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CONTACT THE ENTERPRISE Jocelyn Robinson, News editor jrobinson@heraldnet.com

Moving forward on climate change

By Russ Doubleday
Enterprise writer

Three presenters representing a variety of organizations spoke on matters of climate change here in the Puget Sound region at a Forward Shoreline forum in the new Sky Nursery building on July 25.

“We recognize that there are several issues we need to discuss to provide a better place (here) for future generations,” said Dom Amor, the vice chair of Forward Shoreline, as he introduced the topic of the forum, which was titled “Green is Here: What You Should Know About Sustainability.”

The three speakers described efforts being done now, projects being tackled in the future and what we as citizens can do to help combat climate change.

Jeff Aken, the project manager of the Cascade Agenda City Program of the Cascade Land Conservancy, focused his talk on smart future growth and the importance of protecting rural farmland and forests.

“We are forecasting that 1.4 million people will move into the Puget Sound region between now and 2040,” Aken said. “Growth is the sign of a strong economy, but how do we grow smart?”

By growing “smart,” cities can create communities which don’t rely heavily on cars and can hold the projected 1.4 million new inhabitants in the next 30 years, he stated. Shoreline was one of the first cities to join the Green Cities Partnership, another program within the Cascade Land Conservancy focused on having cities keep parks and open spaces. Aken said the Aurora Corridor Improvement project has helped lay the foundation for such a community.

Admiral James Symonds, commander of the U.S. Navy’s Northwest Pacific Fleet, next spoke about how the Navy was cutting their energy costs and how that can relate to individuals. The Navy operates in every environment imaginable, yet they can carry out all these vastly different operations and still save energy.

The Navy is cleaning up all the local Superfund sites, Symonds said. They hope to have them completely cleaned by 2014.

The Navy has also added education programs to cut energy use, and they’re installing ethanol and biodiesel tanks at many locations statewide.

Mike Nelson, a professor at Shoreline Community College, spoke about how everyday individuals can save energy costs by installing solar panels at their houses. The state Legislature has enacted legislation which will pay citizens money per kilowatt of energy produced for solar panels manufactured entirely in the state.

“We can position ourselves as a world leader in a new technology (here in Washington state),” Nelson said.

These solar panels cost a fair amount to install, but they would more than pay for themselves after only a few years, he said.

U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee was originally scheduled to present at this forum, but he needed to stay in Washington D.C. over the weekend to work on health care and energy legislation in Congress.

Sponsors of the event included Puget Sound Energy, Sky Nursery, SGA Corp., Ironwood Investments, The Enterprise Newspapers, CRISTA Ministries and Donald and Martha Sands. Co-sponsors included Shoreline Community College, the Lynnwood Rotary, the Shoreline Rotary, the Shoreline Breakfast Rotary and the South Snohomish County Chamber of Commerce.