Meeting to discuss carbon reduction plan’s impact on Washington manufacturing

The United Steelworkers Local 338 will hold a town hall meeting Saturday to discuss pending climate legislation and how it might impact manufacturing jobs in Washington.

The event runs from 9 a.m. to noon at the Union Hall, 14015 E. Trent Ave., Spokane Valley.

A speaker from the Department of Ecology will present an overview of Gov. Jay Inslee’s proposed carbon reduction regulations.

The rules would target about 35 industrial facilities jointly responsible for 60 percent of the heat-trapping gases produced in Washington. Factories and other facilities that produce 100,000 metric tons or more of greenhouse gases annually would be affected by the new regulations. Power plants, oil refineries and manufacturing plants are on the list, as are landfills that release large volumes of methane gas.

In Eastern Washington, the proposed regulations would affect Kaiser Aluminum, the city of Spokane’s waste-to-energy plant and Avista Corp. in its role as a natural gas distributor.

The event also features speakers from the Washington State Labor Council, the Steelworkers, Kaiser Aluminum, the BlueGreen Alliance, Inland Empire Paper and CXT, a concrete contractor.