Author Archives: Thad Curtz

T2.17 Teleworking/Flex work * Government agencies increase opportunities for employee teleworking options and staggering work days to reduce employees driving during peak traffic times. In 2013, “The Bottom Line on Telework for the Thurston Region State and Local Government”, a … Continue reading →

B6.1 Natural gas to electric conversions * Educate business owners and residents on the options for electric appliances, particularly furnaces and water heaters, and the benefit of pairing electrification with the installation of renewable energy. Create incentives to support fuel … Continue reading →

G3. _ Ballot measures Pass local legislation to raise revenue dedicated to local climate action. Bellingham is developing a proposal for a local Climate Action Fund. The Mayor announced a “strategic pause” in June 2022, to build community support and … Continue reading →

T1.2 Middle-density housing * Reevaluate and change zoning as needed to allow for a range of housing types to promote social economic integration of housing near the region’s urban centers or moderate-density zones. Olympia has been working on a missing … Continue reading →

About sequestration – The iTree project estimated that 235,851 acres, or 51% of the actual land, was canopy cover in 2010, and that the canopy was sequestering 648,534 tons (590,539 metric tons) of CO2/year, or about 2.5 tonnes/acre. Our total … Continue reading →

T2.1 Traffic analysis Incorporate greenhouse gas emissions calculations into traffic impact analyses to identify land use proposals that have the potential to generate a substantial positive impact on the region. California’s SB. 743 requires estimating the amount of driving as … Continue reading →

The Hummingbird Project estimates participants will get a bit over 28% of their investment back in the first year if they’re eligible for the Federal tax credit, and the rest back over the next 18 years. How much this no … Continue reading →

According to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s PVWatts calculator, 1 kW of solar in Thurston County will produce an average of 1,059 KWh of power a year. (This estimate is based on its default assumptions – a standard fixed panel, … Continue reading →

(There are cost benefit discussions on the linked pages…) Residential natural gas – 1,000 tonnes a year of reductions = Converting 200 houses using gas to zero-emissions electricity. PSE’s average household uses 64 therms/month, and combustion emissions are 11.7 lbs … Continue reading →

The climate mitigation plan is only going to include the consultant’s professional judgements about the potential reductions in 2030 and 2050 from ambitious implementation of all the actions targeting each of a number of general categories like “passenger vehicle use” … Continue reading →