A new climate agreement was signed Thursday by Governor Jay Inslee, California Governor Gavin Newsom, Oregon Governor Kate Brown and the Premier of British Columbia, John Horgan, to extend their existing partnership, known as the Pacific Coast Collaborative. The PCC was established by a similar compact in 2008.
Governor Inslee says he can’t remember a case in US history where a region has worked so well together, including across an international border, “in building an electric charging corridor up and down I-5,” Inslee says, “in encouraging the implementation and hopefully the merging of our markets in the cap and invest system, which can make it more efficient. This decision we’re making now is going to ramp up this effort.”
The agreement includes expanding investment in a clean energy grid and electric vehicle charging stations, but it also centers on adaptation to climate change, especially in low income and rural communities hit hardest and equity for those communities as the green economy grows. Inslee and Newsom both put a lot of emphasis on shifting the economy, both for the creation of more jobs and to put the west coast in a position of economic power and even, as Newsom suggested, dominance in certain industries.
Protecting against wildfire, flooding, drought and ocean acidification are also included in the latest agreement.
