Puget Sound Clean Air Agency announcement.
The Puget Sound Clean Air Agency has officially adopted a new Strategic Plan.
The Strategic Plan aims to guide the strategic direction of the regional government agency through 2030 and addresses key climate and air quality issues, including disparities in air pollution between communities. The Agency’s new vision is “healthy air, climate, and environmental justice for the benefit of all people in the Puget Sound region.” The Agency’s Board of Directors officially approved the plan on January 26th .
The plan recognizes the decade ahead has the potential to be transformational, with a growing regional population, clean technology advances and accessibility, and new policy frameworks at the state and federal level. The plan incorporates flexibility for the Agency to adjust its actions to changing circumstances and opportunities while still improving air quality and its associated health outcomes for the Puget Sound region’s residents.
“Our new Strategic Plan will serve as the foundation and blueprint for our organization for the next seven years,” said Christine Cooley, executive director of the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency. “I am incredibly proud of the plan’s focus on equitably advancing environmental justice in all aspects of the Agency. With the growing urgency to combat climate change and the opportunities available due to new policies at the state and federal level, we are excited to get started in implementing this thoughtful and progressive plan.”
The strategic plan outlines goals and objectives for the Agency through 2030, including:
- Air pollution overall drops by 20% from 2022 to 2030, and the annual economic impact of air pollution health effects drops by at least $500 million
- Cancer risk from toxic air pollutants reduces by 50% from 2022 to 2030, especially in overburdened communities
- Socioeconomic disparities in air pollution exposure are cut in half from 2022 to 2030
- Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the Puget Sound region drop by 50% compared to 1990 levels
“This dynamic plan encompasses an impressive amount of engagement from the public, overburdened communities, a wide variety of stakeholders, and all levels of Agency staff,” said Megan Dunn, Chair of the Agency’s Board of Directors. “We are looking forward to ensuring the impact of this plan can be seen and measured in each of the Puget Sound region’s communities.”
“We are excited to see that the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency’s 2030 Strategic Plan establishes bold climate targets and identifies specific actions to transition to clean energy, reduce harmful air pollution and protect frontline communities,” said Deepa Sivarajan, Climate Solution’s Washington Clean Buildings Policy Manager. “We need strong regional leadership to make the clean energy transition more accessible and build community resilience, and look forward to working with the Agency on implementation to ensure the Agency does everything possible to protect residents from the harms of climate change and the health impacts of a continued reliance on fossil fuels.”
The Agency will host a public information session from 5:30 to 6:30 pm on Wednesday, March 15, to summarize the community input heard throughout 2022 and how that input is incorporated in the new Strategic Plan.
All this goes out the window when there are remote forest fires whose smoke is carried into the Puget Sound region via prevailing winds or drifts over from China! Same goes for alleged local “climate change” when in fact climate changes globally! Discounting wildfire pollution, how many days a year does the area have air quality that is below minimum standards? As I recall, less that 10 days which brings into question the efficacy and necessity of this appointed, not elected, Agency with a budget in the millions (almost impossible to find). More “woke-ism” to solve a problem that isn’t one.