New Episode of Resources Radio on Climate Policy in Washington State, with Sharon Shewmake
Washington, DC—Resources for the Future (RFF) today released a new installment of Resources Radio: “100 Percent Clean: Understanding Climate Policy in Washington State, with Sharon Shewmake.”
Host Daniel Raimi talks with Sharon Shewmake, a lawmaker in Washington state’s House of Representatives and a professor of environmental economics at Western Washington University. Shewmake provides an overview of Washington state’s 100 percent clean energy bill, which aims to virtually eliminate greenhouse gas emissions from the state’s power sector by 2045. Shewmake outlines the political context in which this bill was created and explains the anticipated effects of the bill. Shewmake also shares her experiences working as both a lawmaker and an environmental economist.
Notable quotes from the podcast:
- “In a lot of ways, Washington state was on this path of being 100 percent clean; [the 100 percent clean] act just increased that.”—Sharon Shewmake (6:12)
- “[The 100 percent clean bill is] trying to make sure that [the technology] transition is equitable, so that we're not just buying electric cars and putting charging infrastructure in the wealthy neighborhoods, but putting this equity lens on it.”—Sharon Shewmake (13:27)
- “You can get people to agree to things that may not be in their direct best interests or that might make them feel nervous about their business model, if you talk to them and you hear their concerns through it. There's so many more win-wins than we think are possible when we're an academic sitting in an office somewhere.”—Sharon Shewmake (15:49)
Resources Radio is a weekly podcast series exploring timely environmental, energy, and natural resources topics, and can be found on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, and SoundCloud.
Resources for the Future (RFF) is an independent, nonprofit research institution in Washington, DC. Its mission is to improve environmental, energy, and natural resource decisions through impartial economic research and policy engagement. RFF is committed to being the most widely trusted source of research insights and policy solutions leading to a healthy environment and a thriving economy.
Unless otherwise stated, the views expressed here are those of the individual authors and may differ from those of other RFF experts, its officers, or its directors. RFF does not take positions on specific legislative proposals.
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