King County’s 2010 green accomplishments unveiled

January 11, 2011

Summary

Council Committee hears environmental progress report

Story

A year after Metropolitan King County Councilmember Larry Phillips unveiled his environmental action agenda Greenprint, the Council’s Environment and Transportation received a progress report today on King County’s green accomplishments in 2010.

“Making King County greener was a top priority in 2010 because of the opportunities to save money and stimulate a green economy while making our region more sustainable for the future,” said Phillips, Chair of the Environment and Transportation Committee. “For example, the energy plan we passed this year will save taxpayers money through reduced energy costs, provide green jobs, and lessen our carbon footprint.”

The progress report highlights twenty-five legislative actions taken by the Council in 2010 to protect the environment. Some of the key accomplishments include:

• The wholesale rewrite of the County's Shoreline Master Program ("SMP"), protects shoreline ecology while allowing reasonable and necessary use of the shorelines to support the region's economy and provide recreational opportunities.
• Creation of the regional transit task force, with part of its charge to make long term recommendations for a sustainable transit system.
• Requiring County lighting purchases to meet or exceed the energy efficiency standards established in federal regulation to the maximum extent feasible and developing a lighting plan to reduce King County’s use of inefficient lighting and the occurrence of evening light pollution.
• Encouraging community gardens on King County owned property for the purposes of improving public health, building community and addressing hunger.
• Supporting a bike sharing program throughout King County and encouraging use of this alternative method of transportation.
• Revising the Public Benefit Rating System to include trail linkages with points of community interest .
• Approving construction of the Burien park and ride facility; providing hundreds of parking stalls for transit riders and thereby reducing SOV on region's roadways.
• Adopting King County's Energy Plan, which established guiding principles, set goals, and outlined strategies for improving energy efficiency and expanding the use and production of renewable energy.

“Our green agenda accomplishments last year show that even with very constrained budgets, there are many common sense and cost effective measures we can take to make a real impact on our environment,” said Phillips.