What King County is doing
King County has many opportunities to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions—the primary cause of recent climate change—from its own operations and at the community level. The County is reducing operational sources of GHG emissions by implementing the 2010 Energy Plan and the Green Building and Sustainable Development policy, among other efforts. At the community level, King County is helping reduce GHG emissions through its land-use policies and transportation planning and by providing services such as public transit, recycling, and support of sustainable forestry and agriculture. These efforts are yielding significant reductions in GHG emissions as well as environmental, economic, and health benefits.
The County is also collaborating with others on solutions, pooling technical expertise and sharing practical strategies for reducing GHG emissions through venues like the King County-Cities Climate Collaboration.
King County is also helping minimize the local impacts and risks of climate change. The County has programs and projects to reduce the risk of floods, help farm and forest owners address climate change impacts, and plan for the effects of climate change on stormwater, public health and emergency management.
To learn about King County’s climate change related efforts:
Video
King County Executive
Dow Constantine describes how climate change is affecting us in King County
and what King County government is doing both to reduce its operational environmental footprint and to prepare for climate change impacts.
Annual Reports
The County plays important roles in climate change response, energy efficiency and renewable energy, green building and sustainable development and environmental purchasing. The
Annual Reports
provide a summary of related accomplishments, performance indicators, challenges and opportunities and recommendations looking forward.
Policy
King County has a long history of adopting policies promoting environmental and economic sustainability and responding to climate change. The
2012 Strategic Climate Action Plan,
2012 Climate Motion
and
2010 Energy Plan
are recent examples.
This page
summarizes the history of King County climate change related policy and legislation.
Data and Performance Information
In addition to the
Annual Reports, data about greenhouse gas emissions from government operations and at the community level – as well as information about local climate change impacts on the environment, human health, and the economy are presented through the
KingStat
performance measures report, the
AIMs High Annual Indicators and Measures
program and through frequent
Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventories.
Related King County divisional climate change pages
