Seattle/King County Climate News
Robin Briggs
Seattle
Election results are in (mostly). As of this writing, Katie Wilson has pulled ahead of Bruce Harrell in the Mayor's race, but a recount is possible. Results for the City Council are more clear. Dionne Foster will replace Sara Nelson, Eddie Lin will replace Mark Solomon, and Alexis Mercedes Rinck will continue on the Council. Eddie Lin will be seated almost immediately, because he is filling Tammy Morales's vacant seat. During the rest of this year, the Council will approve a budget, and consider other new legislation in Dec. In the new Year, the new Council will elect a new President, and may also reorganize the committee memberships and structure. One big task for next year: approving zoning changes for the Comprehensive Plan.
A new Better Bus Lanes coalition has formed, headlined by Councilmember Rinck. It calls for faster buses throughout the city, and specifically for:
Two-way bus lanes on Denny Way from Queen Anne Avenue to Stewart St.
Make the temporary 24/7 bus lanes on Aurora Avenue permanent
Expand bus reliability progress on Rainier Avenue
The coalition includes Transportation Choices Coalition, Amalgamated Transit Union 587, Transit Riders Union, Aurora Reimagined Coalition, Fix the L8, and Central Seattle Greenways.
King County
Part of the County's new electrification plan is to put more emphasis on electric trolley-buses; the electric buses that run on overhead trolley lanes instead of requiring large batteries. The Urbanist reported recently on some of this work in Metro Plans Trolleybus Investments, with Long Implementation Timelines. Route 2 and Route 12 have historically run on electric trolleys, but these were suspended during work on RapidRide G along Madison. Route 2 has some overhead lines that need to be restored, and then electric trolleys can resume service in about a year. Route 12 has been rerouted along Pine St, and it needs new overhead lines installed there, which is not expected until 2029. And Route 48, which Metro and the City have been working towards electrification for the last 10 years, won't be ready until 2032. These long timelines for just 3 routes call into question how long until most Metro lines can be electrified.
State
The State is suing the Federal Government over the cancellation of a $7 billion program to help low income and disadvantaged households get solar panels (Seattle Times, paywall). The State was awarded $156 million of this money, as part of the Inflation Reduction Act. The Trump Administration has terminated the program and failed to provide the funds. Washington is joining with 23 other states to restore funding.
Elsewhere
The UN reports that global CO2 levels jumped a record amount to hit a new high, and as of 2024 we are now at 424ppm. The increase of 3.5 ppm in one year is the most since monitoring began in 1957. We know that people are continuing to burn fossil fuels at high levels, and that there have been high levels of emissions from forest fires, particularly in North America. The recent leap may also be due to the natural ecosystem reaching capacity and absorbing less carbon emissions than previously into the ocean and into growing plants. Emissions of methane and nitrous oxide, the two other main greenhouse gas pollutants, also grew by record levels in 2024.
California has enacted a Transit Oriented Development law that establishes state zoning standards around train stations and major bus stops to allow for midrise homes within a half mile of major transit stops, and allows local transit agencies to develop on land they own. This bill is similar to Washington's SB 5466 passed last session.
A report on the "Electrotech Revolution" from Ember Tech (Kingsmill Bond) summarizes the successes of clean energy: "Fossil demand has been flat for industrial energy since 2014, for buildings since 2018, for road transport since 2019, and may peak for electricity this year. Two-thirds of countries have already seen peak fossil demand in end-use sectors, and half the world has seen a peak in fossil fuels for electricity. China is the pivot nation in the global system, and fossil electricity demand in China is down 2% in the first half of 2025. If current trends continue in renewables deployment and electrification, fossil fuel demand will be in decline by 2030."
Massachusetts has a pilot program that allows 10 cities to require new buildings be all-electric, and they are considering allowing another 10 cities to join the pilot. Cities that have banned gas have been able to continue to build new housing at comparable levels to other cities.