Lu Hill: We must protect Spokane’s air, water, and natural spaces for ourselves and future generations

By Lu Hill

Whether we drive a car, take the bus, ride a bike, or walk, we all need roads, sidewalks, and public transportation to get around. And that kind of basic infrastructure takes investment.

But a millionaire hedge fund owner and his special-interest friends are trying to roll back a fee on pollution that helps invest in this kind of infrastructure in our state. They’ve paid millions to put Initiative 2117 – along with two other deeply destructive measures – on the ballot this fall. I-2117 would repeal our state’s Climate Commitment Act.

The Climate Commitment Act is one of our state’s key laws to limit pollution. It places a fee on pollution, which incentivizes companies to invest in clean energy alternatives. So far, the law’s fee on pollution has generated $2 billion that is being put to work across Washington to protect our air and water, forests and farmlands, jobs, and transportation system.

I-2117 could take all that away. In Spokane, transportation projects that I-2117 would threaten include the following:

• A new program that will clean up the dirtiest vehicles on the road, like gas-powered trucks, buses, and delivery vans.

• Fully electric school buses for a clean, quiet ride for our kids.

• Free transit for youth.

• Electric-vehicle-charging infrastructure.

I-2117 would also strip away funding for efforts to help keep our communities healthy, like the following:

• Addressing air pollution in the most-polluted neighborhoods, which – thanks to historically inequitable policies – tend to be lower-income neighborhoods and places where Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) are more likely to live.

• Help for low- and moderate-income families to replace older and dirtier home heating with energy-efficient heat pumps.

• Weatherization to help families make their homes more energy efficient.

• Protection of older forests and new forest management to reduce wildfire and its impacts.

• Fixing culverts and other obstructions to migrating fish.

These investments for our homes, communities, air, forests, and waterways benefit all of us. They will keep Spokane a great place to live, work, play, and do business as well as helping improve our quality of life. But I-2117 would put all these investments at risk.

Right now, the Climate Commitment Act places a fee on climate pollution – with an end goal of reducing emissions and moving toward a green energy future. But if I-2117 passes, cities will have to turn to taxpayers like us to find the funding to support efforts to protect our communities from pollution. That sounds like a bad deal to me. Why should all of us foot the bill for pollution produced by a few?

It’s not just the financial impacts that concern me. I-2117 would make our drinking water less safe, allow more toxic air pollution, and would lead to more kids and adults with asthma and illness in Washington.

I am grateful to live in a place where I’m surrounded by people who love our city and its neighborhoods, and who want to leave Spokane better for generations to come. The Climate Commitment Act is part of that legacy. It’s one of the ways we can address the impacts of climate change, especially for BIPOC and low-income communities bearing the brunt of it.

You might hear some people say they’re voting for I-2117 because of gas prices. I feel that. So many of us are struggling with the high cost of living in Washington. But unfortunately, Washington has long had some of the highest gas prices in the country, and there’s nothing in I-2117 that guarantees lower gas prices. The only thing we know for sure is that it would cut billions of dollars from priorities like protecting clean air and water, preventing wildfires, enacting clean energy programs, and strengthening transportation projects that keep us all moving. Simply put, we can’t afford I-2117.

The passage of the Climate Commitment Act was a monumental win for the future of our state, made possible by environmental advocates; nonprofit organizations; tribal nations; community leaders; everyday people who care about environmental, racial, and social justice; and so many others. It solidified Washington (nicknamed the Evergreen State for a reason) as a national leader in climate policy. And the CCA complemented important progress advocates have also made in the last few years to make the wealthy pay what they owe in state and local taxes. It rightly made polluters pay for impacts to our air and water. Now it’s time to put our votes where our values are and say no to I-2117.

Lacrecia “Lu” Hill is a fourth-generation Spokanite who has long been involved in supporting the community in the nonprofit, philanthropic, and small business sectors. She currently is the community engagement and strategy director at Empire Health Foundation. These thoughts are her own.