Sue Lani Madsen: Government by experts, or by legislators

In 2021, Spokane adopted an updated Sustainability Action Plan. The most contentious item in the plan was a proposal to require electric heat pumps as the default systems for commercial buildings, and to ban new natural gas hookups starting in 2023. City Council President Breean Beggs affirmed his opposition to a 2023 ban in interviews with The Spokesman-Review in May and July 2021, saying “City Council has no plans to restrict natural gas. It’s not a real issue currently. It’s really just an issue to get people riled up.”

Plenty of people were riled up, and the requirement was dropped before the City Council adopted the final version of the Sustainability Action Plan.

Meanwhile, buried in the State Building Code Council minutes, the proposed Washington State Energy Code includes precisely the same ban at a statewide level. As part of the code adoption process, more than 7,000 Washingtonians signed in to Zoom meetings or submitted written comments. One of those letters, dated March 11, reads :

“We, the undersigned local elected officials, write to strongly urge the SBCC to adopt a commercial energy code that aligns with the climate and sustainability goals that we have established at the local and state level. Specifically, we support a state-wide commercial energy code for new construction that requires electric heat pump technology for water and space heating, and eliminates fossil fuels from these appliances.”

It was signed by Breean Beggs, Spokane City Council president.

So obvious question … how did Beggs come to sign a letter supporting a statewide ban on natural gas in commercial and multifamily projects after calling it “not a real issue” in Spokane?

In an interview recorded April 14, Beggs said, “My interpretation of that letter was that over the next 25 years that has to happen” and that he was opposed to a ban on natural gas in just a few years.

In Washington, codes are adopted on a three-year cycle by the members of the governor-appointed State Building Code Council and go into effect the following year. Electric-only space heating and water heating would go into effect statewide July 1, 2023, if adopted. So next obvious question, would Beggs be withdrawing his support? He responded via email with a statement reading in part:

“I recently read the language of a proposed new WAC Section 51-11C-40314 that is now proposed to go into effect state-wide in 2023 and wasn’t included in the letter. … Just like I did not support a proposed mandate of electric only in commercial buildings in Spokane taking effect in 2023 in Spokane’s comprehensive sustainability plan, I don’t personally support this WAC taking effect as written in 2023.”

Wonder how many of those other 80 former and current city and county officials from around the state didn’t know what they were signing. It’s too late for revised testimony but not too late to lobby the code council members directly. They’d be hearing from constituents if they were legislators debating policies with this kind of impact, but they aren’t elected.

“This body is not accountable to anybody,” said Spokane County Commissioner Al French, an architect who serves on the 15-member code council. “Not to the public or the legislature. They can make decisions without being held accountable for consequences.”

Pushing controversial energy measures through state and local building codes is part of a calculated strategy by the Rocky Mountain Institute to bypass both state legislatures and national data-driven consensus engineering standards. RMI has discovered their decarbonization agenda is easier to sell using what they describe as a powerful tool from “the unglamorous pages of local and state law book.”

Legislatures are inconveniently public.

“The governor is doing everything he can to pass his agenda and bypass the legislature,” said French, who fills the slot reserved for an Eastern Washington county elected official.

One “everything” Gov. Inslee has done is fill all the seats on the council. In February there were five lame ducks, one seat that had been vacant for at least three years, and two appointees whose appointment had been challenged in court.

As of this month, two of the lame ducks have been reappointed, three have been replaced, the long-vacant seat reserved for someone representing those with disabilities has finally been filled, and the governor has settled the lawsuit. Inslee lost on the long-term principle but won this week’s battle. His hand-picked appointees have to resign but not until after the critical April 22 council meeting.

Whether the brand-new members trying to catch up on a year’s worth of testimony should recuse themselves is a question French will raise at the meeting. Katy Sheehan of Spokane’s Community Building, one of those new members, may be hearing from Council President Beggs as well as a few other not-quite-constituents eager to bring her up to speed.

Contact Sue Lani Madsen at rulingpen@gmail.com.