November 30, 2021

Adapt or mitigate? Washington Republicans roll out climate proposal

A new proposal from Washington State Republicans highlights the conversation around how to both reduce and mitigate emissions while adapting to a warming world, and may provide a blueprint for what conservative climate policies could entail in the future.

Yesterday, Rep. Mary Dye (R-Pomeroy) introduced a package of environmental proposals called the Outdoor Recreation and Climate Adaptation plan, ORCA for short. It outlines Republican preferences for how to spend Climate Commitment Act dollars — specifically investing it into forest health, eliminating the $30 Discover Pass needed to access state parks, upgrading wastewater treatment plants, and addressing drought and flooding.

For Dye, the proposal provides immediate benefits for the state.

“Washingtonians deserve to have more practical environmentalism so that they get tangible benefits,” Dye said. “We’ve had a lot of environmental problems that have been languishing because there hasn’t been political will or financial commitment to it.”