Washington Gov. Jay Inslee signed legislation Tuesday mandating his state’s electrical grid be carbon-free by 2045, becoming the fourth state to set such a goal, The Associated Press reported.
Inslee is running for the Democratic nomination to challenge President Donald Trump in 2020. Inslee announced his run on March 1 with a video where he talked up his climate agenda and claimed to be the “only candidate who will make defeating climate change our nation’s number one priority.” (RELATED: Jay Inslee, The ‘Climate Candidate,’ Announces 2020 Presidential Bid)
“We are determined to build a solar and wind and electrical system where people can access clean energy and cleaner air to breathe for our kids as long as Washington state is here,” Inslee said after signing the measure, according to AP. “That’s a multi-generational commitment.”
California, Hawaii and New Mexico are the three other states that have set similar mandates to run either carbon-free or on energy from entirely renewable sources by 2045. Washington, D.C., has set a goal to run on renewable energy by 2032.
The mandate Inslee signed for Washington state is less ambitious than the climate change plan his campaign released on May 3. His campaign plan is similar to the Green New Deal and aims to make the U.S. economy “pollution-free.”
U.S. President Barack Obama waves as he arrives to speak at a fundraiser for Washington Governor Jay Inslee (R) in Seattle, June 24, 2016. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
Inslee’s climate platform “will require a massive, full-scale mobilization of our federal government that will spur major innovation and deployment of clean energy,” according to the plan.
Republicans in the Washington state legislature fought the climate mandate signed Tuesday.
“This bill’s going to raise the cost of energy and it will do absolutely nothing to improve the environment in our state or in the world,” GOP state Sen. Curtis King said during a floor debate in March, the AP reported.
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