but despite these plans greenhouse gas emissions keep going up. In the midst of a global pandemic, Seattle was number one in worst air quality and pollution in the world due to wildfires. In times of extreme weather events, our communities living in the Duwamish Valley experience flooding, making the danger of sea level rise more apparent. The Pacific Northwest’s iconic wild salmon and orca whale populations are dwindling. While climate change affects us all, some of us bear the brunt of the impact more than others. Seattle doesn’t need more plans that talk about how we are going to address climate change. We need bold and just action. 

I envision a Seattle that is healthy for the people that live here; a Puget Sound where orca are thriving and salmon are abundant. We have an opportunity to dream a vision for strong and healthy communities. I believe we can work together to ensure all of Seattle’s residents have clean air to breathe, clean water to drink, and greenspaces to enjoy. To realize that vision, an Echohawk Administration will establish climate justice and climate preparedness as cornerstones of how the City operates. Rooted in racial justice and Indigenous methodologies, I will work with communities most impacted by the effects of climate change to action solutions that benefit the many over the few. In order to do this, we desperately need to make big reductions in climate pollution while making deep investments in community resilience. 

Caring for people and the planet are values that are deeply ingrained in me. I was raised in the tundra of Alaska surrounded by the bounty of traditional foods. Subsistence hunting and foraging are what kept my family and my community fed and deeply connected to our culture, to the earth and to each other. I know what we stand to lose if we do not take action on climate change. I am fiercely committed to ensuring that we have healthy and resilient people and an environment for generations to come. I know that in order to do that, there are bold changes to how the City develops policy and programs to address climate change. My own executive leadership experience has taught me that to make lasting change, it takes everyone, but the leadership truly sets the tone. I am ready to rise to the challenge with courage.

Creating Jobs Through a Climate Resilient Seattle

For Seattle to meet our climate goals, we must build a smarter, more resilient city. In order to do this, we must partner with our labor stakeholders to put people back to work coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic. We have an opportunity to invest in workers and good paying jobs while building a climate resilient Seattle. An Echohawk Administration will work hard to create family-wage jobs that center the well being of the worker, their families and our communities by: 

  • Leveraging federal and state dollars to fund jobs that increase multimodal transportation infrastructure. Vehicles fueled by gas and diesel are a major source of climate pollutants accounting for 60% of greenhouse gas emissions in Seattle. These pollutants disproportionately harm Black, Indigenous and people of color when we look at the neighborhoods where these pollutants do and do not cross. This is not unacceptable. We must make investments in reliable, accessible and affordable electric public transit while building out pedestrian and bike friendly infrastructure.

  • Advocating fiercely for zero emission technology to expedite the City’s transition to a 100% electric fleet while partnering with the Port of Seattle, King County, and the business sector to maximize our collective procurement power to drive demand for clean technology diesel trucks while building out fueling infrastructure. 

  • Retrofitting buildings to run on clean and renewable energy. In Seattle, buildings account for 37% of greenhouse gas emissions. We have a chance to improve indoor air quality, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and support energy efficiency.  Within my first 2 years in office I will pass a Building Performance Policy.

  • Directing the Office of Sustainability and Environment to work with Seattle City LIght and the Office of Housing to apply revenue from the Seattle Jump Start tax to expand and the Oil to Electric program and create a Fracked Gas to Electric program to offer incentives for residents with low incomes to switch from fracked gas based appliances in multifamily and residential homes to electric appliances.

  • The Biden Administration has clearly stated that they are prioritizing climate change, racial equity, the economy and COVID-19. I will work with the Administration and the Governor’s Office to ensure that federal investments in a Civilian Climate Corps come to Seattle to create jobs building green stormwater infrastructure, protecting critical shoreline, wetlands and forests, and build clean energy infrastructure in transportation and buildings. 

  • Support circular use of City-generated methane into renewable natural gas (RNG) use to help decarbonize existing natural gas infrastructure. 

Centering Climate Justice 

Seattle has long been recognized nationally and internationally as a climate leader. Under an Echohawk Administration, Seattle will be recognized as a climate justice leader. Investing in the future of Seattle means listening to the wisdom and lived experiences of those who for too long have been impacted first and worst by environmental racism and climate change.  It also means finding ways to action community led solutions in ways that honor and recognize Indigenous methodology. We must make our dreams of a healthy environment a reality for all Seattleites. Within my first 100 days in office I will act on a series of Executive Orders to establish the infrastructure needed at the City of Seattle to lead on climate justice. This includes:  

  • Establishing an Office of Indigenous Affairs to raise the collective awareness and knowledge of the wisdom and leadership of Indigenous peoples and Native tribes. This team will advise my office and City departments on improving government-to-government relations. They will imbue a First Foods and People First approach to urban ecological practices to curb the effects of climate change.  They will advise departments on trauma-informed approaches to policy, program and partnership development. 

