Renewable energy bill stirs climate-change debate in Washington Senate

OLYMPIA – Do humans contribute to global warming? After a heated debate Monday evening, the Senate voted “maybe.”

During deliberations on a renewable energy bill, majority Republicans refused to add a clause that says man-made pollution is a factor in climate change, as the vast majority of scientific research shows. Instead, they accepted a tweaked version that says it’s possible.

“It’s not just about carbon when you talk about transitioning to new energy sources in Washington state,” said Sen. Doug Ericksen, the bill’s prime sponsor. “I hope we can move past this amendment to get to the substance of the bill.”

The legislation would rework some features of the 2006 Energy Independence Act, a voter initiative that requires large power utilities to get a growing share of their power from renewable resources like wind and solar. Ericksen, R-Ferndale, wants to give utilities credit for conserving energy, installing electric car charging stations and converting the state’s ferry fleet to run on natural gas.

Supporters said the bill would create jobs in manufacturing and lower electricity rates by allowing utilities to buy more of their power from within Washington. And it would cut carbon emissions.

But that’s not the focus, Ericksen said: “There are many reasons to effect cleaner energies in Washington.”

Democrats argued that the bill could slow, or even reverse, Washington’s progress. A 2008 law requires the state to cut 25 percent of its carbon emissions by 2035. The bill, said Democrats, would gut the initiative and ignore the voters’ will.

“I appreciate the fact that reasonable people can disagree on Initiative 937,” said Sen. David Frockt, D-Seattle. “But I think there can be no reasonable dispute that human activities contribute to climate change.”

The initiative excluded power from hydroelectric dams, which provide a vast majority of the state’s electricity but are known to kill or impede migrating salmon. Another bill would allow utilities to satisfy their clean-energy requirements by buying hydropower from the federal government that comes from existing dams. Sponsored by Sen. Sharon Brown, R-Kennewick, it passed the Senate last week on a 29-20 vote. Both bills could meet resistance in the Democratic-controlled House.