You may remember how we celebrated passing a Clean Fuel Standard through the Washington State Legislature last year. This bill was one of our legislative priorities for four long years, throughout which the Earth Ministry/WAIPL community kept showing up to articulate our moral responsibility to reduce transportation pollution and create more healthy, equitable options for how we get around.
Now, we’re carrying forward this persistence to see the bill through to the finish line. Rulemaking about how to implement the Clean Fuel Standard is underway and we’re advocating for it to be as strong as possible.
The transportation sector is responsible for nearly half of our climate and air pollution in Washington State. A Clean Fuel Standard will help our transportation become more clean, affordable, and accessible. Essentially, this law requires fuel producers and importers to reduce the carbon intensity of transportation fuels and invest in low-carbon choices like electricity and local, sustainable biofuels. It is a tested and effective policy that will clean our air, give us more options to fuel our vehicles, create economic development, cut climate pollution, and move us beyond oil. Learn more here.
Since Washington is the last state/province on the West Coast to adopt a Clean Fuel Standard, ambitious implementation of this policy is especially important. Thankfully, the draft rule released by the Department of Ecology uses the most rapid timeline allowed by the law! Now through the end of August, we are expressing our support of this draft to ensure the Clean Fuel Standard stays strong through the finish line.
Over 145 members of the Earth Ministry/WAIPL community submitted comments to support cleaner fuels and healthier communities.
Whether you advocated for this policy with us for years or are just now jumping in, thank you for adding your voice to the chorus calling for clean fuels.
Here is the language from Earth Ministry/WAIPL’s comment form:
Dear WA Department of Ecology,
Thank you for the opportunity to comment on Washington’s Clean Fuel Standard. I am very supportive of the draft Clean Fuel Standard and applaud the Department of Ecology for setting our clean fuels trajectory to be the strongest possible per the law.
As a person of faith, it is important to me that we take swift action to address transportation as our largest source of pollution in Washington. A strong final Clean Fuel Standard will help me embody my call to live more lightly on Earth so that all may thrive.
Time is of the essence with our response to the climate crisis. Ambitious implementation of this law is critical for a just transition to clean energy that addresses our moral obligation to heal our climate and communities. Please ensure that the final rule maintains the strong carbon intensity standards of a 20% reduction by 2034.
In addition to the urgent need to reduce transportation pollution, I believe how we respond to the climate crisis is also a moral issue. Please ensure the following points are reflected in the final rule:
- Explicitly incorporate Ecology’s existing obligation to proactively and meaningfully consult with Native Nations, including expectations for sufficient time and information.
- Require an environmental justice review in compliance with the HEAL Act and include requirements for Ecology to track and remedy air pollution impacts.
- Hold utilities accountable to thoughtful and equitable reinvestments that further transportation electrification and reduce pollution in overburdened communities as required by the law.
- Strengthen initial accounting of the impact of crop-based biofuels beyond California’s baseline and plan for ongoing review as science advances.
I have faith that Washington can and will meet our greenhouse gas reduction goals through our gifts of innovation and dedication to stewardship. Thank you for putting us on that path and demonstrating our state’s commitment to a clean energy future by implementing the strongest possible Clean Fuel Standard.