  • Expansion of existing assistance programs prioritizing Black, Indigenous and people of color and residents with low incomes who own or rent homes that want to replace fossil fuel dependent appliances such as cooking stoves and home heating, with electric appliances.

  • Creating an incentive program to assist restaurant and food truck owners to transition off of fracked gas powered equipment to clean, renewable electric based equipment. 

  • Facilitating a more accessible pathway to community land trusts to yield more urban farms, greenspace, and parks to support equitable access to greenspaces and parks while increasing tree canopy cover in neighborhoods that are experiencing the impacts of air pollution and heat island effect.

  • Grow the Environmental Justice Fund at the City to a multi-million dollar fund to make more substantial investments in Black, Indigenous and people of color led environmental justice solutions

  • Establish an Environmental Justice Fund Advisory Board to provide recommendations on the allocation of funding dedicated to advance environmental and climate justice through community driven projects. 

  • Establish a community shared solar program to ensure that the electricity generated benefits low income customers to generate community prosperity through investor owned utility opportunities. 

  • Invest in place-based approaches such as resilience hubs to protect residents disproportionately exposed to air pollution and urban heat island effect. These hubs will foster community cohesion, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and provide cool places for communities to connect with each other while supporting comfort. 

Building a Holistic City 

Transportation, predominantly cars and trucks, is responsible for of Seattle’s greenhouse gas emissions. of the City’s land is single-family zoned, consisting of individual homes on separate lots. It is particularly startling that single-family homes account for only of all housing units. This has created an environment where a limited supply has made it (1) not affordable to live in a single-family home, (2) incentivized sprawl by pushing affordable housing away from where residents work, and (3) made owning a car the norm. Seattle’s zoning excludes all but the wealthy. As a City gaining more than 10,000 new residents every year, Seattle is not built to withstand climate change’s residual impacts nor accommodate a growing population. The answer to this problem starts with building missing middle housing and bike, pedestrian, and transit-oriented neighborhoods.

Many times when the word “density” is thrown around, people imagine skyscrapers and high-end luxury developments. That is not what I mean here. By working with the City Council to reverse exclusionary zoning ordinances to allow for multiplexes in every neighborhood ( missing middle housing), we can foster sustainable residential infill. Think about the random parking lots that sit empty, the fenced up dirt patches, or large gaps that awkwardly sit between buildings. Using this space to build affordable units will not only increase the stock of housing, but bring residents closer to where they work and spend time in the City. Incentivizing accessory dwelling units and basement apartments make it easy for existing single-family homeowners to do their part in mitigating this crisis.  Increased density also cuts carbon emissions by saving on home energy usage. 

Having transit within walking distance to every household and with reasonable commute times will increase ridership and disincentivize car use. Roads could then be better positioned to be repurposed for biking, outdoor dining, walking / rolling, and community activities, as there will be less cars on the road. Seattle is already laying down 7 miles of protected bike lanes and 11 miles of neighborhood greenways this year, so why stop there?

In 2019, Seattle legalized missing middle housing on just 6% of the City’s single-family zoned land. We have to go significantly further, legalizing missing middle housing in every neighborhood if we wish to come anywhere close to addressing this climate crisis.

Divesting from Fossil Fuels

In 2017, Chief Seattle Club divested all our bank accounts from Wells Fargo due to their participation in the Dakota Access Pipeline. We must stop incentivizing fossil fuel use. In order to do that, we need to stop investing City dollars in fossil fuel companies. Continuing to invest our City and City employee dollars into a retirement fund portfolio that is dependent on a dying industry is irresponsible and is not aligned with the commitments that the City of Seattle has taken on climate or with regards to race and social justice. The fossil fuel industry continues to contribute to widening health disparities in Black, Indigenous and communities of color directly and indirectly. Our Indigenous communities and Tribes know the relationship between the fossil fuel industry and the degradation of our ancestral lands, our sacred sites, our health, and the safety of our Indigenous sisters and Two Spirit siblings.  As Mayor of Seattle, I commit to working with City Council, City Departments and the Seattle City Employees Retirement System Board to divest from fossil fuel holdings and responsibly and expediently invest in a diverse portfolio that supports community and environmental health. 

Measuring Our Climate Progress

The Puget Sound region faces staggering growth due to climate migration over the next 50 years. In order to meaningfully cut emissions in the 2020s, we need aggressive and immediate action, while building infrastructure that shapes a future Climate Justice city. To implement  climate justice, Seattle must hold ourselves accountable by using data that is accessible, comprehensive and centered around communities disproportionately affected by climate change impacts and risks. Actionable Climate Justice comes from measurement and data that is relevant, complete, consistent, transparent and accurate. This includes qualitative and quantitative data informed by community-based participatory research efforts, traditional ecological knowledge and climate indicators that center health and racial equity.

One of the first actions I will take in office will be to conduct a thorough and transparent assessment of our current Climate Action Plans using a race and social justice framework and People-First lens to ensure that the data we are using addresses short and long-term climate risks, including Beyond Climate modeling, air particulate matter and material toxicity.