New interactive map tracks climate spending in communities most impacted by pollution and beyond

A new interactive map tracks funding for projects benefiting our environment. It highlights projects in overburdened communities, ensuring transparency and accountability in our environmental justice efforts.

EV chargers in communities bearing the brunt of climate change. Deliberate community engagement and compensation for time. Safe drinking water for people on contaminated wells. These are all real-world results of the Healthy Environment for All Act (also known as the HEAL Act), and they can be seen in a new interactive map tracking its investments.

The groundbreaking law transforms how state agencies factor environmental justice into their budgeting. Communities across Washington combined environmental harms and impacts to their health from pollution. All too often, they are also from racial or ethnic minorities and earn lower incomes. The HEAL Act puts these communities first and invests in environmental health where it’s needed most.

Read the full story on Gov. Jay Inslee’s Medium

Inslee attends COP29 to champion subnational leadership on climate change

Gov. Jay Inslee speaks to an international collection of climate ministers and subnational leaders at COP29 in Azerbaijan.

If history is any guide, states won’t be able to rely on the federal government for the next four years to lead on climate action. It will be up to localities, states, and regional partnerships to seize the reins on building clean economies and slashing harmful emissions. That’s been Gov. Jay Inslee’s message this week to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP) in Azerbaijan.

“We are not stopping the progress we’re making in states, communities, counties, and cities,” said Inslee during a U.S. Climate Alliance event. “We will not be stopped, we will not be slowed down… we will consider the next administration as a ‘speed bump’ on the road to progress.”

Inslee is a co-founder of the U.S. Climate Alliance, a bipartisan coalition of 24 governors, which is advancing climate action across the country. He’s also enrolled Washington into the international Ocean Acidification Alliance, the Pacific Coast Collaborative, America is All In, the Under2 Coalition, the Beyond Oil and Gas Alliance, and the Transportation Decarbonization Alliance. Each of these subnational partnerships is spurring change in critical areas.

The United Nations is increasingly recognizing the importance of these subnational or, as Inslee calls them, “supernational” organizations. They can typically pass and implement policy faster than their national governments. It’s why Inslee was one of the few subnational leaders ever invited to address the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change.

In the years to come, Washington will be looked to as a beacon of climate action. This year, Washingtonians soundly defeated an initiative to repeal the Climate Commitment Act, a sign to other states that the cap-and-trade model might be their answer to slash emissions and build cleaner industries. The state is a national pioneer in clean buildings standards. And the state’s Clean Energy Transformation Act has the state on-course to achieve an emissions-free electrical grid by 2045.

Ambitious, state-led climate action is possible. With it comes a powerful, profitable clean economy. Washington is proving it.

Governor-elect Bob Ferguson announces executive and transition teams

Governor-elect Bob Ferguson and his family visited the Governor’s Executive Residence in Olympia this week.

Washington’s new governor-elect Bob Ferguson is making preparations to assume office as the state’s chief executive on Jan. 15. Gov. Jay Inslee’s administration is helping to ensure a smooth transition.

“Our administration is doing everything we can to facilitate this transition and help Governor-elect Ferguson hit the ground running in his new office,” said the Inslee Administration’s Chief of Staff Joby Shimomura.

Ferguson named his eight-member executive leadership team this week, as well as his 53-member transition team. The latter team will help the governor-elect implement his priorities at the beginning of his new administration. Ferguson and his family also toured their new digs on Thursday, visiting the Governor’s Executive Residence in Olympia.

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Former Gov. Dan Evans remembered

Former Washington state Gov. Dan Evans was laid to rest this week in a memorial service on Tuesday, Nov. 12. He died on Sept. 20, 2024 at 98 years old. He served three terms as governor and another term in Congress as senator.

“It’s difficult to think of another Washingtonian who ever had such a positive impact in so many realms as Dan Evans,” tweeted Gov. Jay Inslee. “We all, no matter our party, can feel fortunate for the progress he led during each of his three terms as governor.”

Jamie Pedersen named state Senate majority leader

Seattle Sen. Jamie Pedersen was named Senate majority leader by the Washington Senate Democrats this week. Pedersen will replace former Senate Majority Leader Andy Billig of Spokane, who is retiring from the Senate.

“My congratulations to Sen. Jamie Pedersen, the new (Senate majority leader). He is a forward thinker and a sharp legislator, and I have every confidence that Washingtonians will benefit from his presence at the helm,” tweeted Gov. Jay Inslee.

Car thefts down 30% statewide

Car thefts dropped significantly in Washington in 2024, according to a new report. The latest data shows a 30% decline from a year ago, according to the Puget Sound Auto Theft Task Force.